By: Hancock  S.B. No. 903
         (In the Senate - Filed March 3, 2015; March 9, 2015, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Business and Commerce;
  April 8, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 9,
  Nays 0; April 8, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to procedures for the management, sale, or lease of
  certain state-owned real property and the management or collection
  of related funds, including disputed oil and gas royalties owed to
  the state.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 31.1573(d), Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (d)  The grant of an interest in real property owned by the
  state under this section must:
               (1)  comply with the requirements of Section 31.158 to
  the extent the requirements do not conflict with a recommendation
  in the governor's report under Section 31.1571; and
               (2)  be conveyed by an instrument signed by the
  commissioner and, if the transaction was conducted under Section
  31.158(c)(7) [governor's approval is required], by the governor.
         SECTION 2.  Section 31.167(c), Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  The special board of review must file a copy of the
  development plan in the deed records of the county in which the real
  property is located.  Revisions to the development plan are
  governed by local development policies and procedures if the
  revisions [that] are requested after the later of:
               (1)  the 10th anniversary of the date on which the
  development plan was promulgated by the special board of review; or
               (2)  the date on which the state no longer holds a
  financial or property interest in the real property subject to the
  plan [are governed by local development policies and procedures].
         SECTION 3.  Section 32.106, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 32.106.  DESCRIPTION OF LAND. The description of
  public school land offered for sale, lease, or commitment to a
  contract for development shall be in accord with the description
  which may be found in the School Land Registry or other records in
  the land office.
         SECTION 4.  Section 33.136(c), Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  Within 30 days after the date the commissioner approves
  a coastal boundary survey under this section, the commissioner
  shall provide notice of that approval by:
               (1)  publication in the Texas Register;
               (2)  publication for two consecutive weeks on the
  Internet website of the land office [in a newspaper of general
  circulation in the county or counties in which the land depicted in
  the survey is located]; and
               (3)  filing a copy of the approval in the archives and
  records division of the land office.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter C, Chapter 51, Natural Resources
  Code, is amended by adding Section 51.068 to read as follows:
         Sec. 51.068.  FUND ACCOUNTS. (a)  Payments of principal,
  interest, and lease rental shall be accounted for in a similar form
  but separate from first payments on land.
         (b)  The comptroller shall deposit 90 percent of the payments
  on land received each month to the probable fund to which the
  payments belong as indicated by the commissioner and shall hold the
  remaining 10 percent of the payments in the suspense account until
  the comptroller receives notice from the commissioner indicating
  the proper fund for the payments.  After notice is received, the
  comptroller shall credit the full amount to the proper fund.
         (c)  The commissioner and comptroller shall keep an account
  with each fund according to advices given by them and shall retain
  the advices as permanent records.
         SECTION 6.  Section 51.3021(c), Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  The notice required by Subsection (b) [of this section]
  must be given:
               (1)  by service in person or by registered or certified
  mail, return receipt requested; or
               (2)  if personal service cannot be obtained or the
  address of the person responsible is unknown, by posting a copy of
  the notice on the facility or structure and by publishing notice on
  the Internet website of the land office and in the Texas Register
  for [in a newspaper with general circulation in the county in which
  the facility or structure is located two times within] 10
  consecutive days.
         SECTION 7.  The heading to Section 52.137, Natural Resources
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 52.137.  SUIT AFTER PROTEST [PAYMENT].
         SECTION 8.  Sections 52.137(a) and (c), Natural Resources
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  If a lessee, who has received an audit deficiency
  assessment and has waived the right to request a hearing before the
  commissioner or who is required by final order of the commissioner
  following a hearing to pay additional royalties, contends that such
  audit deficiency assessment is unlawful or that the commissioner
  may not legally demand or collect such royalties, and the lessee
  [shall pay to the commissioner the amount claimed by the
  commissioner, and if the lessee] intends to bring suit under this
  section, the lessee must submit [with the payment] a protest in
  writing stating fully and in detail each reason why it contends such
  royalty is not due. Such protest [payment] shall be made to the
  commissioner within 30 days of the date of receipt of the audit
  billing notice or of the date of receipt of the final order of the
  commissioner following a hearing, as the case may be. All such
  mailings shall be by certified mail, return receipt requested.
         (c)  [A suit may be brought under this section against the
  commissioner to recover the payment under protest.] A suit under
  this section is barred unless brought in the district courts of
  Travis County within 90 days after the date of the protest [payment]
  or within 90 days after the date of the final order of the
  commissioner following hearing, whichever is later.
         SECTION 9.  Section 52.139(a), Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  If an audit billing notice has been issued under Section
  52.135 and any outstanding audit deficiency assessment has been
  paid either:
               (1)  voluntarily;
               (2)  after a hearing was requested and the commissioner
  has entered a final non-appealable order concerning the assessment;
  or
               (3)  after a final non-appealable judgment has been
  rendered by a court after [payment of an audit assessment under
  protest and] filing of a suit [for refund] under Section 52.137 [of
  this code], then the commissioner may not issue another deficiency
  assessment which covers the same issues, time periods, and leases
  as those covered by the previous assessment.
         SECTION 10.  The following provisions of the Natural
  Resources Code are repealed:
               (1)  Section 32.102;
               (2)  Section 52.137(b); and
               (3)  Section 52.138.
         SECTION 11.  The changes in law made by Sections 52.137 and
  52.139(a), Natural Resources Code, as amended by this Act, and by
  the repeal of Section 52.138, Natural Resources Code, apply only to
  an audit billing notice or a final commissioner's order, as
  applicable, received by a lessee on or after the effective date of
  this Act.  An audit billing notice or a final commissioner's order,
  as applicable, received by a lessee before the effective date of
  this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the notice or
  order was received, and the former law is continued in effect for
  that purpose.
         SECTION 12.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
 
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