85R23278 JTS-F

By: Workman H.B. No. 1572

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1572:

By: Oliveira C.S.H.B. No. 1572

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a residential property owner's right to remove a tree or vegetation that the owner believes poses a fire risk.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 240.909(b), Local Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) Except as provided by Section 250.008, the [The] commissioners court of a county subject to this section may prohibit or restrict the clear-cutting of live oak trees in the unincorporated area of the county.

SECTION 2. The heading to Chapter 250, Local Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

CHAPTER 250. MISCELLANEOUS LOCAL GOVERNMENT REGULATORY AUTHORITY

[OF MUNICIPALITIES AND COUNTIES]

SECTION 3. Chapter 250, Local Government Code, is amended by adding Section 250.008 to read as follows:

Sec. 250.008. REMOVAL OF TREE OR VEGETATION ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY THAT POSES FIRE RISK. (a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (c), a municipality, county, or other political subdivision may not enact or enforce any ordinance, rule, or other regulation that restricts the ability of a residential property owner to remove a tree or vegetation on the owner's property that the owner believes poses a risk of fire to a structure on the property or on adjacent property, including a regulation that requires the owner to file an affidavit or notice before removing the tree or vegetation.

(b) This section does not prevent the enforcement of an ordinance, rule, or other regulation:

(1) on residential property being developed under a municipal permit; or

(2) that:

(A) restricts the ability of a residential property owner to remove a tree eight inches or larger in diameter at four and a half feet above the natural ground, except that no restrictions may be made on the ability to remove, regardless of size:

(i) a mesquite (genus Prosopis) tree;

(ii) a juniper (genus Juniperus) tree;

(iii) a salt cedar (genus Tamarix) tree;

(iv) a hackberry (genus Celtis) tree; or

(v) a plant species included on the list of noxious and invasive plant species published by the Department of Agriculture as required by Section 71.151, Agriculture Code; or

(B) is designed to mitigate tree-borne diseases as recommended by the Texas A&M Forest Service.

(c) This section does not apply to a municipality whose extraterritorial jurisdiction is immediately adjacent to or includes all or part of a federal military installation in active use as of September 1, 2017.

SECTION 4. Chapter 202, Property Code, is amended by adding Section 202.013 to read as follows:

Sec. 202.013. REGULATION OF CERTAIN TREE OR VEGETATION REMOVAL. (a) A property owners' association may not include or enforce a provision in a dedicatory instrument that restricts the ability of a property owner to remove a tree or vegetation on the owner's property that the owner believes poses a risk of fire to a structure on the property or on adjacent property, including a provision that requires the owner to file an affidavit or notice before removing the tree or vegetation.

(b) This section does not apply to:

(1) a provision in a dedicatory instrument designed to mitigate tree-borne disease as recommended by the Texas A&M Forest Service; or

(2) an area of an owner's residential property that is in a specified drainage or conservation easement shown on a plat recorded with the applicable political subdivision.

SECTION 5. Section 202.013, Property Code, as added by this Act, applies to a dedicatory instrument without regard to whether the dedicatory instrument takes effect or is renewed before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2017.