BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	H.B. 4166
86R14436 SLB-D	By: VanDeaver (Hughes)
	Water & Rural Affairs
	5/15/2019
	Engrossed

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

H.B. 4166, if enacted and funds appropriated, will enable the Red River Authority (RRA) to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a feasibility study to determine if barge traffic and other kinds of boating are possible on the Red River from Texarkana to Denison. Experts estimate that it will cost $750,000 to conduct this study. The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) has also agreed to contribute $500,000 toward the feasibility study. In addition to the funding mentioned above for a feasibility study, the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indian Nations, north of the Red River, will also contribute funding to study the possibility of expanding navigation on the Red River. A recently released study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on expanding the navigation of the Red River in southwestern Arkansas found benefits of developing the Red River in southwestern Arkansas outweigh the costs. This project targets an expansion along 142 miles just north of Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana, to the Index Bridge at U.S. 71, about nine miles north of Texarkana, Texas. These findings further the urgency of studying the further expansion of the Red River from Texarkana to Denison.

H.B. 4166 amends current law relating to a study of the feasibility of the expansion of navigation on the Red River by the Red River Authority of Texas.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. (a) Requires the Red River Authority of Texas (RRA) to study the feasibility of increasing navigation on the Red River between Texarkana and Denison by completing the navigation system of locks and dams or other means.

(b) Requires RRA, not later than January 1, 2021, to submit to the standing committees of the legislature having jurisdiction over navigation a report on the findings of the study.

(c) Provides that this section expires January 2, 2021.

SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 2019.