BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 4293

By: Paul

Natural Resources

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been noted that a recent report published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers identified major projects to reduce storm surge and flooding and that certain funding was allocated for the projects as well. It has also been noted that certain drainage districts in the affected areas have expressed a willingness to be local partners on the projects. C.S.H.B. 4293 seeks to authorize such districts to enter into a project partnership agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for such a project.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 4293 amends Chapter 34, Acts of the 57th Legislature, 3rd Called Session, 1962; Chapter 307, Acts of the 58th Legislature, Regular Session, 1963; and Chapter 44, Acts of the 57th Legislature, 3rd Called Session, 1962, to authorize the Jefferson County Drainage District No. 7, the Orange County Drainage District of Orange County, Texas, and the Velasco Drainage District to enter into a project partnership agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a project proposed to be located in a respective district and listed in the Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay Texas Coastal Storm Risk Management and Ecosystem Restoration report published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in May 2017. The bill requires a district that enters into a project partnership agreement to develop a maintenance and operation plan for the proposed project and biennially submit a report to the General Land Office (GLO) and the legislature on expenditures of state money relating to a project. The bill adds a temporary provision set to expire January 1, 2021, requiring the initial report to be submitted not later than December 1, 2020, for a district that enters into a project partnership agreement before November 1, 2020. The bill authorizes a district that enters into a project partnership agreement to enter into an agreement for a public‑private partnership to fund a local share of or the costs of the operation and maintenance of the project or an agreement with the GLO to obtain funding for a local match requirement or the operation and maintenance of the project. The bill authorizes a district, if a project is built in the district, to accept money from any source to fund the maintenance and operation of the project and provide local matching funds required by the project partnership agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 4293 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes an authorization for a district that enters into a project partnership agreement under the bill's provisions to enter into an agreement with the GLO to obtain funding for a local match requirement or the operation and maintenance of the project.