By: Beckley H.B. No. 520
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the regulation by the Texas Department of
  Transportation of right-of-way landscaping installed by utilities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 202, Transportation Code,
  is amended by adding Section 202.062 to read as follows:
         Sec. 202.062.  LANDSCAPING IN RIGHT-OF-WAY BY UTILITIES.
  (a) In this section, "utility" means a person who owns or operates
  a utility facility in the right-of-way of a state highway,
  including a line, pipeline, conduit, or cable used to provide
  water, saltwater, steam, electricity, gas, oil, communications, or
  waste services.
         (b)  The department by rule shall require a utility that
  disturbs the right-of-way of a state highway while constructing or
  maintaining a utility facility in the right-of-way to install, at
  the utility's expense, in the right-of-way after the construction
  or maintenance is complete plants that:
               (1)  are native, regionally appropriate, and
  pollinator-friendly; and
               (2)  generally grow roots less than four feet below the
  surface.
         (c)  The department may consult with the Department of
  Agriculture as needed for the purposes of this section.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.