By: Burrows H.B. No. 4107
        (Senate Sponsor - Kolkhorst, Hall, Schwertner)
         (In the Senate - Received from the House May 17, 2021;
  May 17, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on State
  Affairs; May 21, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote:  
  Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 21, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the notice of entry for the purpose of exercising the
  power of eminent domain by a common carrier pipeline.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 111.019, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended by adding Subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g) to read as
  follows:
         (d)  Before entering property for the purpose of making a
  preliminary survey to be used in the exercise of the power of
  eminent domain granted under this section, the common carrier or
  its employees, contractors, agents, or assigns shall provide the
  property owner with:
               (1)  written notice of the carrier's intent to enter the
  property; and
               (2)  an indemnification provision in favor of the
  property owner with respect to damages, if any, resulting from the
  survey.
         (e)  Notice and indemnification provided under Subsection
  (d):
               (1)  must be provided to the property owner not later
  than the second day before the date of entry to the property;
               (2)  must include the phone number of a person whom the
  property owner may contact regarding any questions or objections
  the property owner has relating to the survey; and
               (3)  may be provided by first class mail, e-mail,
  personal delivery to an adult living on the property, or by any
  other method of service authorized by the Texas Rules of Civil
  Procedure.
         (f)  Entry to property for which notice is provided under
  Subsection (d) is subject to the conditions that the entry:
               (1)  is limited to only the portion of the property
  that:
                     (A)  is anticipated to be affected by:
                           (i)  the route of the proposed pipeline; or
                           (ii)  a proposed pipeline appurtenance; or
                     (B)  must be accessed to conduct the survey,
  including the property corners or property location monuments
  necessary to identify the boundaries of the property;
               (2)  is limited to the purpose of conducting surveys;
               (3)  unless otherwise authorized by the property owner,
  does not authorize the cutting, removal, or relocation of a fence
  for the purpose of conducting the survey without the prompt
  restoration or repair of the fence;
               (4)  requires the restoration of property to be as
  close as reasonably possible to the original condition before
  entry;
               (5)  requires all equipment and tools used in the
  survey to be removed by a certain date; and
               (6)  requires that the property owner, on written
  request, be provided, at no charge, a survey plat or depiction
  gathered and prepared from information obtained from the survey.
         (g)  This section does not prevent an entity from seeking
  survey access rights or seeking to prevent interference with those
  rights in a civil action authorized under other law.
         SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act to Section
  111.019, Natural Resources Code, apply only to a condemnation
  proceeding in which the petition is filed on or after the effective
  date of this Act and to any property condemned through the
  proceeding. A condemnation proceeding in which the petition is
  filed before the effective date of this Act and any property
  condemned through the proceeding are governed by the law in effect
  immediately before that date, and that law is continued in effect
  for that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
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