BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 4711

By: Manuel

Transportation

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The Sabine-Neches Navigation District has been working with the Army Corps of Engineers for several years to modernize the Sabine-Neches Waterway with a federally authorized deepening project that will make the waterway one of the first in the nation to meet the new depth of the Panama Canal. As the district begins the process for federal authorization to widen the channel to meet the growing needs of the waterway, H.B. 4711 seeks to clarify that the district is authorized to be the project sponsor of such a widening project as well as the current deepening 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

H.B. 4711 amends Chapter 1472 , Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, to clarify that the Sabine-Neches Navigation District of Jefferson County, Texas, is the project sponsor of any improvement project authorized by the federal Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 or any other federal development initiative to improve an existing facility of the district, deepen the Sabine-Neches Waterway, or widen the Sabine-Neches Waterway. The bill clarifies that the district is also the nonfederal cost-sharing sponsor of such improvement projects.

H.B. 4711 establishes that the legislature validates and confirms all governmental acts and proceedings of the district that were taken before the bill's effective date. This provision expressly does not apply to any matter that on the bill's effective date is involved in litigation if the litigation ultimately results in the matter being held invalid by a final court judgment or has been held invalid by such a judgment.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2023.