BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3514

By: Canales

Transportation

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill author has informed the committee that property owners with land adjacent to a Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) right-of-way for a road often have concerns regarding the aesthetic impact of existing vegetation or the obstruction of their property's visibility due to overgrown plant life, and that many retail businesses dependent on roadway visibility of their services are now obscured. Current law does not allow such property owners to make any vegetation changes no matter its aesthetic impact on their property. C.S.H.B. 3514 seeks to remedy this situation while balancing the needs of businesses, environmental considerations, and the traveling public by providing for the operation of a program by TxDOT to allow a real property owner to plant or replace vegetation in a right-of-way, subject to certain conditions.

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 rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Department of Transportation in SECTION 1 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3514 amends the Transportation Code to require the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) by rule to develop and implement a program to allow an owner of real property abutting or adjoining property acquired by TxDOT for the right-of-way of a road in the state highway system to do the following:

· plant vegetation or replace existing vegetation in the right-of-way if the owner determines that the new vegetation will enhance the aesthetic appeal of the property; or

· replace existing vegetation in the right-of-way if the vegetation to be replaced reduces the visibility of the property.

The program may authorize such a property owner to plant or replace existing vegetation only in the right-of-way, including the outer separation, located within 500 feet of the property. The bill establishes that an owner who plants or replaces vegetation in the right-of-way in accordance with the bill's provisions is responsible for all costs associated with the planting or replacement of vegetation, may use only vegetation adapted to local conditions, must contract with a landscaping professional approved by TxDOT to plant or replace the vegetation, and may not interfere with any public utility infrastructure located in the right-of-way.

C.S.H.B. 3514 prohibits the rules adopted by TxDOT under the bill's provisions from impairing or relinquishing the state's right to use the right-of-way when needed to construct or reconstruct the road for which it was acquired. The bill establishes that use by the owner of adjoining or abutting real property is not abandonment of the right-of-way by TxDOT. The bill expressly does not require a utility that performs work in the right-of-way to replace vegetation or provide compensation to an owner of real property for replacing vegetation if the removal of vegetation is necessary to perform the work. For purposes of this provision, a utility includes a publicly, privately, or cooperatively owned utility that provides telephone, telegraph, communications, electric, gas, heating, water, railroad, storm sewer, sanitary sewer, or pipeline service.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3514 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes a requirement absent from the introduced for a property owner who plants or replaces vegetation in the right-of-way in accordance with the bill's provisions to contract with a landscaping professional approved by TxDOT to plant or replace the vegetation.