By: Birdwell S.B. No. 1198

(In the Senate - Filed February 10, 2025; February 28, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources; March 24, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; March 24, 2025, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1198 By: Parker

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the designation of spaceports as critical infrastructure facilities for purposes of criminal and civil liability.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 424.001, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 424.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "critical infrastructure facility" has the meaning assigned by Section 423.0045(a)(1-a) and also includes:

(1) any pipeline transporting oil or gas or the products or constituents of oil or gas;

(2) a public or private airport depicted in any current aeronautical chart published by the Federal Aviation Administration;

(3) a military installation owned or operated by or for the federal government, this state, or another governmental entity; [and]

(4) any property or facility that is:

(A) used for the launch, landing, recovery, or testing of spacecraft, as defined by Section 507.001, Local Government Code; and

(B) licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration or operated by a spaceport development corporation under Chapter 507, Local Government Code; and

(5) a property, facility, or pipeline described by this section that is under construction and all equipment and appurtenances used during that construction.

SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense was committed before that date.

SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. A cause of action that accrues before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the cause of action accrued, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

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