| 1 | 1 | | By: Rios Ybarra H.B. No. 1213 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to the use of golf carts on beaches. |
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| 7 | 7 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 8 | 8 | | SECTION 1. Section 61.011(d), Natural Resources Code, is |
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| 9 | 9 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 10 | 10 | | Sec. 61.011. POLICY AND RULES. (d) The commissioner shall |
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| 11 | 11 | | promulgate rules, consistent with the policies established in this |
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| 12 | 12 | | section, on the following matters only: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (1) acquisition by local governments or other |
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| 14 | 14 | | appropriate entities or public dedication of access ways sufficient |
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| 15 | 15 | | to provide adequate public ingress and egress to and from the beach |
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| 16 | 16 | | within the area described in Subdivision (6); |
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| 17 | 17 | | (2) protection of the public easement from erosion or |
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| 18 | 18 | | reduction caused by development or other activities on adjacent |
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| 19 | 19 | | land and beach cleanup and maintenance; |
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| 20 | 20 | | (3) local government prohibitions of vehicular |
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| 21 | 21 | | traffic on public beaches, provision of off-beach parking, use of |
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| 22 | 22 | | motorized golf cart vehicles on the beach by disabled persons, and |
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| 23 | 23 | | other minimum measures needed to mitigate for any adverse effect on |
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| 24 | 24 | | public access and dune areas; |
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| 25 | 25 | | (4) imposition of beach access, user, or parking fees |
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| 26 | 26 | | and reasonable exercises of the police power by local governments |
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| 27 | 27 | | with respect to public beaches; |
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| 28 | 28 | | (5) contents and certification of beach access and use |
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| 29 | 29 | | plans and standards for local government review of construction on |
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| 30 | 30 | | land adjacent to and landward of public beaches, including |
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| 31 | 31 | | procedures for expedited review of beach access and use plans under |
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| 32 | 32 | | Section 61.015; |
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| 33 | 33 | | (6) construction on land adjacent to and landward of |
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| 34 | 34 | | public beaches and lying in the area either up to the first public |
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| 35 | 35 | | road generally parallel to the beach or to any closer public road |
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| 36 | 36 | | not parallel to the beach, or to within 1,000 feet of mean high |
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| 37 | 37 | | tide, whichever is greater, that affects or may affect public |
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| 38 | 38 | | access to and use of public beaches; |
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| 39 | 39 | | (7) the temporary suspension under Section 61.0185 of |
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| 40 | 40 | | enforcement of the prohibition against encroachments on and |
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| 41 | 41 | | interferences with the public beach easement and the ability of a |
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| 42 | 42 | | property owner to make repairs to a house while a suspension is in |
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| 43 | 43 | | effect; |
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| 44 | 44 | | (8) the determination of the line of vegetation or |
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| 45 | 45 | | natural line of vegetation; |
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| 46 | 46 | | (9) the factors to be considered in determining |
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| 47 | 47 | | whether a structure, improvement, obstruction, barrier, or hazard |
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| 48 | 48 | | on the public beach: |
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| 49 | 49 | | (A) constitutes an imminent hazard to safety, |
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| 50 | 50 | | health, or public welfare; or |
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| 51 | 51 | | (B) substantially interferes with the free and |
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| 52 | 52 | | unrestricted right of the public to enter or leave the public beach |
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| 53 | 53 | | or traverse any part of the public beach; and |
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| 54 | 54 | | (10) the procedures for determining whether a |
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| 55 | 55 | | structure is not insurable property for purposes of Section |
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| 56 | 56 | | 2210.004, Insurance Code, because of the factors listed in |
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| 57 | 57 | | Subsection (h) of that section. |
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