| 1 | 1 | | By: Kolkhorst H.B. No. 1377 |
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| 2 | 2 | | Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1377: |
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| 3 | 3 | | By: Dutton C.S.H.B. No. 1377 |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 7 | 7 | | AN ACT |
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| 8 | 8 | | relating to the ownership and local regulation of trees and timber. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Title 6, Natural Resources Code, is amended by |
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| 11 | 11 | | adding Chapter 154 to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | CHAPTER 154. OWNERSHIP AND LOCAL REGULATION OF TREES AND TIMBER |
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| 13 | 13 | | Sec. 154.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (1) "Governmental entity" means a political |
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| 15 | 15 | | subdivision of the state, including: |
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| 16 | 16 | | (A) a municipality; and |
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| 17 | 17 | | (B) a county. |
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| 18 | 18 | | (2) "Mitigation fee" means a fee assessed by a |
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| 19 | 19 | | municipality for the removal of a tree. |
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| 20 | 20 | | (3) "Removal of a tree" means the harvesting, cutting, |
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| 21 | 21 | | or destruction of a tree, including the damaging of a tree in a way |
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| 22 | 22 | | that will cause the death of the tree, as determined by a |
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| 23 | 23 | | governmental entity, on or before the first anniversary of the date |
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| 24 | 24 | | of the damage. |
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| 25 | 25 | | (4) "Replacement tree" means a tree that is planted to |
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| 26 | 26 | | replace a tree removed from a landowner's land. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Sec. 154.002. OWNERSHIP OF TREES AND TIMBER. A landowner |
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| 28 | 28 | | owns all trees and timber located on the landowner's land as a part |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the real property until cut or otherwise removed from the land, |
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| 30 | 30 | | unless otherwise provided by a contract, bill of sale, deed, |
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| 31 | 31 | | mortgage, deed of trust, or other legally binding document. |
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| 32 | 32 | | Sec. 154.003. LOCAL REGULATION OF TREES AND TIMBER. (a) A |
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| 33 | 33 | | governmental entity may not prohibit a landowner from trimming or |
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| 34 | 34 | | removing trees or timber located on the landowner's land. |
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| 35 | 35 | | (b) A municipality may, if authorized by other state law and |
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| 36 | 36 | | subject to the limitations of that law, assess a mitigation fee |
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| 37 | 37 | | against a landowner for the removal of a tree on the landowner's |
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| 38 | 38 | | land. A mitigation fee: |
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| 39 | 39 | | (1) must be proportional to the value of the tree |
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| 40 | 40 | | removed; and |
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| 41 | 41 | | (2) may be used only in the jurisdiction in which the |
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| 42 | 42 | | fee is collected and only for the purpose of tree planting and other |
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| 43 | 43 | | related activities. |
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| 44 | 44 | | (c) A landowner is entitled to plant a replacement tree at |
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| 45 | 45 | | the landowner's expense instead of paying a mitigation fee. A |
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| 46 | 46 | | landowner who chooses to plant a replacement tree is not required to |
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| 47 | 47 | | plant a number of replacement trees whose total diameter is greater |
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| 48 | 48 | | than the total diameter of all the trees to which the mitigation fee |
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| 49 | 49 | | would have applied. |
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| 50 | 50 | | (d) Notwithstanding any other law, a municipality may not |
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| 51 | 51 | | regulate the trimming or removal of trees or timber in the |
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| 52 | 52 | | extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality. |
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| 53 | 53 | | (e) Subsections (a) and (c) do not apply to the regulation |
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| 54 | 54 | | of trees or timber within three miles of a federal military base in |
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| 55 | 55 | | active use as of September 1, 2013. |
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| 56 | 56 | | (f) Subsection (b) does not apply to a tree removed during |
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| 57 | 57 | | active agriculture, ranching, or timber operations. |
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| 58 | 58 | | (g) Subsection (d) does not apply to a municipality whose |
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| 59 | 59 | | extraterritorial jurisdiction is adjacent to or includes all or |
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| 60 | 60 | | part of a federal military base in active use as of September 1, |
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| 61 | 61 | | 2013. |
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| 62 | 62 | | (h) This section does not affect the authority of a county |
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| 63 | 63 | | to regulate the cutting of trees under Section 240.909, Local |
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| 64 | 64 | | Government Code. |
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| 65 | 65 | | (i) This section does not apply to the facilities or |
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| 66 | 66 | | operations of an electric utility or a transmission and |
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| 67 | 67 | | distribution utility, as those terms are defined by Section 31.002, |
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| 68 | 68 | | Utilities Code. |
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| 69 | 69 | | Sec. 154.004. APPLICABILITY TO TREE TRIMMING OR REMOVAL IN |
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| 70 | 70 | | UTILITY RIGHT-OF-WAY. This chapter does not apply to the trimming |
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| 71 | 71 | | or removal of a tree in the easement or right-of-way of a pipeline |
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| 72 | 72 | | or utility line. |
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| 73 | 73 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |
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