83R21218 SGA-F
By: Hilderbran, Lucio III H.B. No. 2146
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2146:
By: Callegari C.S.H.B. No. 2146
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain restrictions on the mining of marl, sand,
gravel, shell, or mudshell in certain protected freshwater areas.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds that to help
facilitate the statewide and regional goals of making efficient and
responsible use of the state's water and other natural resources,
the addition of Section 86.0021, Parks and Wildlife Code, under
Section 2 of this Act, is needed to assist in protecting the
integrity of navigable rivers and streams in protected freshwater
areas within the Edwards Plateau, as described by that section,
while also protecting private property rights and addressing the
need for the mining of sand, gravel, and other sedimentary
materials for commercial use in this state. The Legislature finds
that the Edwards Plateau is of significant statewide importance
because, among many other attributes and features:
(1) it is biologically diverse and contains the
headwaters of many significant rivers and streams that form the
basis for varied ecosystems and are therefore essential to fishing,
hunting, swimming, boating, and other recreational and tourist
activities enjoyed by Texans throughout the state and by visitors
from around the nation and other countries;
(2) it is the only area that contains and sustains the
official state fish of Texas, the Guadalupe bass, is an area in
which almost half of the Texas white-tailed deer population is
found, and is important to the fishing, hunting, boating, and other
recreational communities of Texas and of areas outside this state,
and is therefore important to the state's economy;
(3) its ranching and agricultural industries, which
are water intensive, are of both state and national renown and
importance; and
(4) all of the attributes and features of the area
listed in this subsection and in Subsection (b) of this section are
important to the state's economic, social, ecological, and
environmental well-being, and therefore make the preservation of
the area's rivers and streams in the most pristine condition
possible an essential state priority.
(b) The Legislature further finds that creating reasonable
restrictions on the mining operations described by Subsection (a)
of this section is of statewide importance and applicability and is
necessary to facilitate the prevention of:
(1) further adverse effects on the overburdened
freshwater resources of this state;
(2) adverse effects on the Texas tourist industry,
recreational activities, and other economic assets in the affected
areas, including long-standing traditional summer camps and
hunting and fishing operations enjoyed by Texans throughout the
state and by visitors from around the nation and other countries;
(3) adverse effects on the value of land along the
rivers and streams in the affected areas;
(4) damage or degradation of water quality, fish and
wildlife resources and their habitat, vegetation, and other natural
resources;
(5) adverse effects on navigation, currents affecting
navigation, and the natural course of navigable rivers and streams;
(6) damage, degradation, or erosion of the bed,
bottom, or banks of navigable rivers and streams; and
(7) the potential increase of downstream nonpoint
source pollution and damage or degradation of related bays,
estuaries, wetlands, and their ecosystems.
SECTION 2. Chapter 86, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended
by adding Section 86.0021 to read as follows:
Sec. 86.0021. COMMERCIAL MINING IN CERTAIN PROTECTED
FRESHWATER AREAS RESTRICTED. Notwithstanding any other provision
of this chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter, the commission
may not grant a permit, or one or more contemporaneous permits
covering adjacent locations, to take more than 1,000 cubic yards of
marl, sand, gravel, shell, or mudshell from a protected freshwater
area, as that term is defined by Section 90.001, unless:
(1) the area covered by the permit is located east of
Interstate 35 or outside the Edwards Plateau, which for purposes of
this section is composed of Bandera, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet, Comal,
Crockett, Edwards, Gillespie, Hays, Irion, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble,
Lampasas, Llano, Mason, McCulloch, Medina, Menard, Reagan, Real,
San Saba, Schleicher, Sterling, Sutton, Travis, Uvalde, Val Verde,
and Williamson Counties; or
(2) the marl, sand, gravel, shell, or mudshell will
not be sold.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a permit granted by the Parks and Wildlife Commission under
Chapter 86, Parks and Wildlife Code, on or after the effective date
of this Act. A permit granted by the commission before that date is
governed by the law in effect on the date the permit was granted,
and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2013.