By: Workman H.B. No. 3087
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the condemnation of conservation easements.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.0122, Property Code, is hereby
established as follows:
The application of any law, rule, policy, ordinance or
regulation promulgated under the Government Code, Local Government
Code, Water Code OR Natural Resources Code that has the effect of
requiring that more than 50% of the surface area of an owner's
private real property remain in a natural or undeveloped state,
exclusive of the 100-year floodplain as determined by agencies of
the United States government, is a conservation easement, the
establishment and enforcement of which will require:
(a) the consent of the owner under Chapter 183 of the
Natural Resources Code; or
(b) the exercise of the power of eminent domain under
this Chapter.
SECTION 2. Section 1 does not apply to the following
governmental actions:
(a) a lawful forfeiture or seizure of contraband as
defined by Article 59.01, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(b) a lawful seizure of property as evidence of a crime
or violation of law;
(c) the authority of a municipality, a county, another
political subdivision, the state, or an agency of the state, with
respect to the implementation or enforcement of an ordinance, a
rule, or a statutory standard of a program, plan, or ordinance that
was adopted under:
(1) the federal Coastal Zone Management Act of
1972 (16 U.S.C. Section 1451 et seq.); or
(2) Subtitle E, Title 2, Natural Resources Code;
(d) a permit, order, rule, regulation, or other action
issued, adopted, or undertaken by a municipality, a county, another
political subdivision, the state, or an agency of the state in
connection with:
(1) the federal Coastal Zone Management Act of
1972 (16 U.S.C. Section 1451 et seq.); or
(2) Subtitle E, Title 2, Natural Resources Code;
or
(e) the enforcement or implementation of Subchapter B,
Chapter 61, Natural Resources Code, as it existed on September 1,
1995, or to the enforcement or implementation of any rule or similar
measure that was adopted under that subchapter and was in existence
on September 1, 1995.
(f) an action taken by a political subdivision to
ensure compliance with on-site sewage facility regulations
promulgated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
SECTION 3. 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.