Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1643 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	By: Riddle (Senate Sponsor - Creighton) H.B. No. 1643
2		-	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2015;
3		-	May 5, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
4		-	Intergovernmental Relations; May 18, 2015, reported favorably by
5		-	the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 18, 2015, sent to printer.)
6		-	Click here to see the committee vote
	1	+	H.B. No. 1643
7	2
8	3
9		-	COMMITTEE VOTE
10		-	YeaNayAbsentPNV
11		-	LucioX
12		-	BettencourtX
13		-	CampbellX
14		-	GarciaX
15		-	MenéndezX
16		-	NicholsX
17		-	TaylorofGalvestonX
18		-	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
19	4		AN ACT
20	5		relating to abatement of public nuisances on certain undeveloped
21	6		land; amending provisions subject to a criminal penalty.
22	7		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
23	8		SECTION 1. Section 343.002, Health and Safety Code, is
24	9		amended by adding Subdivision (10-a) and amending Subdivision (11)
25	10		to read as follows:
26	11		(10-a) "Undeveloped land" means land in a natural,
27	12		primitive state that lacks improvements, infrastructure, or
28	13		utilities and that is located in an unincorporated area at least
29	14		5,000 feet outside the boundaries of a home-rule municipality.
30	15		(11) "Weeds" means all rank and uncultivated vegetable
31	16		growth or matter that:
32	17		(A) has grown to more than 36 inches in height; or
33	18		(B) creates [may create] an unsanitary condition
34	19		likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes, [become a harborage for]
35	20		rodents, vermin, or other disease-carrying pests, regardless of the
36	21		height of the weeds.
37	22		SECTION 2. Section 343.011, Health and Safety Code, is
38	23		amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d-1) to
39	24		read as follows:
40	25		(c) A public nuisance is:
41	26		(1) keeping, storing, or accumulating refuse on
42	27		premises in a neighborhood unless the refuse is entirely contained
43	28		in a closed receptacle;
44	29		(2) keeping, storing, or accumulating rubbish,
45	30		including newspapers, abandoned vehicles, refrigerators, stoves,
46	31		furniture, tires, and cans, on premises in a neighborhood or within
47	32		300 feet of a public street for 10 days or more, unless the rubbish
48	33		or object is completely enclosed in a building or is not visible
49	34		from a public street;
50	35		(3) maintaining premises in a manner that creates an
51	36		unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes,
52	37		rodents, vermin, or other disease-carrying pests;
53	38		(4) allowing weeds to grow on premises in a
54	39		neighborhood if the weeds are located within 300 feet of another
55	40		residence or commercial establishment;
56	41		(5) maintaining a building in a manner that is
57	42		structurally unsafe or constitutes a hazard to safety, health, or
58	43		public welfare because of inadequate maintenance, unsanitary
59	44		conditions, dilapidation, obsolescence, disaster, damage, or
60	45		abandonment or because it constitutes a fire hazard;
61	46		(6) maintaining on abandoned and unoccupied property
62	47		in a neighborhood a swimming pool that is not protected with:
63	48		(A) a fence that is at least four feet high and
64	49		that has a latched and locked gate; and
65	50		(B) a cover over the entire swimming pool that
66	51		cannot be removed by a child;
67	52		(7) maintaining on any property in a neighborhood in a
68	53		county with a population of more than 1.1 million a swimming pool
69	54		that is not protected with:
70	55		(A) a fence that is at least four feet high and
71	56		that has a latched gate that cannot be opened by a child; or
72	57		(B) a cover over the entire swimming pool that
73	58		cannot be removed by a child;
74	59		(8) maintaining a flea market in a manner that
75	60		constitutes a fire hazard;
76	61		(9) discarding refuse or creating a hazardous visual
77	62		obstruction on:
78	63		(A) county-owned land; or
79	64		(B) land or easements owned or held by a special
80	65		district that has the commissioners court of the county as its
81	66		governing body;
82	67		(10) discarding refuse on the smaller of:
83	68		(A) the area that spans 20 feet on each side of a
84	69		utility line; or
85	70		(B) the actual span of the utility easement;
86	71		(11) filling or blocking a drainage easement, failing
87	72		to maintain a drainage easement, maintaining a drainage easement in
88	73		a manner that allows the easement to be clogged with debris,
89	74		sediment, or vegetation, or violating an agreement with the county
90	75		to improve or maintain a drainage easement;
91	76		(12) discarding refuse on property that is not
92	77		authorized for that activity; or
93	78		(13) surface discharge from an on-site sewage disposal
94	79		system as defined by Section 366.002.
95	80		(d-1) This subsection applies only to a county with a
96	81		population of 3.3 million or more and only in an unincorporated area
97	82		in the county that is at least 5,000 feet outside the boundaries of
98	83		a home-rule municipality. Subsections (c)(3) and (4) apply only to
99	84		undeveloped land in the county for which:
100	85		(1) a condition on that land has been found to cause a
101	86		public nuisance under those provisions in the preceding year; and
102	87		(2) a finding of public nuisance could have been
103	88		applied to that condition when the condition first occurred.
104	89		SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
105	90		a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
106	91		provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
107	92		Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
108	93		Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
109		-	* * * * *
	94	+	______________________________ ______________________________
	95	+	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
	96	+	I certify that H.B. No. 1643 was passed by the House on May 4,
	97	+	2015, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 0, 1 present, not
	98	+	voting.
	99	+	______________________________
	100	+	Chief Clerk of the House
	101	+	I certify that H.B. No. 1643 was passed by the Senate on May
	102	+	22, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
	103	+	______________________________
	104	+	Secretary of the Senate
	105	+	APPROVED: _____________________
	106	+	Date
	107	+	_____________________
	108	+	Governor