H.B. No. 1510
AN ACT
relating to the transfer of certain functions related to emergency
services districts from the Department of Agriculture to the Texas
Division of Emergency Management.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 487.061, Government Code, is transferred
to Subchapter C, Chapter 418, Government Code, redesignated as
Section 418.053, Government Code, and amended to read as follows:
Sec. 418.053 [487.061]. EMERGENCY SERVICES DISTRICT
PROGRAM. (a) The division [department] shall serve as a resource
to provide interested rural communities with:
(1) general information about emergency services
districts; and
(2) information and training related to the
establishment of an emergency services district.
(b) The division [department] may:
(1) provide to fire departments in rural areas
information relating to assistance programs offered to rural
volunteer firefighters, including the federal Staffing for
Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant program to help fire
departments increase staffing and deployment capabilities; and
(2) provide to rural homeowners information relating
to the benefits of volunteer fire departments, including a
reduction in homeowners insurance risk ratings, lower homeowners
insurance rates, and better fire protection.
SECTION 2. Sections 775.083(a), (b), and (c), Health and
Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) On or before January 1 of each year, a district shall
file with the Texas Division of Emergency Management [Department of
Rural Affairs] an annual report that includes the following:
(1) the district's name;
(2) the name of each county in which the district is
located;
(3) the district's business address;
(4) the name, mailing address, and term of office of
each commissioner;
(5) the name, mailing address, and term of office of
the district's general manager, executive director, and fire chief;
(6) the name of each legal counsel or other consultant
for the district; and
(7) the district's annual budget and tax rate for the
preceding fiscal year.
(b) The Texas Division of Emergency Management [Department
of Rural Affairs] may not charge a fee for filing the report.
(c) The Texas Division of Emergency Management [Department
of Rural Affairs] shall develop and maintain an Internet-based
system that enables:
(1) a district to securely file the report and update
the district's information; and
(2) the public to view, in a searchable format, the
reports filed by districts under this section.
SECTION 3. Not later than January 1, 2018, the following are
transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Texas
Division of Emergency Management:
(1) the powers, duties, functions, programs, and
activities of the Department of Agriculture relating to the duties
described by Section 418.053, Government Code, as transferred,
redesignated, and amended by this Act;
(2) any obligations and contracts of the Department of
Agriculture that are directly related to implementing a power,
duty, function, program, or activity described by Subdivision (1)
of this section; and
(3) all property and records in the custody of the
Department of Agriculture that are related to a power, duty,
function, program, or activity described by Subdivision (1) of this
section and all funds appropriated by the legislature for that
power, duty, function, program, or activity.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section
775.083, Health and Safety Code, applies only to an annual report
due on or after January 1, 2019. An annual report due before
January 1, 2019, is governed by the law as it existed immediately
before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1510 was passed by the House on May 4,
2017, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1510 was passed by the Senate on May
24, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor