Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2535 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R8880 SLB-F
2	2	By: Zedler H.B. No. 2535
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the ownership and local regulation of trees and timber.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Title 6, Natural Resources Code, is amended by
10	10	adding Chapter 154 to read as follows:
11	11	CHAPTER 154. OWNERSHIP AND LOCAL REGULATION OF TREES AND TIMBER
12	12	Sec. 154.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
13	13	(1) "Governmental entity" means a political
14	14	subdivision of the state, including:
15	15	(A) a municipality; and
16	16	(B) a county.
17	17	(2) "Mature tree" means a tree greater than 10 inches
18	18	in girth measured 4-1/2 feet above the natural grade.
19	19	(3) "Mitigation fee" means a fee assessed by a
20	20	governmental entity for the removal of a tree.
21	21	(4) "Removal of a tree" means the harvesting, cutting,
22	22	or destruction of a tree, including the damaging of a tree in a way
23	23	that will cause the death of the tree on or before the first
24	24	anniversary of the date of the damage, as determined by a
25	25	governmental entity.
26	26	(5) "Replacement tree" means a tree of not less than
27	27	three inches in girth measured 4-1/2 feet above the natural grade
28	28	that is planted to replace a tree removed from a landowner's land.
29	29	Sec. 154.002. OWNERSHIP OF TREES AND TIMBER. A landowner
30	30	owns all trees and timber located on the landowner's land as real
31	31	property until cut or otherwise removed from the land, unless
32	32	otherwise provided by a contract, bill of sale, deed, mortgage,
33	33	deed of trust, or other legally binding document.
34	34	Sec. 154.003. LOCAL REGULATION OF TREES AND TIMBER. (a) A
35	35	governmental entity may not prohibit a landowner from trimming or
36	36	removing trees or timber located on the landowner's land.
37	37	(b) A governmental entity may, if authorized by other state
38	38	law and subject to the limitations of that law, assess a mitigation
39	39	fee against a landowner for the removal of a mature tree on the
40	40	landowner's land. A mitigation fee:
41	41	(1) must be proportional to the value of the mature
42	42	tree removed;
43	43	(2) may not exceed $100 per inch of girth of the mature
44	44	tree removed measured at 4-1/2 feet above the natural grade; and
45	45	(3) may be used only in the jurisdiction in which the
46	46	fee is collected and only for the purpose of tree planting and other
47	47	related activities.
48	48	(c) A landowner is entitled to plant a replacement tree at
49	49	the landowner's expense instead of paying a mitigation fee. A
50	50	landowner who chooses to plant a replacement tree is not required to
51	51	plant a number of replacement trees whose total girth is greater
52	52	than the total girth of all the mature trees to which the mitigation
53	53	fee would have applied.
54	54	(d) Notwithstanding any other law, a municipality may not
55	55	regulate the trimming or removal of trees or timber in the
56	56	extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality.
57	57	(e) Subsection (d) does not apply to a municipality whose
58	58	extraterritorial jurisdiction is adjacent to or includes all or
59	59	part of a federal military base in active use as of September 1,
60	60	2017.
61	61	(f) This section does not affect the authority of a county
62	62	to regulate the cutting of trees under Section 240.909, Local
63	63	Government Code.
64	64	(g) This section does not apply to the facilities or
65	65	operations of an electric utility or a transmission and
66	66	distribution utility, as those terms are defined by Section 31.002,
67	67	Utilities Code.
68	68	Sec. 154.004. APPLICABILITY TO TREE TRIMMING OR REMOVAL IN
69	69	UTILITY RIGHT-OF-WAY. This chapter does not apply to the trimming
70	70	or removal of a tree in the easement or right-of-way of a pipeline
71	71	or utility line.
72	72	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.