By: Bailes (Senate Sponsor - Nichols) H.B. No. 2567
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2017;
May 8, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on
Agriculture, Water & Rural Affairs; May 17, 2017, reported
adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following
vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 17, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2567 By: Hinojosa
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to forest pest control.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 152.001, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 152.001. POLICY. It is the public policy of the State
of Texas to mitigate and control [forest] pests [in or] threatening
forest land [forests] in this state in order to protect associated
ecological [forest] resources, enhance the health [growth] and
maintenance of forests, promote stability of forest-using
industries, ensure public safety [protect recreational wildlife
uses], and conserve the ecosystem [other] values of the forest.
SECTION 2. Sections 152.003(1), (2), (3), (6), and (7),
Natural Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
(1) "Service" means the Texas A&M Forest Service.
(2) "Forest pests" means native insects and diseases,
nonnative invasive insects and diseases, and noxious and invasive
plants included on a list under Section 71.151, Agriculture Code,
that are harmful, injurious, or destructive to forests or trees and
whose damage, if uncontrolled, is of considerable economic and
environmental importance [, and includes:
[(A) pine bark beetles of the genera
Dendroctonus, Ips, Pissodes, and Hylobius;
[(B) sawflies of the genus Neodiprion;
[(C) defoliators in the genera Datana,
Malacosoma, Hyphantria, Diapheromera, and Galerucella;
[(D) pine shoot moth of the genus Rhyacionia;
[(E) wilt of the genus Chalora; and
[(F) rots of the genera Fomes and Polyporus].
(3) "Forest land" means land with at least 10 percent
cover by live trees of any size, including land that formerly had
that amount of tree cover and will be naturally or artificially
regenerated [on which the trees are potentially valuable for timber
products, protection of watersheds, wildlife habitat, recreational
uses, or for other purposes], but does not include land within the
incorporated limits of a village, town, or city.
(6) "Infestation" means actual infestation or
infection at conditions beyond normal proportion causing [abnormal
epidemic] loss to forests [present or future commercial timber
supply or both].
(7) "Landowner" and "owner" mean a person who owns
forest land or has forest land under the person's [his] direction
irrespective of ownership.
SECTION 3. The heading to Subchapter B, Chapter 152,
Natural Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES OF [THE] TEXAS A&M FOREST SERVICE
SECTION 4. Section 152.016, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 152.016. PROCEDURES FOR CONTROL. [(a)] As soon as
practicable after the hearing, the service shall promulgate
procedures to be followed for the control of the infestation and
shall[:
[(1) mail a copy to all appearing at the hearing and to
all to whom notices were originally sent; and
[(2)] publish a copy in a newspaper circulated in the
affected area in the same manner as publication of preliminary
notice.
[(b) Publication as provided in Subsection (a) of this
section is notice to each landowner and each tract of land in the
affected area on the date of publication.]
SECTION 5. Sections 152.018(a), (b), and (c), Natural
Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The notice required by Section 152.017 [of this code]
shall inform the landowner of:
(1) the facts found to exist;
(2) the landowner's [his] responsibilities for the
control measures;
(3) the control technique recommended;
(4) the law under which control must be accomplished;
and
(5) the authority of the service in the event the
landowner takes no action toward controlling the pest.
(b) The notice may be given by:
(1) personal delivery to [service on] the landowner or
[on] the person having control of the forest land;
(2) registered or certified mail directed to the
landowner or person having control of the forest land at that
person's [his] last known address; or
(3) if the identity or [person or his] address of the
landowner or person having control of the forest land is unknown:
(A) [,] publication in one issue of a newspaper
of general circulation in the county in which the land is located;
or
(B) posting notice on the county's Internet
website or on a bulletin board at a place convenient to the public
in the county courthouse for the county in which the land is
located.
(c) A published or posted notice under Subsection (b) must
[of this section shall] include the information specified in
Subsection (a) [of this section], state the name of the owner, if
known, and briefly describe the land to which the notice applies.
SECTION 6. Section 152.019, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 152.019. NOTICE TO FOREST OWNER. If the landowner has
notified the service of a forest owner under [given notice to the
service of an interest in the forest on his land owned by another,
as provided for in] Section 152.064 [of this code], the service
shall furnish the same information to the forest owner that it is
required by [the provisions of] this chapter to give to the
landowner.
SECTION 7. Section 152.020(a), Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A landowner shall inform the [The] service of measures
taken [shall keep informed of what is done] by the landowner to
[take measures to] control the infestation and the results of those
measures [result of it].
SECTION 8. Section 152.021, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 152.021. CONTROL MEASURES APPLIED BY [FOREST] SERVICE.
If the landowner or another person fails to apply the pest control
measures prescribed by the service not later than the 10th day after
the date [are not applied by the landowner or any other person
within 10 days from the time] notice is given under Section 152.014
or 152.018, [as provided in this chapter, exclusive of the date the
notice is given, representatives of] the service may contact the
landowner to offer further assistance or may [shall] enter the land
and have the forest pests controlled [or destroyed].
SECTION 9. Section 152.022, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 152.022. EXPENSE OF CONTROL MEASURES TAKEN BY SERVICE.
(a) The landowner shall pay [Except as provided in Subsection (b)
of this section,] all charges and expenses of [destruction or]
control measures taken by the service [shall be paid by the owner of
the land on which the infestation occurred].
(b) The service shall charge amounts consistent with
current commercial rates for control measures taken [If the tract
with respect to which the service conducted control measures
contains 50 acres of forest land or less and the landowner in whose
name the record title to the land stands owns no more than 50 acres
of forest land in the county in which the infestation occurred, the
cost of control shall be borne] by the service.
SECTION 10. Section 152.023, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 152.023. CLAIM AGAINST LANDOWNER. The amount charged
for [If] control measures taken [is undertaken] by the service [,
the cost, not to exceed $10 for each infested acre or part of an acre
on which control measures have been employed,] constitutes a legal
claim against the landowner, but does not constitute a lien on any
land owned by the landowner.
SECTION 11. Section 152.025, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 152.025. LANDOWNER REIMBURSEMENT. (a) If the
landowner has notified the service of a forest owner under Section
152.064, the landowner is entitled to reasonable reimbursement from
the forest owner [given the service notice of an interest owned by
another in the forest on his land and the landowner has made
expenditures] for amounts:
(1) spent by the landowner for pest control measures
under [purposes as provided in] Section 152.062; or
(2) [of this code, or has] paid on a legal claim
[against him] under [the provisions of] Sections 152.022 through
152.024 [of this code, the landowner is entitled to a reasonable
reimbursement for the expenses from the forest owner].
(b) The amount of reimbursement paid by a forest owner under
Subsection (a) shall be proportional to the interest owned in the
forest by the forest owner.
SECTION 12. Section 152.061, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 152.061. GENERAL DUTY OF LANDOWNER. Each owner of
forest land shall control the forest pests on land owned by the
person [him] or under the person's [his] direction as provided in
this chapter.
SECTION 13. Section 152.062, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 152.062. DUTY TO APPLY CONTROL MEASURES. Not later
than the 10th day after the date [Within 10 days after] notice is
given under [as provided in] Section 152.014 or 152.018 [of this
code, exclusive of the date the notice is given], each affected
landowner shall commence diligently to take measures to control the
infestation as prescribed and continue this activity with all
practical expedition and efficiency under the direction of the
service.
SECTION 14. Section 152.063(a), Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The landowner shall notify the service of the
landowner's [his] actions and the result of those [his] actions.
SECTION 15. Section 152.064, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 152.064. NOTIFYING SERVICE OF FOREST OWNER. If all or
part of the standing trees are owned by someone other than the
landowner, either by a present right or by a future right under the
terms of a valid existing contract, the landowner shall notify the
service of that fact and furnish the name and address [names and
addresses] of each [the] forest owner not later than the 10th day
after the date the landowner receives [within 10 days after
receiving the] notice from the service under [as provided for in]
Section 152.014 or 152.018 [of this code].
SECTION 16. Section 152.105, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 152.105. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR LANDOWNER. If the
final judgment in an action seeking relief from a notice is in favor
of the landowner, the landowner may be entitled to injunctive
relief against the use of any control measures on the landowner's
[his] forest land by the service until a [such] time determined by
[as] the court [may determine].
SECTION 17. Section 152.003(9), Natural Resources Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 18. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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