By: Walle H.B. No. 3853
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the administration by the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board of proposed biological and environmental
research by institutions of higher education on private property.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter LL to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER LL. BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH BY
INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION ON PRIVATE PROPERTY.
Sec. 61.9851. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "biological
and environmental research" means research in furtherance of
farming, ranching, or wildlife management purposes and includes
such activities as site visits, surveys, data and sample
collection, monitoring, site manipulation, and periods of idleness
between those activities. Biological and environmental research
does not require the physical presence of a researcher on the land
for a greater number of days in a calendar year than necessary for
scientifically valid research.
Sec. 61.9852. REVIEW OF BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL
RESEARCH. (a) The board shall establish a program to review the
scientific validity of proposed biological and environmental
research conducted by a public or private institution of higher
education on private property under agreement with the landowner.
(b) The board shall appoint a scientific review committee to
consider proposed biological and environmental research by
institutions of higher education on private property. Members of
the committee must have scientific expertise in the areas of
farming, ranching, or wildlife management and have participated in
peer review of scientific research.
(c) Under the program, the landowner of private property
shall submit a biological and environmental research proposal
developed by an institution of higher education seeking to conduct
biological and environmental research on the property to the
scientific review committee for evaluation along with an
application fee in an amount determined by the board not to exceed
the board's costs in administering this subchapter. The board by
rule shall prescribe the form of the proposal and any documentation
required to accompany the proposal.
(d) The committee shall review each proposal and determine
whether the proposed biological and environmental research is
scientifically valid and would result in valuable scientific
knowledge in the field of biological and environmental research.
(e) Not later than the 90th day after the date the last item
of required documentation for the proposal is submitted to the
committee, the committee shall issue a written recommendation to
the submitting landowner and the institution of higher education
that developed the proposal on the results of its review under
Subsection (d) and a brief synopsis of the reasons for its
recommendation.
Sec. 61.9853. FORMS FOR PROGRAM. (a) In conjunction with
the comptroller, the board shall develop the form of:
(1) a written agreement to be used by an institution of
higher education and a landowner who seeks to devote land
principally to biological and environmental research; and
(2) a written statement to be filed by the landowner
with the chief appraiser of the central appraisal district in which
the land is located.
(b) The form for the written agreement under Subsection
(a)(1) must:
(1) contain statements that:
(A) allow the public or private institution of
higher education to engage in biological and environmental research
on the land throughout the year, subject to reasonable notice; and
(B) require that other uses of the land are
subordinate to biological and environmental research; and
(2) contain space for the signatures of:
(A) the owner of the land that is the subject of
the agreement or the owner's designee; and
(B) an administrative official of an institution
of higher education who has the authority to enter into a binding
contract on behalf of the institution.
(c) The form under Subsection (a)(2) must allow the
supervising faculty member from the public or private institution
of higher education allowed to engage in biological and
environmental research on the land to affirm that:
(1) the tract of land that will be the subject of
the research consists of 20 or more acres;
(2) at least three biological and environmental
research projects will be conducted on the land during the tax year
for which an appraisal as qualified open-space land is sought;
(3) the biological and environmental research to be
conducted on the land is in furtherance of farming, ranching, or
wildlife management purposes;
(4) the proposed biological and environmental
research has been reviewed and recommended by the scientific review
committee established under Sec. 61.9852;
(5) other uses of the land are subordinate to the
biological and environmental research; and
(6) site visits to the land will be conducted in a
number that is scientifically valid and generally acceptable in the
field of biological and environmental research.
Sec. 61.9854. EFFECT ON LAND ON WHICH BIOLOGICAL AND
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH OCCURS. Land that consists of 20 or more
acres which is the subject of an agreement to perform biological and
environmental research under this subchapter is eligible for
appraisal as qualified open-space land under Subchapter D, Chapter
23, Tax Code, if the land is subject to an executed written
agreement described by Sec. 61.9853(a)(1) and the landowner files
the written statement described by Sec. 61.9853(a)(2) for the tax
year for which the qualified open-space land appraisal is sought.
Sec. 61.9855 RULES. The board may adopt rules as necessary
to implement this subchapter.
SECTION 4
. This Act takes effect January 1, 2020.