86R27155 MM-F
By: Walle H.B. No. 3853
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3853:
By: Walle C.S.H.B. No. 3853
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to biological and environmental research conducted on
private land by a public or private institution of higher education
and the eligibility of that land for appraisal for ad valorem tax
purposes as qualified open-space land; authorizing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter PP to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER PP. BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CONDUCTED ON
PRIVATE LAND
Sec. 61.9961. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "biological
and environmental research" means research and related activities
conducted in furtherance of farming, ranching, and wildlife
management and conducted using site visits, surveys, data
collection, sample collection, monitoring, site manipulation, and
periods of idleness between those activities.
Sec. 61.9962. REVIEW OF PROPOSED 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 an agreement with the landowner.
(b) The board shall appoint a scientific review committee
for the purposes of the program. Members of the committee must:
(1) possess scientific expertise in the area of
farming, ranching, or wildlife management; and
(2) have participated in peer review of scientific
research.
(c) Under the program, a landowner may submit a biological
and environmental research proposal developed by a public or
private institution of higher education seeking to conduct
biological and environmental research on the landowner's land to
the board for review by the scientific review committee.
(d) The board by rule shall prescribe a form for submission
of a research proposal described by Subsection (c) and any
documentation required to accompany the proposal. A submission
must include an application fee in an amount determined by the board
not to exceed the board's costs in administering this subchapter.
(e) The scientific review committee shall review each
proposal submitted under Subsection (c) and determine whether the
proposed biological and environmental research is scientifically
valid and would result in the contribution of valuable scientific
knowledge toward the purposes of biological and environmental
research.
(f) Not later than the 90th day after the date the last item
of required documentation for the proposal is submitted to the
scientific review committee, the committee shall issue a written
determination under Subsection (e), including the reasons for the
committee's determination, to the submitting landowner and the
public or private institution of higher education that developed
the proposal.
Sec. 61.9963. RESEARCH AGREEMENT AND CERTIFICATION
STATEMENT. (a) The board shall develop:
(1) a form for a written agreement to be used by a
public or private institution of higher education and a landowner
to govern biological and environmental research conducted by the
institution on the landowner's land; and
(2) in collaboration with the comptroller, a form for
a written certification statement to be submitted by a landowner
who enters into an agreement described by Subdivision (1) with the
landowner's application under Subchapter D, Chapter 23, Tax Code,
claiming the land is eligible for appraisal under that subchapter.
(b) The agreement form developed under Subsection (a)(1)
must:
(1) provide that the public or private institution of
higher education may engage in biological and environmental
research on the land that is the subject of the agreement throughout
the year, subject to reasonable notice;
(2) provide that other uses of the land are
subordinate to the biological and environmental research conducted
by the public or private institution of higher education that is
subject to the agreement; and
(3) include a space for the signatures of:
(A) the landowner who is subject to the agreement
or the landowner's designee; and
(B) an administrative official of the public or
private institution of higher education that is subject to the
agreement who has the authority to enter into an agreement on behalf
of the institution.
(c) The form for the certification statement developed
under Subsection (a)(2) must include a space for the supervising
faculty member from the public or private institution of higher
education subject to the agreement to certify that:
(1) the tract of land that will be the subject of the
biological and environmental 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 eligibility for an appraisal under Subchapter D, Chapter
23, Tax Code, is sought;
(3) the biological and environmental research to be
conducted on the land will result in the contribution of valuable
scientific knowledge toward the purposes of biological and
environmental research;
(4) the scientific review committee established under
Section 61.9962 has made a positive determination under Section
61.9962(e) regarding the proposed biological and environmental
research;
(5) other uses of the land are subordinate to
biological and environmental research; and
(6) site visits to the land will be conducted in a
number that is generally considered necessary to produce
scientifically valid research and generally acceptable in the field
of biological and environmental research.
Sec. 61.9964. REQUIREMENT OF PHYSICAL PRESENCE. Nothing in
this subchapter may be construed to require the physical presence
of a researcher on land subject to this subchapter for a greater
number of days in a calendar year than necessary for the conduct of
scientifically valid research.
Sec. 61.9965. RULES. The board may adopt rules as necessary
to implement this subchapter.
SECTION 2. Section 23.51(1), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(1) "Qualified open-space land" means land that is
currently devoted principally to agricultural use to the degree of
intensity generally accepted in the area and that has been devoted
principally to agricultural use or to production of timber or
forest products for five of the preceding seven years, [or] land
that is used principally as an ecological laboratory by a public or
private college or university, or land that is used for biological
and environmental research under an agreement under Subchapter PP,
Chapter 61, Education Code. Qualified open-space land includes
all appurtenances to the land. For the purposes of this
subdivision, appurtenances to the land means private roads, dams,
reservoirs, water wells, canals, ditches, terraces, and other
reshapings of the soil, fences, and riparian water
rights. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this subdivision,
land that is currently devoted principally to wildlife management
as defined by Subdivision (7)(B) or (C) to the degree of intensity
generally accepted in the area qualifies for appraisal as qualified
open-space land under this subchapter regardless of the manner in
which the land was used in any preceding year.
SECTION 3. Section 23.54, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) To be approved, an application claiming that land used
for biological and environmental research under an agreement under
Subchapter PP, Chapter 61, Education Code, is eligible for
appraisal under this subchapter must:
(1) contain the information necessary to determine
whether the land is subject to an executed written agreement
described by Section 61.9963, Education Code; and
(2) include an executed certification statement
applicable to the research described by Section 61.9963, Education
Code.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect January 1, 2020.