TX
Texas House Bill HB3853

Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3853 Compare Versions

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1-86R27155 MM-F
21 By: Walle H.B. No. 3853
3- Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3853:
4- By: Walle C.S.H.B. No. 3853
52
63
74 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
85 AN ACT
9- relating to biological and environmental research conducted on
10- private land by a public or private institution of higher education
11- and the eligibility of that land for appraisal for ad valorem tax
12- purposes as qualified open-space land; authorizing a fee.
6+ relating to the administration by the Texas Higher Education
7+ Coordinating Board of proposed biological and environmental
8+ research by institutions of higher education on private property.
139 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1410 SECTION 1. Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding
15- Subchapter PP to read as follows:
16- SUBCHAPTER PP. BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CONDUCTED ON
17- PRIVATE LAND
18- Sec. 61.9961. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "biological
19- and environmental research" means research and related activities
20- conducted in furtherance of farming, ranching, and wildlife
21- management and conducted using site visits, surveys, data
22- collection, sample collection, monitoring, site manipulation, and
23- periods of idleness between those activities.
24- Sec. 61.9962. REVIEW OF PROPOSED RESEARCH. (a) The board
25- shall establish a program to review the scientific validity of
26- proposed biological and environmental research conducted by a
27- public or private institution of higher education on private
28- property under an agreement with the landowner.
29- (b) The board shall appoint a scientific review committee
30- for the purposes of the program. Members of the committee must:
31- (1) possess scientific expertise in the area of
32- farming, ranching, or wildlife management; and
33- (2) have participated in peer review of scientific
34- research.
35- (c) Under the program, a landowner may submit a biological
36- and environmental research proposal developed by a public or
37- private institution of higher education seeking to conduct
38- biological and environmental research on the landowner's land to
39- the board for review by the scientific review committee.
40- (d) The board by rule shall prescribe a form for submission
41- of a research proposal described by Subsection (c) and any
42- documentation required to accompany the proposal. A submission
43- must include an application fee in an amount determined by the board
44- not to exceed the board's costs in administering this subchapter.
45- (e) The scientific review committee shall review each
46- proposal submitted under Subsection (c) and determine whether the
47- proposed biological and environmental research is scientifically
48- valid and would result in the contribution of valuable scientific
49- knowledge toward the purposes of biological and environmental
50- research.
51- (f) Not later than the 90th day after the date the last item
11+ Subchapter LL to read as follows:
12+ SUBCHAPTER LL. BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH BY
13+ INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION ON PRIVATE PROPERTY.
14+ Sec. 61.9851. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "biological
15+ and environmental research" means research in furtherance of
16+ farming, ranching, or wildlife management purposes and includes
17+ such activities as site visits, surveys, data and sample
18+ collection, monitoring, site manipulation, and periods of idleness
19+ between those activities. Biological and environmental research
20+ does not require the physical presence of a researcher on the land
21+ for a greater number of days in a calendar year than necessary for
22+ scientifically valid research.
23+ Sec. 61.9852. REVIEW OF BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL
24+ RESEARCH. (a) The board shall establish a program to review the
25+ scientific validity of proposed biological and environmental
26+ research conducted by a public or private institution of higher
27+ education on private property under agreement with the landowner.
28+ (b) The board shall appoint a scientific review committee to
29+ consider proposed biological and environmental research by
30+ institutions of higher education on private property. Members of
31+ the committee must have scientific expertise in the areas of
32+ farming, ranching, or wildlife management and have participated in
33+ peer review of scientific research.
34+ (c) Under the program, the landowner of private property
35+ shall submit a biological and environmental research proposal
36+ developed by an institution of higher education seeking to conduct
37+ biological and environmental research on the property to the
38+ scientific review committee for evaluation along with an
39+ application fee in an amount determined by the board not to exceed
40+ the board's costs in administering this subchapter. The board by
41+ rule shall prescribe the form of the proposal and any documentation
42+ required to accompany the proposal.
43+ (d) The committee shall review each proposal and determine
44+ whether the proposed biological and environmental research is
45+ scientifically valid and would result in valuable scientific
46+ knowledge in the field of biological and environmental research.
47+ (e) Not later than the 90th day after the date the last item
5248 of required documentation for the proposal is submitted to the
53- scientific review committee, the committee shall issue a written
54- determination under Subsection (e), including the reasons for the
55- committee's determination, to the submitting landowner and the
56- public or private institution of higher education that developed
57- the proposal.
58- Sec. 61.9963. RESEARCH AGREEMENT AND CERTIFICATION
59- STATEMENT. (a) The board shall develop:
60- (1) a form for a written agreement to be used by a
61- public or private institution of higher education and a landowner
62- to govern biological and environmental research conducted by the
63- institution on the landowner's land; and
64- (2) in collaboration with the comptroller, a form for
65- a written certification statement to be submitted by a landowner
66- who enters into an agreement described by Subdivision (1) with the
67- landowner's application under Subchapter D, Chapter 23, Tax Code,
68- claiming the land is eligible for appraisal under that subchapter.
69- (b) The agreement form developed under Subsection (a)(1)
70- must:
71- (1) provide that the public or private institution of
72- higher education may engage in biological and environmental
73- research on the land that is the subject of the agreement throughout
74- the year, subject to reasonable notice;
75- (2) provide that other uses of the land are
76- subordinate to the biological and environmental research conducted
77- by the public or private institution of higher education that is
78- subject to the agreement; and
79- (3) include a space for the signatures of:
80- (A) the landowner who is subject to the agreement
81- or the landowner's designee; and
82- (B) an administrative official of the public or
83- private institution of higher education that is subject to the
84- agreement who has the authority to enter into an agreement on behalf
85- of the institution.
86- (c) The form for the certification statement developed
87- under Subsection (a)(2) must include a space for the supervising
88- faculty member from the public or private institution of higher
89- education subject to the agreement to certify that:
90- (1) the tract of land that will be the subject of the
91- biological and environmental research consists of 20 or more acres;
49+ committee, the committee shall issue a written recommendation to
50+ the submitting landowner and the institution of higher education
51+ that developed the proposal on the results of its review under
52+ Subsection (d) and a brief synopsis of the reasons for its
53+ recommendation.
54+ Sec. 61.9853. FORMS FOR PROGRAM. (a) In conjunction with
55+ the comptroller, the board shall develop the form of:
56+ (1) a written agreement to be used by an institution of
57+ higher education and a landowner who seeks to devote land
58+ principally to biological and environmental research; and
59+ (2) a written statement to be filed by the landowner
60+ with the chief appraiser of the central appraisal district in which
61+ the land is located.
62+ (b) The form for the written agreement under Subsection
63+ (a)(1) must:
64+ (1) contain statements that:
65+ (A) allow the public or private institution of
66+ higher education to engage in biological and environmental research
67+ on the land throughout the year, subject to reasonable notice; and
68+ (B) require that other uses of the land are
69+ subordinate to biological and environmental research; and
70+ (2) contain space for the signatures of:
71+ (A) the owner of the land that is the subject of
72+ the agreement or the owner's designee; and
73+ (B) an administrative official of an institution
74+ of higher education who has the authority to enter into a binding
75+ contract on behalf of the institution.
76+ (c) The form under Subsection (a)(2) must allow the
77+ supervising faculty member from the public or private institution
78+ of higher education allowed to engage in biological and
79+ environmental research on the land to affirm that:
80+ (1) the tract of land that will be the subject of
81+ the research consists of 20 or more acres;
9282 (2) at least three biological and environmental
9383 research projects will be conducted on the land during the tax year
94- for which eligibility for an appraisal under Subchapter D, Chapter
95- 23, Tax Code, is sought;
84+ for which an appraisal as qualified open-space land is sought;
9685 (3) the biological and environmental research to be
97- conducted on the land will result in the contribution of valuable
98- scientific knowledge toward the purposes of biological and
99- environmental research;
100- (4) the scientific review committee established under
101- Section 61.9962 has made a positive determination under Section
102- 61.9962(e) regarding the proposed biological and environmental
103- research;
104- (5) other uses of the land are subordinate to
86+ conducted on the land is in furtherance of farming, ranching, or
87+ wildlife management purposes;
88+ (4) the proposed biological and environmental
89+ research has been reviewed and recommended by the scientific review
90+ committee established under Sec. 61.9852;
91+ (5) other uses of the land are subordinate to the
10592 biological and environmental research; and
10693 (6) site visits to the land will be conducted in a
107- number that is generally considered necessary to produce
108- scientifically valid research and generally acceptable in the field
109- of biological and environmental research.
110- Sec. 61.9964. REQUIREMENT OF PHYSICAL PRESENCE. Nothing in
111- this subchapter may be construed to require the physical presence
112- of a researcher on land subject to this subchapter for a greater
113- number of days in a calendar year than necessary for the conduct of
114- scientifically valid research.
115- Sec. 61.9965. RULES. The board may adopt rules as necessary
94+ number that is scientifically valid and generally acceptable in the
95+ field of biological and environmental research.
96+ Sec. 61.9854. EFFECT ON LAND ON WHICH BIOLOGICAL AND
97+ ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH OCCURS. Land that consists of 20 or more
98+ acres which is the subject of an agreement to perform biological and
99+ environmental research under this subchapter is eligible for
100+ appraisal as qualified open-space land under Subchapter D, Chapter
101+ 23, Tax Code, if the land is subject to an executed written
102+ agreement described by Sec. 61.9853(a)(1) and the landowner files
103+ the written statement described by Sec. 61.9853(a)(2) for the tax
104+ year for which the qualified open-space land appraisal is sought.
105+ Sec. 61.9855 RULES. The board may adopt rules as necessary
116106 to implement this subchapter.
117- SECTION 2. Section 23.51(1), Tax Code, is amended to read as
118- follows:
119- (1) "Qualified open-space land" means land that is
120- currently devoted principally to agricultural use to the degree of
121- intensity generally accepted in the area and that has been devoted
122- principally to agricultural use or to production of timber or
123- forest products for five of the preceding seven years, [or] land
124- that is used principally as an ecological laboratory by a public or
125- private college or university, or land that is used for biological
126- and environmental research under an agreement under Subchapter PP,
127- Chapter 61, Education Code. Qualified open-space land includes
128- all appurtenances to the land. For the purposes of this
129- subdivision, appurtenances to the land means private roads, dams,
130- reservoirs, water wells, canals, ditches, terraces, and other
131- reshapings of the soil, fences, and riparian water
132- rights. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this subdivision,
133- land that is currently devoted principally to wildlife management
134- as defined by Subdivision (7)(B) or (C) to the degree of intensity
135- generally accepted in the area qualifies for appraisal as qualified
136- open-space land under this subchapter regardless of the manner in
137- which the land was used in any preceding year.
138- SECTION 3. Section 23.54, Tax Code, is amended by adding
139- Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
140- (b-1) To be approved, an application claiming that land used
141- for biological and environmental research under an agreement under
142- Subchapter PP, Chapter 61, Education Code, is eligible for
143- appraisal under this subchapter must:
144- (1) contain the information necessary to determine
145- whether the land is subject to an executed written agreement
146- described by Section 61.9963, Education Code; and
147- (2) include an executed certification statement
148- applicable to the research described by Section 61.9963, Education
149- Code.
150- SECTION 4. This Act takes effect January 1, 2020.
107+ SECTION 4
108+ . This Act takes effect January 1, 2020.