86R5246 JCG-D
By: Fallon S.B. No. 2229
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to criminal liability for engaging in certain conduct
involving a critical infrastructure facility; increasing criminal
penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 12.51, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a
court shall sentence a corporation or association adjudged guilty
of any of the following offenses and subject to any of the following
punishments to pay a fine equal to the maximum possible amount of
the applicable fine multiplied by 10:
(1) Section 28.02(d-1) or (d-2);
(2) Section 28.03(l) or (m); and
(3) Section 30.05(d)(3)(A)(iii) or (4).
SECTION 2. Section 28.02, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Subsections (d-1) and (d-2) to read as follows:
(d-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (d) and except as provided
by Subsection (d-2), an offense under this section is a felony
punishable by a fine of $100,000 or imprisonment for not more than
10 years, or both the fine and imprisonment, if the offense is
committed on or in a critical infrastructure facility, as defined
by Section 30.05.
(d-2) If an offense under this section is punishable under
Subsection (d-1) and Subsection (d)(1) or (2), the offense may be
punished under either subsection. Notwithstanding Section
12.32(b), if an offense to which this subsection applies is
punished under Subsection (d)(1) or (2), the defendant may, in
addition to the imprisonment, be punished by a fine of $100,000.
SECTION 3. Section 28.03, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Subsections (l) and (m) to read as follows:
(l) Notwithstanding Subsection (b) and except as provided
by Subsection (m), an offense under this section is a felony
punishable by a fine of $100,000 or imprisonment for not more than
10 years, or both the fine and imprisonment, if the offense is
committed on or in a critical infrastructure facility, as defined
by Section 30.05.
(m) If an offense under this section is punishable under
Subsection (l) and Subsection (b)(7), the offense may be punished
under either subsection. Notwithstanding Section 12.32(b), if an
offense to which this subsection applies is punished under
Subsection (b)(7), the defendant may, in addition to the
imprisonment, be punished by a fine of $100,000.
SECTION 4. Section 30.05(b)(7), Penal Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(7) "Critical infrastructure facility" means:
(A) one of the following, if completely enclosed
by a fence or other physical barrier that is obviously designed to
exclude intruders, or if clearly marked with a sign or signs that
are posted on the property, are reasonably likely to come to the
attention of intruders, and indicate that entry is forbidden:
(i) [(A)] a chemical, polymer, or rubber
manufacturing facility;
(ii) [(B)] a refinery;
(iii) [(C)] an electrical power generating
facility, substation, switching station, electrical control
center, or electrical transmission or distribution facility,
including electric power lines;
(iv) [(D)] a water intake structure, water
treatment facility, wastewater treatment plant, or pump station;
(v) [(E)] a natural gas transmission
compressor station;
(vi) [(F)] a liquid natural gas terminal or
storage facility;
(vii) [(G)] a telecommunications central
switching office or any structure used as part of a system to
provide wired or wireless telecommunications services;
(viii) [(H)] a port, railroad switching
yard, railroad tracks, trucking terminal, or other freight
transportation facility;
(ix) [(I)] a gas processing plant,
including a plant used in the processing, treatment, or
fractionation of natural gas; [or]
(x) [(J)] a transmission facility used by a
federally licensed radio or television station;
(xi) a steelmaking facility that uses an
electric arc furnace to make steel;
(xii) a dam that is classified as a high
hazard by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality or that is
regulated by the federal government;
(xiii) a facility identified and regulated
by the United States Department of Homeland Security under the
Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards program;
(xiv) a natural gas distribution utility
facility, including a pipeline interconnection, gate station,
metering station, storage facility, or regulator station; or
(xv) a facility for storing and
distributing crude oil or products refined from crude oil,
including a valve site, pipeline interconnection, pump station,
metering station, and piping and including a facility for loading
and unloading trucks that transport crude oil or products refined
from crude oil; or
(B) if enclosed by a fence or other physical
barrier or clearly marked with signs prohibiting trespassing, for
the evident purpose of excluding intruders:
(i) any aboveground portion of an oil, gas,
or hazardous chemical pipeline;
(ii) a tank or group of tanks used to store
oil, gas, or hazardous chemicals, such as a tank battery;
(iii) an oil, gas, or hazardous chemical
production facility; or
(iv) a facility for storing hazardous
chemicals.
SECTION 5. Section 30.05(d), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(d) An offense under this section is:
(1) a Class B misdemeanor, except as provided by
Subdivisions (2), [and] (3), and (4);
(2) a Class C misdemeanor, except as provided by
Subdivisions [Subdivision] (3) and (4), if the offense is
committed:
(A) on agricultural land and within 100 feet of
the boundary of the land; or
(B) on residential land and within 100 feet of a
protected freshwater area; [and]
(3) a Class A misdemeanor, except as provided by
Subdivision (4), if:
(A) the offense is committed:
(i) in a habitation or a shelter center;
(ii) on a Superfund site; or
(iii) on or in a critical infrastructure
facility;
(B) the offense is committed on or in property of
an institution of higher education and it is shown on the trial of
the offense that the person has previously been convicted of:
(i) an offense under this section relating
to entering or remaining on or in property of an institution of
higher education; or
(ii) an offense under Section 51.204(b)(1),
Education Code, relating to trespassing on the grounds of an
institution of higher education; or
(C) the person carries a deadly weapon during the
commission of the offense; or
(4) a state jail felony punishable by a fine of $10,000
or by confinement for a term of one year, or both the fine and
confinement, if:
(A) the offense is committed on or in a critical
infrastructure facility; and
(B) it is shown on the trial of the offense that
the defendant committed the offense with the intent to:
(i) damage, destroy, deface, or tamper with
equipment in the facility; or
(ii) impede or inhibit the operations of
the facility.
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.