By: Burrows H.B. No. 4107
(Senate Sponsor - Kolkhorst, Hall, Schwertner)
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 17, 2021;
May 17, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on State
Affairs; May 21, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 21, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the notice of entry for the purpose of exercising the
power of eminent domain by a common carrier pipeline.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 111.019, Natural Resources Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g) to read as
follows:
(d) Before entering property for the purpose of making a
preliminary survey to be used in the exercise of the power of
eminent domain granted under this section, the common carrier or
its employees, contractors, agents, or assigns shall provide the
property owner with:
(1) written notice of the carrier's intent to enter the
property; and
(2) an indemnification provision in favor of the
property owner with respect to damages, if any, resulting from the
survey.
(e) Notice and indemnification provided under Subsection
(d):
(1) must be provided to the property owner not later
than the second day before the date of entry to the property;
(2) must include the phone number of a person whom the
property owner may contact regarding any questions or objections
the property owner has relating to the survey; and
(3) may be provided by first class mail, e-mail,
personal delivery to an adult living on the property, or by any
other method of service authorized by the Texas Rules of Civil
Procedure.
(f) Entry to property for which notice is provided under
Subsection (d) is subject to the conditions that the entry:
(1) is limited to only the portion of the property
that:
(A) is anticipated to be affected by:
(i) the route of the proposed pipeline; or
(ii) a proposed pipeline appurtenance; or
(B) must be accessed to conduct the survey,
including the property corners or property location monuments
necessary to identify the boundaries of the property;
(2) is limited to the purpose of conducting surveys;
(3) unless otherwise authorized by the property owner,
does not authorize the cutting, removal, or relocation of a fence
for the purpose of conducting the survey without the prompt
restoration or repair of the fence;
(4) requires the restoration of property to be as
close as reasonably possible to the original condition before
entry;
(5) requires all equipment and tools used in the
survey to be removed by a certain date; and
(6) requires that the property owner, on written
request, be provided, at no charge, a survey plat or depiction
gathered and prepared from information obtained from the survey.
(g) This section does not prevent an entity from seeking
survey access rights or seeking to prevent interference with those
rights in a civil action authorized under other law.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
111.019, Natural Resources Code, apply only to a condemnation
proceeding in which the petition is filed on or after the effective
date of this Act and to any property condemned through the
proceeding. A condemnation proceeding in which the petition is
filed before the effective date of this Act and any property
condemned through the proceeding are governed by the law in effect
immediately before that date, and that law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
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