S.B. No. 1642
AN ACT
relating to the administration of navigation districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 60, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 60.0726 to read as follows:
Sec. 60.0726. FIRES, EXPLOSIONS, AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
INCIDENTS. A district may respond to and fight a fire, explosion,
or hazardous material incident that occurs on or adjacent to a
waterway, channel, or turning basin that is located in the
district's territory, regardless of whether the waterway, channel,
or turning basin is located in the corporate limits of a
municipality.
SECTION 2. Section 60.101, Water Code, is amended by adding
Subsections (a-1) and (e) and amending Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(a-1) A district may acquire, purchase, lease, maintain,
repair, and operate facilities and equipment for the purposes of
protecting life and property by detecting, responding to, and
fighting fires, explosions, and hazardous materials incidents
described by Section 60.0726.
(d) A district may contract with a broker to sell or lease a
tract of land in the same manner as the commissioners court of a
county under Section 263.008, Local Government Code.
(e) A lease that requires the lessee to construct
improvements on land owned by the district is not a public work
contract for purposes of Chapter 2253, Government Code.
SECTION 3. Section 60.103, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 60.103. PRESCRIBING FEES AND CHARGES. The district
[commission] shall prescribe fees and charges to be collected for
the use of the land, improvements, and facilities of the district
and for the use of any land, improvements, or facilities acquired
under the provisions of this subchapter. The fees and charges shall
be reasonable, equitable, and sufficient to produce revenue
necessary to exercise the powers described by Section 60.101 and
adequate to pay the expenses described by [mentioned in] Section
60.105 [of this code].
SECTION 4. Sections 60.172(b), (c), and (d), Water Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) The commission shall fix a time and place at which a
public hearing concerning the proposed indebtedness shall be held.
The date of the hearing shall be not less than seven [15] days nor
more than 30 days from the date of the resolution of the commission
giving [the] notice of the hearing date.
(c) Notice published by the commission under this section
shall:
(1) include a statement of the amount and purpose of
the proposed indebtedness;
(2) inform all persons of the time and place of
hearing; and
(3) inform all persons of their right to express their
views [appear] at the hearing, orally or in writing, and contend for
or protest the creation of the indebtedness.
(d) The secretary of the commission shall publish [post
copies of] the notice not earlier than the seventh day [for 10 days]
before the date [day] of the hearing:
(1) once in a newspaper of general circulation in the
district's territory that is available to residents of the
district; and
(2) on the district's Internet website, if the
district maintains a website, in an area of that website used to
inform district residents about events such as public meetings
[three public places in the district and at the door of each county
courthouse located in the district].
SECTION 5. The heading to Section 60.405, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 60.405. PROPOSAL PROCEDURES [COMPETITIVE SEALED
PROPOSALS].
SECTION 6. Section 60.405, Water Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) Items that may be purchased under the procedure
provided by this section include items required in connection with
a navigation project entered into with the United States.
SECTION 7. Section 60.463(d-1), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d-1) If a two-step process is used, the district may not
request prices in the first step. In the second step, the district
may request that [five or fewer] offerors, selected solely on the
basis of qualifications, provide additional information, including
proposed prices.
SECTION 8. Subchapter Q, Chapter 60, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 60.502 to read as follows:
Sec. 60.502. IMPLIED CONTRACTS. A schedule of rates, fees,
charges, rules, and ordinances that have been adopted in accordance
with applicable law or the district's rules, including a limitation
of liability for cargo loss or damage, that relates to receiving,
delivering, handling, or storing property at a district facility
and that is made available to the public on the district's Internet
website is enforceable by an appropriate court as an implied
contract between the district and a person using the district's
facilities without proof of actual knowledge of the schedule's
provisions.
SECTION 9. Sections 62.123(b) and (d), Water Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) No franchise shall be granted for longer than 50 years
nor shall a franchise be granted except on the affirmative vote of a
majority of the commissioners present at a meeting [three separate
meetings] of the commission [which meetings may not be closer
together than one week].
(d) The franchise shall require the grantee to file the
grantee's written acceptance of the franchise within 30 days after
the franchise is granted [finally approved] by the commission.
SECTION 10. Section 60.172(e), Water Code, is repealed.
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect immediately if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1642 passed the Senate on
April 19, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 27, 2021, by the
following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1642 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 14, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 136,
Nays 9, two present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor