By: Alvarado, et al. S.B. No. 1774
(In the Senate - Filed March 12, 2021; March 26, 2021, read
first time and referred to Select Committee on Ports;
April 13, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 13, 2021,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1774 By: Lucio
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the conveyance of certain real property by certain
navigation districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 60, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 60.0381 to read as follows:
Sec. 60.0381. CONVEYANCE OF LAND BY CERTAIN NAVIGATION
DISTRICTS. (a) This section applies only to:
(1) a district that controls a ship channel or
waterway that is the subject of a project that has been authorized
or modified by the United States Congress in the Water Resources
Development Act of 2016 (Pub. L. No. 114-322, Title I, 130 Stat.
1632) or the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 (Pub. L. No.
116-260, Div. AA, 134 Stat. 2615); and
(2) a lease entered into before the effective date of
the Act enacting this section.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including
Section 5007.004, Special District Local Laws Code, to the extent
that a district has entered into a surface lease with an original
term of at least 20 years, the district may sell the land,
improvements, easements, and any other interests in the real
property or any part of the real property to the surface lease
counterparty according to this section. The land, improvements,
easements, and any other interests in real property may be conveyed
by the district to the surface lease counterparty, without
complying with the notice and bidding or other requirements of
Sections 60.040-60.042. The sale must be:
(1) approved by the port commission;
(2) executed by the chair of the port commission;
(3) attested by the executive director of the
district; and
(4) made for an amount that is not less than the
reasonable market value of the land, improvements paid for by the
district, easements, or other interest in real property, as
applicable, at the time of contracting for the sale.
(c) Money received from the sale of real property as
described by this section in excess of the sum of the reasonable
market value of the property and the amount of rent due for the
unexpired term of the surface lease may be used only for the purpose
of a project that has been authorized or modified by the United
States Congress in the Water Resources Development Act of 2016
(Pub. L. No. 114-322, Title I, 130 Stat. 1632) or the Water
Resources Development Act of 2020 (Pub. L. No. 116-260, Div. AA, 134
Stat. 2615).
SECTION 2. 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.
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