By: Burns, Bell of Kaufman, H.B. No. 1750
Harris of Anderson, Metcalf, Burrows,
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the applicability of certain city requirements to
agricultural operations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Chapter 251, Agriculture Code, is
amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 251. EFFECT OF NUISANCE ACTIONS AND GOVERNMENTAL
REQUIREMENTS ON CERTAIN [PREEXISTING] AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS
SECTION 2. Sections 251.002(1) and (2), Agriculture Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(1) "Agricultural operation" includes the following
activities:
(A) cultivating the soil;
(B) producing crops or growing vegetation for
human food, animal feed, livestock forage, forage for wildlife
management, planting seed, or fiber;
(C) floriculture;
(D) viticulture;
(E) horticulture;
(F) silviculture;
(G) wildlife management;
(H) raising or keeping livestock or poultry,
including veterinary services; and
(I) planting cover crops or leaving land idle for
the purpose of participating in any governmental program or normal
crop or livestock rotation procedure.
(2) "Governmental requirement" includes any rule,
regulation, ordinance, zoning, license or permit requirement, or
other requirement or restriction enacted or promulgated by a
county, city, or other municipal corporation that has the power to
enact or promulgate the requirement or restriction.
SECTION 3. Section 251.005(c), Agriculture Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) A governmental requirement of a city:
(1) does not apply to any agricultural operation
located [situated] outside the corporate boundaries of the city;
and
(2) applies to an agricultural operation located in
the corporate boundaries of the city only if the governmental
requirement complies with Section 251.0055 [on the effective date
of this chapter. If an agricultural operation so situated is
subsequently annexed or otherwise brought within the corporate
boundaries of the city, the governmental requirements of the city
do not apply to the agricultural operation unless the requirement
is reasonably necessary to protect persons who reside in the
immediate vicinity or persons on public property in the immediate
vicinity of the agricultural operation from the danger of:
[(1) explosion, flooding, vermin, insects, physical
injury, contagious disease, removal of lateral or subjacent
support, contamination of water supplies, radiation, storage of
toxic materials, or traffic hazards; or
[(2) discharge of firearms or other weapons, subject
to the restrictions in Section 229.002, Local Government Code].
SECTION 4. Chapter 251, Agriculture Code, is amended by
adding Section 251.0055 to read as follows:
Sec. 251.0055. LIMITATIONS ON CITY GOVERNMENTAL
REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE WITHIN CORPORATE BOUNDARIES. (a) A city
may not impose a governmental requirement that applies to
agricultural operations located in the corporate boundaries of the
city unless:
(1) there is clear and convincing evidence that the
purposes of the requirement cannot be addressed through less
restrictive means and that the requirement is necessary to protect
persons who reside in the immediate vicinity or persons on public
property in the immediate vicinity of the agricultural operation
from the imminent danger of:
(A) explosion;
(B) flooding;
(C) an infestation of vermin or insects;
(D) physical injury;
(E) the spread of an identified contagious
disease that is directly attributable to the agricultural
operation;
(F) the removal of lateral or subjacent support;
(G) an identified source of contamination of
water supplies;
(H) radiation;
(I) improper storage of toxic materials;
(J) crops planted or vegetation grown in a manner
that will cause traffic hazards; or
(K) discharge of firearms or other weapons,
subject to the restrictions in Section 229.002, Local Government
Code;
(2) the governing body of the city makes a finding by
resolution, based on a report described by Subsection (b), that the
requirement is necessary to protect public health; and
(3) the requirement is not otherwise prohibited by
this section.
(b) Before making a finding described by Subsection (a)(2),
the governing body of the city must obtain and review a report
prepared by the city health officer or a consultant that:
(1) identifies evidence of the health hazards related
to agricultural operations;
(2) determines the necessity of regulation and the
manner in which agricultural operation should be regulated;
(3) states whether each manner of regulation under
Subdivision (2) will restrict or prohibit a generally accepted
agricultural practice listed in the manual prepared under Section
251.007; and
(4) if applicable, includes an explanation why the
report recommends a manner of regulation that will restrict the use
of a generally accepted agricultural practice that the manual
indicates does not pose a threat to public health.
(c) A city may not impose a governmental requirement that
directly or indirectly:
(1) prohibits the use of a generally accepted
agricultural practice listed in the manual prepared under Section
251.007, except as provided by Subsections (a) and (b);
(2) prohibits or restricts the growing or harvesting
of vegetation for animal feed, livestock forage, or forage for
wildlife management, except as provided by Subsection (d);
(3) prohibits the use of pesticides or other measures
to control vermin or disease-bearing insects to the extent
necessary to prevent an infestation; or
(4) requires an agricultural operation be designated
for:
(A) agricultural use under Section 1-d, Article
VIII, Texas Constitution; or
(B) farm, ranch, wildlife management, or timber
production use under Section 1-d-1, Article VIII, Texas
Constitution.
(d) A city may impose a maximum height for vegetation that
applies to agricultural operations only if:
(1) the maximum vegetation height is at least 12
inches; and
(2) the requirement applies only to portions of an
agricultural operation located no more than 10 feet from a property
boundary that is adjacent to:
(A) a public sidewalk, street, or highway; or
(B) a property that:
(i) is owned by a person other than the
owner of the agricultural operation; and
(ii) has a structure that is inhabited.
(e) A governmental requirement of a city relating to the
restraint of a dog that would apply to an agricultural operation
does not apply to a dog used to protect livestock on property
controlled by the property owner while the dog is being used on such
property for that purpose.
(f) A city may require a person to provide a written
management plan that meets the specifications described by Section
23.521(c), Tax Code, to establish that activities constitute an
agricultural operation on the basis of being wildlife management
activities.
SECTION 5. Chapter 251, Agriculture Code, is amended by
adding Sections 251.007 and 251.008 to read as follows:
Sec. 251.007. GENERALLY ACCEPTED AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES.
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service shall develop a manual
that identifies generally accepted agricultural practices and
indicates which of those practices do not pose a threat to public
health, including a threat to public health posed by a danger listed
in Section 251.0055(a)(1).
Sec. 251.008. CONFLICT WITH OTHER LAW. If there is a
conflict between this chapter and other law, this chapter prevails.
SECTION 6. Sections 251.005(c-1) and (c-2), Agriculture
Code, are repealed.
SECTION 7. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service shall develop
the manual described by Section 251.007, Agriculture Code, as added
by this Act.
SECTION 8. Sections 251.002 and 251.005, Agriculture Code,
as amended by this Act, and Section 251.0055, Agriculture Code, as
added by this Act, apply to a governmental requirement adopted
before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.