88R17974 JAM-F
By: Holland, Rose, González of El Paso, H.B. No. 3165
Bell of Montgomery, Zwiener, et al.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment, administration, and use of the Texas
land and water conservation fund.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 31, Natural Resources Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter F to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER F. TEXAS LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND
Sec. 31.201. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Advisory committee" means the Texas land and
water technical advisory committee.
(2) "Agricultural conservation easement" has the
meaning assigned by Section 84.002, Parks and Wildlife Code.
(3) "Conservation board" means the Texas land and
water conservation board.
(4) "Conservation easement" has the meaning assigned
by Section 183.001, Natural Resources Code.
(5) "Fund" means the Texas land and water conservation
fund.
(6) "Nature-based project" means a project or practice
that uses protected, restored, or constructed natural features or
an engineered project or practice that mimics natural processes.
(7) "Private park" means an open space area that is
privately owned and open to the general public for recreation. The
term does not include an amusement park or similar facility the
primary uses of which are rides, games of chance, or the sale of
food, beverages, toys, or souvenirs.
(8) "Public access" means a land or water area for
human use and enjoyment that is relatively free of man-made
structures and includes land and water parks owned or operated by
the state or a political subdivision.
Sec. 31.202. TEXAS LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION BOARD. (a)
The Texas land and water conservation board is composed of five
voting members as follows:
(1) the commissioner or the commissioner's designee;
(2) the executive director of the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality or the executive director's designee;
(3) the executive director of the Parks and Wildlife
Department or the executive director's designee;
(4) the executive administrator of the Texas Water
Development Board or the executive administrator's designee; and
(5) the executive director of the State Soil and Water
Conservation Board.
(b) The commissioner or the commissioner's designee is the
chair of the conservation board.
(c) The chair of the advisory committee established by
Section 31.209 or the chair's designee shall serve as a nonvoting ex
officio member. The conservation board may appoint to the
conservation board not more than two nonvoting members with
professional or academic experience in a field related to the
conservation board's duties. A member appointed under this section
may serve for a term of not more than two years.
Sec. 31.203. TEXAS LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND. (a)
The Texas land and water conservation fund is created as a fund
outside the state treasury.
(b) The fund may be used:
(1) without further legislative appropriation; and
(2) only as provided by this subchapter.
(c) The fund consists of:
(1) money appropriated to the fund by law;
(2) the proceeds of fees or other sources of revenue
dedicated by law for deposit to the fund;
(3) interest and other earnings on the investment of
money in the fund;
(4) gifts, grants, or donations to the fund; and
(5) money from other sources designated by the
conservation board for deposit to the fund as authorized by law.
(d) The conservation board may use the fund only to:
(1) award a grant to an entity for a public parks or
natural areas project or a natural resource conservation project as
provided by Section 31.204;
(2) award a grant to provide matching funds to an
entity to participate in a federal program for a public parks or
natural areas project or a natural resource conservation project as
provided by Section 31.204; and
(3) pay the necessary and reasonable expenses to
administer the fund, not to exceed three percent of money disbursed
from the fund in any given year.
(e) The conservation board shall allocate from money in the
fund described by Subsection (c)(3) amounts necessary to pay the
expenses of administering the fund.
(f) The fund may not be used:
(1) to facilitate the use of eminent domain for the
acquisition of real property; or
(2) for the acquisition or transfer of real property
to be managed by the federal government.
Sec. 31.204. ELIGIBLE PROJECTS AND PERSONS ELIGIBLE FOR
GRANT; PRIORITY. (a) Projects eligible for a grant awarded from
the fund include:
(1) a public parks or natural areas project that
benefits, protects, or enhances:
(A) public access in general;
(B) the local park grant program administered by
the Parks and Wildlife Department;
(C) a public or private local park; or
(D) a recreation trail or trail easement; and
(2) a natural resource conservation project that
benefits, protects, or enhances:
(A) farm, ranch, or forest land through a project
related to the Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Program
under Chapter 84, Parks and Wildlife Code, or by other means,
including by:
(i) creating a conservation easement or an
agricultural conservation easement; and
(ii) conserving forest lands;
(B) wildlife or a wildlife habitat, including
acquisition of a land or conservation easement for protection of a
wetland or wildlife habitat;
(C) a nature-based project that uses water
resources for water quality and quantity, including:
(i) aquifer recharge area protection;
(ii) acquisition of land or conservation
easements for protection and enhancement of a water resource; and
(iii) dedication for 10 years or more of a
water right or permit allocation to maintain or improve instream
flows, spring flows, and bay and estuary inflows; and
(D) a restoration project that:
(i) prevents soil erosion, reduces loss of
wildlife habitat, or restores native grassland on agricultural
land;
(ii) restores critical wildlife habitat,
maintains or enhances fish or wildlife habitat, or restores a
wetland; or
(iii) enhances spring flow, restores a
stream, river, or riparian area, or improves water quality.
(b) The conservation board may award a grant under this
chapter only to a district or authority created under Section 52,
Article III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, a
municipality, a county, a state agency, or a nongovernmental
entity.
(c) The conservation board by rule shall establish criteria
for setting priorities for the projects eligible to receive grants
under this subchapter. The criteria must include:
(1) the project's use of matching funds;
(2) the potential to maximize benefits in multiple
eligible project areas;
(3) the long-term sustainability and benefits of the
project;
(4) coordination and integration with other relevant
projects necessary for the success of the project;
(5) regional and eco-regional diversity of the
project; and
(6) the overall ecological benefit of the project.
Sec. 31.205. APPLICATION PREPARATION ASSISTANCE. (a) The
conservation board shall establish a grant program to provide
financial assistance to eligible entities for conservation
planning, application preparation, and administrative costs
associated with eligible projects described by Section 31.204.
(b) The conservation board shall provide guidance to
applicants for projects that are eligible under more than one
funding category.
Sec. 31.206. FUNDING DETERMINATIONS; APPLICATION PROCESS.
(a) The conservation board shall implement an application process
to select eligible projects in accordance with the priority
criteria established under Section 31.204(c).
(b) If the conservation board receives a sufficient number
of applications for eligible projects, the conservation board shall
allocate:
(1) 50 percent of the funding in any cycle to public
parks or natural areas projects as described by Section
31.204(a)(1); and
(2) 50 percent of the funding in any cycle to natural
resource conservation projects as described by Section
31.204(a)(2).
Sec. 31.207. APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS. The conservation
board may approve an application only if the conservation board
finds that:
(1) the application and the assistance applied for
meet the requirements of this subchapter and rules adopted under
this subchapter; and
(2) the applicant demonstrates the ability to complete
the project.
Sec. 31.208. RULES. (a) The conservation board shall adopt
rules necessary to implement this subchapter, including rules that
establish procedures for:
(1) the administration of the fund; and
(2) an application for a project grant from the fund.
(b) The conservation board may adopt rules to ensure that a
policy or practice of the conservation board under this subchapter
does not prevent qualification for or the use of federal matching
funds.
Sec. 31.209. TEXAS LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION TECHNICAL
ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The Texas land and water conservation
technical advisory committee is composed of the following nine
members:
(1) one representative from each state agency
specified by Sections 31.202(a)(1)-(4);
(2) three representatives appointed by the
conservation board from nongovernmental entities who have relevant
experience; and
(3) two representatives appointed by the conservation
board from institutions of higher education who have relevant
professional experience.
(b) The advisory committee shall assist in developing and
evaluating:
(1) the application process and scoring criteria for
project funding by the conservation board;
(2) recommendations to the conservation board; and
(3) other items as directed by the conservation board.
Sec. 31.210. MONITORING AND REPORTING. (a) Not later than
September 1 of every second year, the conservation board shall
prepare and submit to the legislature a report quantifying the
benefits of projects that have received grants under this
subchapter.
(b) The conservation board may use money from the fund to
prepare the report required by this section.
SECTION 2. The Texas land and water conservation board
shall submit to the legislature the initial report required by
Section 31.210, Natural Resources Code, as added by this Act, not
later than September 1, 2025.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023, but only
if the constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the
Texas land and water conservation fund to assist in the voluntary
protection of Texas' water quality, wildlife habitat, natural
areas, and parks, while not increasing the rate of any taxes, is
approved by the voters. If that amendment is not approved by the
voters, this Act has no effect.