88R13081 MAW-F
By: Goldman H.B. No. 3746
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the repeal of registration and other regulatory
provisions applicable to code enforcement officers and
sanitarians.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapters 1952 and 1953, Occupations Code, are
repealed.
SECTION 2. Section 1002.252, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1002.252. EXEMPTIONS. The following activities do
not require a license under this chapter:
(1) geoscientific work performed by an employee or a
subordinate of a license holder under this chapter if the work does
not include the responsible charge of geoscientific work and is
performed under the direct supervision of a licensed geoscientist
who is responsible for the work;
(2) geoscientific work performed by an officer or
employee of the United States practicing solely as such an officer
or employee;
(3) geoscientific work performed exclusively in
exploring for and developing oil, gas, or other energy resources,
base metals, or precious or nonprecious minerals, including sand,
gravel, or aggregate, if the work is done in and for the benefit of
private industry;
(4) geoscientific research conducted through an
academic institution, local, state, or federal governmental
agency, nonprofit research institution, or for-profit
organization, including submission of a report on the research to a
public agency, unless the work is covered by Section 1002.251(c);
(5) teaching geoscience or a related physical or
natural science;
(6) work customarily performed by a cartographer,
technician, or physical or natural scientist, including a
geologist, geophysicist, soil scientist, chemist, archaeologist,
geographer, or oceanographer, if the work does not include the
public practice of geoscience;
(7) work performed by an archaeologist, geoscientist,
or other person conducting a stratigraphic or historical geological
investigation for archaeological purposes;
(8) testifying or preparing and presenting an exhibit
or document for the sole purpose of being placed in evidence before
an administrative or judicial tribunal or hearing if the testimony,
exhibit, or document does not imply that the person is licensed
under this chapter;
(9) the evaluation by a state agency, as defined by
Section 2001.003, Government Code, or by a hearing examiner of an
exhibit or document offered or placed in evidence before an
administrative tribunal; or
(10) the determination of the suitability of a site
for a specific on-site sewage disposal system by a person who has
successfully completed site evaluation training approved by the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and is:
(A) registered by the commission as:
(i) an installer, if the commission
recognizes only one level of installer; or
(ii) the highest level of installer
recognized by the commission, if the commission recognizes more
than one level of installer; or
(B) a designated representative[; or
[(C) a registered professional sanitarian].
SECTION 3. Section 46.15(h), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(h) The provisions of Section 46.03 prohibiting the
possession or carrying of a club do not apply to a code enforcement
officer who [:
[(1) holds a certificate of registration issued under
Chapter 1952, Occupations Code; and
[(2)] possesses or carries an instrument used
specifically for deterring an animal bite while the officer is:
(1) [(A)] performing official duties; or
(2) [(B)] traveling to or from a place of duty.
SECTION 4. On the effective date of this Act, a certificate
of registration issued under a law that is repealed by this Act
expires.
SECTION 5. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section, on the effective date of this Act, a pending regulatory
action, including a complaint investigation, disciplinary action,
or administrative penalty proceeding, of the Texas Department of
Licensing and Regulation with respect to a certificate of
registration issued under a law repealed by this Act, is
terminated.
(b) An administrative penalty imposed before the effective
date of this Act under a law repealed by this Act may be collected
after the effective date of this Act by the Texas Department of
Licensing and Regulation in the manner provided by Subchapter F,
Chapter 51, Occupations Code.
SECTION 6. The repeal of a law by this Act does not entitle a
person to a refund of a fee for a certificate of registration paid
by the person before the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 7. 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, 2023.