Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2485 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Kolkhorst S.B. No. 2485
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the establishment, administration, and use of the land
7	7	and water conservation fund.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Chapter 31, Natural Resources Code, is amended
10	10	by adding Subchapter F to read as follows:
11	11	SUBCHAPTER F. LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND
12	12	Sec. 31.201. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
13	13	(1) "Advisory committee" means the land and water
14	14	technical advisory committee.
15	15	(2) "Agricultural conservation easement" has the
16	16	meaning assigned by Section 84.002, Parks and Wildlife Code.
17	17	(3) "Conservation board" means the land and water
18	18	conservation board.
19	19	(4) "Conservation easement" has the meaning assigned
20	20	by Section 183.001, Natural Resources Code.
21	21	(5) "Fund" means the land and water conservation fund.
22	22	(6) "Nature-based project" means a project or practice
23	23	that uses protected, restored, or constructed natural features or
24	24	an engineered project or practice that mimics natural processes.
25	25	(7) "Public access" means a land or water area for
26	26	human use and enjoyment that is relatively free of man-made
27	27	structures and includes land and water parks owned or operated by
28	28	the state or a political subdivision.
29	29	Sec. 31.202. LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION BOARD. (a) The
30	30	land and water conservation board is composed of five members as
31	31	follows:
32	32	(1) the commissioner or the commissioner's designee;
33	33	(2) the executive director of the Texas Commission on
34	34	Environmental Quality or the executive director's designee;
35	35	(3) the executive director of the Parks and Wildlife
36	36	Department or the executive director's designee;
37	37	(4) the executive administrator of the Texas Water
38	38	Development Board or the executive administrator's designee; and
39	39	(5) the chair of the advisory committee established by
40	40	Section 31.209 or the chair's designee.
41	41	(b) The commissioner or the commissioner's designee is the
42	42	chair of the conservation board.
43	43	(c) The conservation board may appoint to the conservation
44	44	board not more than two nonvoting members with professional or
45	45	academic experience in a field related to the conservation board's
46	46	duties. A member appointed under this section may serve for a term
47	47	of not more than two years.
48	48	Sec. 31.203. LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND. (a) The
49	49	land and water conservation fund is created as a special fund in the
50	50	state treasury outside the general revenue fund.
51	51	(b) The fund may be used:
52	52	(1) without further legislative appropriation; and
53	53	(2) only as provided by this subchapter.
54	54	(c) The fund consists of:
55	55	(1) money transferred to the fund in accordance with
56	56	Sections 49-g(c) and (c-1), Article III, Texas Constitution;
57	57	(2) money appropriated to the fund by law;
58	58	(3) the proceeds of fees or other sources of revenue
59	59	dedicated by law for deposit to the fund;
60	60	(4) interest and other earnings on the investment of
61	61	money in the fund;
62	62	(5) gifts, grants, or donations to the fund; and
63	63	(6) money from other sources designated by the
64	64	conservation board for deposit to the fund as authorized by law.
65	65	(d) The conservation board may use the fund only to:
66	66	(1) award a grant to an entity for a conservation,
67	67	restoration, or public access project as provided by Section
68	68	31.204;
69	69	(2) award a grant to provide matching funds to an
70	70	entity to participate in a federal program for a conservation,
71	71	restoration, or public access project as provided by Section
72	72	31.204; and
73	73	(3) pay the necessary and reasonable expenses to
74	74	administer the fund, not to exceed three percent of money disbursed
75	75	from the fund in any given year.
76	76	Sec. 31.204. ELIGIBLE PROJECTS AND PERSONS ELIGIBLE FOR
77	77	GRANT; PRIORITY. (a) Projects eligible for a grant awarded from
78	78	the fund include:
79	79	(1) a public parks or natural areas project that
80	80	benefits, protects, or enhances the local park grant program
81	81	administered by the Parks and Wildlife Department, a private or
82	82	public local park, a recreation trail or trail easement, or public
83	83	access in general; and
84	84	(2) a natural resource conservation project that
85	85	benefits, protects, or enhances:
86	86	(A) farm, ranch, and forest land, including:
87	87	(i) by creating an agricultural
88	88	conservation easement;
89	89	(ii) by creating a conservation easement;
90	90	(iii) by conserving forest lands; and
91	91	(iv) through a project related to the Texas
92	92	Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Program under Chapter 84, Parks
93	93	and Wildlife Code;
94	94	(B) wildlife or a wildlife habitat, including
95	95	acquisition of a land or conservation easement for protection of a
96	96	wetland or wildlife habitat; and
97	97	(C) a nature-based project that uses water
98	98	resources for water quality and quantity, including:
99	99	(i) aquifer recharge area protection;
100	100	(ii) acquisition of land or conservation
101	101	easements for protection and enhancement of a water resource; and
102	102	(iii) dedication for 10 years or more of a
103	103	water right or permit allocation to maintain or improve instream
104	104	flows, spring flows, and bay and estuary inflows;
105	105	(D) a restoration project that:
106	106	(i) improves water quality, prevents soil
107	107	erosion, reduces loss of wildlife habitat, or restores native
108	108	grassland on agricultural land;
109	109	(ii) restores critical wildlife habitat,
110	110	maintains or enhances fish or wildlife habitat, or restores a
111	111	wetland; and
112	112	(iii) enhances spring flow, restores a
113	113	stream, river, or riparian area, improves habitat, or improves
114	114	water quality.
115	115	(b) The conservation board may award a grant under this
116	116	chapter only to a district or authority created under Section 52,
117	117	Article III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, a
118	118	municipality, a county, a state agency, or a nongovernmental
119	119	entity.
120	120	(c) The conservation board by rule shall establish criteria
121	121	for setting priorities for the projects eligible to receive grants
122	122	under this subchapter. The criteria must include:
123	123	(1) the project's use of matching funds;
124	124	(2) the potential to maximize benefits in multiple
125	125	eligible project areas;
126	126	(3) the long-term sustainability and benefits of the
127	127	project;
128	128	(4) coordination and integration with other relevant
129	129	projects necessary for the success of the project;
130	130	(5) regional and eco-regional diversity of the
131	131	project; and
132	132	(6) the overall ecological benefit of the project.
133	133	Sec. 31.205. APPLICATION PREPARATION ASSISTANCE. (a) The
134	134	conservation board shall establish a grant program to provide
135	135	financial assistance to eligible entities for conservation
136	136	planning, application preparation, and administrative costs
137	137	associated with eligible projects described by Section 31.204.
138	138	(b) The conservation board shall provide guidance to
139	139	applicants for projects that are eligible under more than one
140	140	funding category.
141	141	Sec. 31.206. FUNDING DETERMINATIONS; APPLICATION PROCESS.
142	142	(a) The conservation board shall implement an application process
143	143	to select eligible projects in accordance with the priority
144	144	criteria established under Section 31.204(b).
145	145	(b) If the conservation board receives a sufficient number
146	146	of applications for eligible projects, the conservation board shall
147	147	allocate:
148	148	(1) not less than 80 percent of the funding in any
149	149	cycle to public parks and natural area projects as described by
150	150	Section 31.204(a)(1); and
151	151	(2) not more than 20 percent of the funding in any
152	152	cycle to natural resource conservation projects as described by
153	153	Section 31.204(a)(2).
154	154	Sec. 31.207. APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS. The conservation
155	155	board may approve an application only if the conservation board
156	156	finds that:
157	157	(1) the application and the assistance applied for
158	158	meet the requirements of this subchapter and rules adopted under
159	159	this subchapter; and
160	160	(2) the applicant demonstrates the ability to complete
161	161	the project.
162	162	Sec. 31.208. RULES. The conservation board shall adopt
163	163	rules necessary to implement this subchapter, including rules that
164	164	establish procedures for:
165	165	(1) the administration of the fund; and
166	166	(2) an application for a project grant from the fund.
167	167	Sec. 31.209. LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION TECHNICAL ADVISORY
168	168	COMMITTEE. (a) The land and water conservation technical advisory
169	169	committee is composed of the following nine members:
170	170	(1) one representative from each state agency
171	171	specified by Sections 31.202(a)(1)-(4);
172	172	(2) three representatives appointed by the
173	173	conservation board from nongovernmental entities who have relevant
174	174	experience; and
175	175	(3) two representatives appointed by the conservation
176	176	board from institutions of higher education who have relevant
177	177	professional experience.
178	178	(b) The advisory committee shall assist in developing and
179	179	evaluating:
180	180	(1) the application process and scoring criteria for
181	181	project funding by the conservation board;
182	182	(2) recommendations to the conservation board; and
183	183	(3) other items as directed by the conservation board.
184	184	Sec. 31.210. MONITORING AND REPORTING. (a) Not later than
185	185	September 1 of every second year, the conservation board shall
186	186	prepare and submit to the legislature a report quantifying the
187	187	benefits of projects that have received grants under this
188	188	subchapter.
189	189	(b) The conservation board may use money from the fund to
190	190	prepare the report required by this section.
191	191	SECTION 2. The land and water conservation board shall
192	192	submit to the legislature the initial report required by Section
193	193	31.210, Natural Resources Code, as added by this Act, not later than
194	194	September 1, 2027.
195	195	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.