By: Kolkhorst S.B. No. 2485
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment, administration, and use of the 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. LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND
Sec. 31.201. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Advisory committee" means the 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 land and water
conservation board.
(4) "Conservation easement" has the meaning assigned
by Section 183.001, Natural Resources Code.
(5) "Fund" means the 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) "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. LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION BOARD. (a) The
land and water conservation board is composed of five 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 chair of the advisory committee established by
Section 31.209 or the chair's designee.
(b) The commissioner or the commissioner's designee is the
chair of the conservation board.
(c) 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. LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND. (a) The
land and water conservation fund is created as a special fund in the
state treasury outside the general revenue fund.
(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 transferred to the fund in accordance with
Sections 49-g(c) and (c-1), Article III, Texas Constitution;
(2) money appropriated to the fund by law;
(3) the proceeds of fees or other sources of revenue
dedicated by law for deposit to the fund;
(4) interest and other earnings on the investment of
money in the fund;
(5) gifts, grants, or donations to the fund; and
(6) 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 conservation,
restoration, or public access 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 conservation,
restoration, or public access 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.
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 the local park grant program
administered by the Parks and Wildlife Department, a private or
public local park, a recreation trail or trail easement, or public
access in general; and
(2) a natural resource conservation project that
benefits, protects, or enhances:
(A) farm, ranch, and forest land, including:
(i) by creating an agricultural
conservation easement;
(ii) by creating a conservation easement;
(iii) by conserving forest lands; and
(iv) through a project related to the Texas
Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Program under Chapter 84, Parks
and Wildlife Code;
(B) wildlife or a wildlife habitat, including
acquisition of a land or conservation easement for protection of a
wetland or wildlife habitat; and
(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;
(D) a restoration project that:
(i) improves water quality, 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; and
(iii) enhances spring flow, restores a
stream, river, or riparian area, improves habitat, 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(b).
(b) If the conservation board receives a sufficient number
of applications for eligible projects, the conservation board shall
allocate:
(1) not less than 80 percent of the funding in any
cycle to public parks and natural area projects as described by
Section 31.204(a)(1); and
(2) not more than 20 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. 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.
Sec. 31.209. LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION TECHNICAL ADVISORY
COMMITTEE. (a) The 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 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, 2027.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.