By: Nichols S.B. No. 1121
(In the Senate - Filed February 5, 2025; February 24, 2025,
read first time and referred to Committee on Transportation;
March 13, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9,
Nays 0; March 13, 2025, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to excepting certain fiber-optic cable projects from
certain notice requirements for projects on state or local public
land.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 191.0525(e), Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) There exist categorical exclusions since many
activities conducted on nonfederal public land have little, if any,
chance to damage archeological sites, and therefore should not
require notification under this section. The following are
categorical exclusions at a minimum:
(1) water injection into existing oil and gas wells;
(2) upgrading of electrical transmission lines when
there will be no new disturbance of the existing easement;
(3) seismic exploration activity when there is no
ground penetration or disturbance;
(4) building and repairing fences that do not require
construction or modification of associated roads, fire breaks, or
previously disturbed ground;
(5) road maintenance that does not involve widening or
lengthening the road;
(6) installation or replacement of meter taps;
(7) controlled burning of fields;
(8) animal grazing;
(9) plowing, if the techniques are similar to those
used previously;
(10) installation of monuments and sign posts unless
within the boundaries of designated historic districts;
(11) maintenance of existing trails;
(12) land sales and trades of land held by the
permanent school fund and permanent university fund;
(13) permanent school fund and permanent university
fund leases, easements, and permits, including mineral leases and
pooling agreements, in which the lessee, grantee, or permittee is
specifically required to comply with the provisions of this
chapter;
(14) oil, gas, or other mineral exploration,
production, processing, marketing, refining, or transportation
facility or pipeline project in an area where the project will cross
state or local public roads, rivers, and streams, unless they
contain a recorded archeological site or a designated state land
tract in Texas' submerged lands;
(15) maintenance, operation, replacement, or minor
modification of an existing oil, gas, or other mineral exploration,
production, processing, marketing, refining, or transportation
facility or pipeline; [and]
(16) installation, maintenance, operation,
replacement, or minor modification of buried fiber-optic cables
located in the right-of-way of an existing road; and
(17) any project for which a state permit application
has been made prior to promulgation of rules under this section.
SECTION 2. 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, 2025.
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