By: Hinojosa of Nueces S.B. No. 2188
(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2025; March 13, 2025, read
first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
March 27, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 6,
Nays 1; March 27, 2025, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to space flight activities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 482, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 482.002 to read as follows:
Sec. 482.002. JURISDICTION OVER SPACE FLIGHT ACTIVITIES.
(a) In this section, "space flight activities" has the meaning
assigned by Section 100A.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
(b) Space flight activities are subject to the exclusive
jurisdiction of the federal government and this state. Except as
provided by Section 61.132, Natural Resources Code, a county,
municipality, or other political subdivision may not enact or
enforce any measure that bans, limits, or otherwise regulates space
flight activities.
SECTION 2. Section 61.132, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 61.132. CLOSING OF BEACHES FOR SPACE FLIGHT
ACTIVITIES. (a) In this section, "spaceport" has the meaning
assigned by Section 507.001, Local Government Code.
(a-1) This section applies only to:
(1) a county that:
(A) borders [bordering on] the Gulf of Mexico or
its tidewater limits; and
(B) [that] contains a launch site the
construction and operation of which have been approved in a record
of decision or finding of no significant impact issued by the
Federal Aviation Administration following the preparation of an
environmental assessment or environmental impact statement by that
administration; and
(2) a municipality with a population of less than
150,000 that:
(A) is located in a county described by
Subdivision (1);
(B) contains a spaceport; and
(C) has a beach access and use plan adopted and
certified under Section 61.015.
(b) A person planning to conduct space flight activities
between Monday at 8 a.m. and Friday at 12 noon [a launch] in a county
to which this section applies must submit [to the commissioners
court] proposed primary and backup [launch] dates for the space
flight activities to:
(1) the governing body of a municipality to which this
section applies; or
(2) if Subdivision (1) is not applicable, the
commissioners court [the launch].
(b-1) A person planning to conduct space flight activities
between Friday at 12 noon and Monday at 8 a.m. in a county to which
this section applies must submit to the commissioners court
proposed primary and backup dates for the space flight activities.
(c) To protect the public health, safety, and welfare, the
governing body of a municipality or the commissioners court, as
applicable, under Subsection (b) or the commissioners court under
Subsection (b-1) by ordinance or order may temporarily close a
beach in reasonable proximity to the [launch] site of space flight
activities or access points to the beach in the county on a primary
or backup [launch] date for space flight activities, subject to
Subsections [Subsection] (d), (e), and (h).
(d) The governing body of a municipality or the
commissioners court may not close a beach or access points to the
beach for space flight activities on a [primary launch] date
consisting of any of the following days without the approval of the
land office:
(1) the Saturday or Sunday preceding Memorial Day;
(2) Memorial Day;
(3) July 4;
(4) Labor Day; or
(5) a Saturday or Sunday that is after Memorial Day but
before Labor Day.
(e) When closing a beach or access point under this section,
the governing body of a municipality and the [The] commissioners
court must comply with:
(1) the beach closure restrictions described in the
Federal Aviation Administration's environmental evaluation of the
site;
(2) the municipality's and county's beach access and
use plans [plan] adopted and certified under Section 61.015; and
(3) any applicable dune protection plan adopted and
certified under Chapter 63 [when closing a beach or access point
under this section].
(f) The land office may:
(1) approve or deny a beach or access point closure
request under Subsection (d);
(2) enter into a memorandum of agreement with the
governing body of a municipality or the commissioners court of a
county to which this section applies to govern beach and access
point closures made under this section; and
(3) adopt rules to govern beach and access point
closures made under this section.
(g) A person planning to conduct space flight activities
shall provide notice to the public of any closure of a beach or
access points to the beach not less than 48 hours before the
closure.
(h) If an ordinance adopted by the governing body of a
municipality under Subsection (c) conflicts with an order adopted
by the commissioners court under that subsection, the municipal
ordinance prevails.
SECTION 3. 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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