By: Sparks, et al. S.B. No. 34
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the preparation for and the prevention, management, and
potential effects of wildfires and to emergency communications in
this state; authorizing an increase in the assessment on certain
insurers that fund the volunteer fire department assistance fund.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. (a) In this section:
(1) "Fuel loading" means the amount of combustible
material in a defined space expressed quantitatively in terms of
weight of fuel per unit area.
(2) "Service" means the Texas A&M Forest Service.
(3) "University" means West Texas A&M University.
(b) The service and university shall jointly conduct a study
to determine the status and condition of fuel loading in wildfire
risk zones in this state and the corresponding risk of wildfire to
the residents, homes, businesses, and ecology of this state.
(c) In conducting the study, the service and university
shall:
(1) establish wildfire risk zones based on fuel
loading and the risk of wildfire to the residents, homes,
businesses, and ecology of this state within geographic areas
defined by the service; and
(2) solicit and consider information from:
(A) the Department of Public Safety;
(B) the Department of Agriculture, including the
Prescribed Burning Board;
(C) the Texas Division of Emergency Management;
(D) the Parks and Wildlife Department;
(E) the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality;
(F) the State Soil and Water Conservation Board;
(G) the comptroller of public accounts; and
(H) other natural resource representatives as
necessary.
(d) The study must:
(1) for each wildfire risk zone established under
Subsection (c)(1) of this section, consider:
(A) the risk that fuel loading poses;
(B) the projected loss of life, property, and
natural resources should a wildfire occur in the zone;
(C) the financial impact of costs associated
with:
(i) reconstruction in the zone after a
wildfire;
(ii) potential loss of production in the
natural resource and agricultural industries in the zone after a
wildfire; and
(iii) fuel loading mitigation and asset
hardening in the zone; and
(D) whether the money invested in fuel loading
mitigation in the zone exceeds or is less than the value of property
protected by the investment and the amount of the excess or
shortage;
(2) assess the overall economic benefits to this state
of:
(A) prescribed burning;
(B) fuel loading control for wildfire
prevention; and
(C) public investment in fuel loading reduction
projects; and
(3) recommend changes to existing law to ensure that
public and private natural resource managers have the authority and
ability to appropriately mitigate fuel loading risks in each
established risk zone.
(e) Not later than December 1, 2026, the service and
university shall submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor,
the speaker of the house of representatives, and each standing
committee of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over the
service or university or another state agency from which
information is solicited under this section a written report that
includes a summary of the study and any legislative recommendations
based on the study.
(f) This section expires May 1, 2027.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 88, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 88.1255 to read as follows:
Sec. 88.1255. STATEWIDE DATABASE OF FIREFIGHTING
EQUIPMENT. (a) In this section, "fire department" means:
(1) a volunteer fire department; or
(2) a department of a municipality, county, or special
district or authority that provides firefighting services.
(b) The Texas A&M Forest Service shall create and maintain a
comprehensive database that shows in real time the statewide
inventory of firefighting equipment available for use in responding
to wildfires.
(c) The database must:
(1) include a description of the type of firefighting
equipment each fire department in this state has available for use
in responding to wildfires;
(2) include contact information for the fire
department with the equipment;
(3) be searchable by location and equipment type; and
(4) be accessible by all fire departments in this
state and allow each fire department to update the database
information regarding the fire department's available equipment.
(d) The Texas A&M Forest Service shall:
(1) establish and maintain an electronic system to at
least annually notify a fire department that provides the
department's firefighting equipment information to the database of
the requirement to update the information in the database; and
(2) assist a fire department that provides the
department's firefighting equipment information to the database in
updating the database annually or as soon as practicable after any
change in equipment availability.
SECTION 3. Section 614.102, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
(i) At least 10 percent of appropriations for a state fiscal
year from the fund for the purpose of providing assistance to
volunteer fire departments under the program is allocated for
volunteer fire departments located in areas of this state the
service determines are at high risk for large wildfires. If the
amount of assistance requested under this subsection in a state
fiscal year is less than the amount allocated under this
subsection, the remainder may be used for other types of assistance
requests.
SECTION 4. Section 2007.002, Insurance Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2007.002. ASSESSMENT. The comptroller shall assess
against all insurers to which this chapter applies amounts for each
state fiscal year necessary, as determined by the commissioner, to
collect a combined total equal to the lesser of:
(1) the total amount that the General Appropriations
Act appropriates from the volunteer fire department assistance fund
account in the general revenue fund for that state fiscal year,
other than appropriations for contributions to the Texas Emergency
Services Retirement System made under Section 614.104(d),
Government Code; or
(2) $40 [$30] million.
SECTION 5. Section 91.019, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 91.019. STANDARDS FOR CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION, AND
MAINTENANCE OF ELECTRICAL POWER LINES. (a) An operator shall
construct, operate, and maintain an electrical power line serving a
well site or other surface facility employed in operations incident
to oil and gas development and production in accordance with:
(1) the National Electrical Code published by the
National Fire Protection Association and adopted by the Texas
Commission of Licensing and Regulation under Chapter 1305,
Occupations Code; or
(2) for a utility, as that term is defined by Section
11.004, Utilities Code, that is engaged in the maintenance of an
electric transmission and distribution system, relevant rules
adopted by the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
(b) If, during an inspection by the commission of a well
site or surface facility employed in operations incident to oil and
gas development and production or on the receipt of a written notice
submitted by a landowner or lessee, the commission discovers a
condition involving an electrical power line, pole, or other
related electrical equipment that does not meet the standards
described by Subsection (a) and poses a risk of causing a fire or
injury to a person, the commission shall, not later than three days
after the date the commission discovers or receives notice of the
condition, notify the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the
operator. The notice by the commission must include a description
of the condition and, if the condition was discovered at a well
site, whether the well is abandoned. To resolve the condition, the
commission and the Public Utility Commission of Texas, in
collaboration, shall, not later than 10 days after the date the
commission notifies the Public Utility Commission of Texas:
(1) notify the landowner of the property of the
conditions and the actions taken by the commission and the Public
Utility Commission of Texas to resolve the condition; and
(2) request:
(A) that the state fire marshal or a local
government authority inspect the condition at the well site or
surface facility and require the operator to mitigate any dangerous
conditions identified by the state fire marshal or local government
authority; or
(B) that the electric utility providing electric
power to the well site or surface facility investigate the
condition and disconnect electric power at the point of common
coupling meter point, if necessary.
(c) If electric power to a well site or surface facility is
disconnected by an electric utility in response to a request made
under Subsection (b)(2)(B), the electric utility shall restore
electric power to the site or facility on receipt of a notice by the
commission that the condition is resolved.
SECTION 6. Section 91.019, Natural Resources Code, as
amended by this Act, applies to an inspection that occurs on or
after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.