84th Texas Legislature Regular Session update, March 10, 2015

The deadline for filing most bills is Friday, March 13. Next week, we’ll provide a list of the remainder of the environmental bills that have been filed. For now, we have updates about some legislation that CEC member groups have been following–and telling us about.

1. Well over 40 people attended the State Park Funding Event last Thursday and were treated to a great presentation by Brian Trustee of Texas Audubon about funding (and lack thereof) for and through Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.The group discussed House Bill 82 and House Joint Resolution 33, and we encourage you to learn more about these bills. Please contact rachel@cechouston.org if you would like more information. The following CEC member groups, among others, are closely following these bills:  Memorial Park Conservancy, Katy Prairie Conservancy, Houston Wilderness, Houston Parks Board, Houston Audubon, Greens Bayou Corridor Coalition, Citizens’ Environmental Coalition, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, Bike Houston, and Bayou Preservation Association.
2. House Bill 2425 relates to to water quality improvement and pollution reduction through beverage container recycling incentives; assessing a fee; providing penalties; creating a criminal offense. To learn more, please contact Patsy or Mary at Texans for Clean Water.

Let us know if you are following any environmental legislation closely, or would like to share.

You can read more on the Texas Senate News page, the Texas House of Representatives News page, and from the Texas Tribune. (If you have a favorite source of info, please share!)

• March 13, 2015: Deadline for filing most bills
• June 1, 2015: Last day of regular session
• June 21, 2015: Last day the governor can sign or veto bills passed during the regular legislative session
• November 3, 2014: Uniform Election Date

For more information about environmental activities of the Texas Legislature, visit cechouston.org/CEC/category/texas-legislature, or check out the legislature’s web page: www.capitol.state.tx.us.

Discussions about the budget continue, and legislators continue to file bills. Bills of environmental note relate to transportation funding, a new state pollinator, electric railways, conservation grant programs, urban transit districts, air quality fees, desalination, Global Climate Change Commission, mineral rights, public utilities, and reporting wastewater spills.

You can read more on the Texas Senate News page, the Texas House of Representatives News page, and from the Texas Tribune. (If you have a favorite source of info, please share!)

House Bills

HB 1760: Relating to maximum penalties for certain environmental violations.
HB 1772: Relating to the authority of the governing body of a taxing unit to exempt from ad valorem taxation mineral interests owned by nonprofit corporations organized for the exclusive purpose of generating income for certain charitable nonprofit corporations through the ownership, lease, and management of real property.
HB 1794: Relating to maximum penalties for certain environmental violations.
HB 1816: Relating to the training requirements for renewal of a private pesticide applicator license.
HB 1823: Relating to the name and governance of the Railroad Commission of Texas.
HB 1833: Relating to agreements of certain counties to acquire, construct, maintain, or operate a toll bridge.
HB 1834: Relating to the operation of toll projects.
HB 1835: Relating to a prohibition on converting certain segments or lanes of a state highway to toll projects or managed lanes.
HB 1836: Relating to the allocation of certain sales tax revenue to the state highway fund and to the uses of that revenue.
HB 1837: Relating to approval of the study of, design for, and construction of a proposed toll project by the commissioners court of the county in which the toll project is to be located.
HB 1838: Relating to the provision of a plan regarding the elimination of toll roads.
HB 1839: Relating to authority for certain state employees to work flexible hours and to work from home or other authorized alternative work sites.
HB 1856: Relating to the renewal or amendment of certain permits issued by groundwater conservation districts.
HB 1863: Relating to landscape control along interstate and state highway rights-of-way; imposing a criminal penalty.
HB 1865: Relating to environmental permitting procedures for applications filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
HB 1876: Relating to providing notification to certain legislators and county judges of certain applications or notices for an electric railway project.
HB 1889: Relating to the authorization of the construction of an electric railway on or across a street, alley, square, or property of a county or municipality.
HB 1900: Relating to the eligibility of land for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified open-space land.
HB 1902: Relating to the regulation and use of graywater.
HB 1906: Relating to the repeal of the production taxes on crude petroleum and sulphur.
HB 1915: Relating to the allocation of state hotel occupancy tax revenue to certain barrier island coastal municipalities.
HB 1919: Relating to the applicability of certain provisions concerning invasive species.
HB 1925: Relating to the transfer of the Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Program to the Parks and Wildlife Department.
HB 1929: Relating to the payment in certain counties of expenses associated with the transportation of county residents and visitors for civic, community, educational, and recreational activities.
HB 1932: Relating to the eligibility of land for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified open-space land on the basis of its use for wildlife management.
HB 1944: Relating to coordinated county transportation authorities.
HB 1957: Relating to the definition of urban transit district.
HB 1961: Relating to authorizing the optional imposition of a county air quality fee at the time other emissions-related inspection fees are collected.
HB 1968: Relating to certain comprehensive development agreements of the Texas Department of Transportation or a regional mobility authority.
HB 1972: Relating to certain exemptions from the requirement to obtain a permit from a groundwater conservation district.
HB 1979:  Relating to a bag limit exemption for certain participants in certain fishing tournaments in Chambers, Jefferson, Galveston, Hardin, Newton, and Orange Counties.
HB 2002: Relating to the recycling of county surplus or salvage property.
HB 2007: Relating to fees imposed by a county for licensing a junkyard or automotive wrecking and salvage yard.
HB 2031: Relating to the development and production of marine seawater desalination, integrated marine seawater desalination, and facilities for the storage, conveyance, and delivery of desalinated marine seawater.
HB 2033: Relating to authorizing counties to require the submission of digital maps in connection with the county plat approval process.
HB 2044: Relating to the setback requirements for a junkyard or an automotive wrecking and salvage yard.
HB 2051: Relating to a volume-based exemption from reporting requirements for certain accidental discharges or spills from wastewater facilities.
HB 2073: Relating to persons affected by certain municipalities’ water or sewer utility improvements.
HB 2078: Relating to the creation and duties of the Global Climate Change Commission.
HB 2080: Relating to the creation and implementation of a greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan.

House Resolutions

HCR 65: Designating the western honey bee as the official State Pollinator of Texas.
HR 704: Urging the federal government to return title to all federal public lands within the western states to the states where the land is located.
HJR 23: Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the governing body of a political subdivision to exempt from ad valorem taxation mineral interests owned by nonprofit corporations organized for the exclusive purpose of generating income for certain charitable nonprofit corporations through the ownership, lease, and management of real property.
HJR 24: Proposing a constitutional amendment dedicating revenue derived from the taxes imposed on the sale, use, or rental of motor vehicles to the state highway fund and limiting the permissible uses of certain money in the fund.

Senate Bills

SB 682: Relating to the use of hotel occupancy tax revenues in certain municipalities.
SB 693: Relating to the municipal sales and use tax for street maintenance.
SB 695: Relating to a study of the feasibility and desirability of creating and maintaining a coastal barrier system.
SB 697: Relating to the definition of urban transit district.
SB 709: Relating to environmental permitting procedures for applications filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
SB 710: Relating to the organization of a municipal government as a Liberty City general-law municipality.
SB 720: Relating to the authority of a political subdivision to prohibit hydraulic fracturing.
SB 721: Relating to the sunset review of regional mobility authorities.
SB 748: Relating to voting eligibility requirements for members of a metropolitan planning organization policy board.
SB 749: Relating to the allocation of state hotel occupancy tax revenue to certain barrier island coastal municipalities.
SB 757: Relating to the repeal of the production taxes on crude petroleum and sulphur.
SB 775: Relating to the repeal of the goal for natural gas use.
SB 776: Relating to the authority of the Public Utility Commission of Texas to approve certain transmission facilities constructed by a municipally owned utility.
SB 777: Relating to the authority of the Public Utility Commission of Texas to restrict participation in the retail electric market for significant violations.
SB 789: Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to provide sewer service to areas within the municipal boundaries without obtaining a certificate of public convenience and necessity.
SB 841: Relating to rates of and certificates of convenience and necessity for certain non-ERCOT electric utilities.

Senate Joint Resolutions

SR 246: Recognizing the Texas Forestry Association on the occasion of its seedling giveaway.