Bill Text: TX HB1572 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to a residential property owner's right to remove a tree or vegetation that the owner believes poses a fire risk.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-05-11 - Placed on General State Calendar [HB1572 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB1572-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relating to a residential property owner's right to remove a tree or vegetation that the owner believes poses a fire risk.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-05-11 - Placed on General State Calendar [HB1572 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB1572-Introduced.html
85R2339 JTS-F | ||
By: Workman | H.B. No. 1572 |
|
||
|
||
relating to a property owner's right to remove a tree or vegetation | ||
that the owner believes poses a fire risk. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 240.909(b), Local Government Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(b) Except as provided by Section 250.008, the [ |
||
commissioners court of a county subject to this section may | ||
prohibit or restrict the clear-cutting of live oak trees in the | ||
unincorporated area of the county. | ||
SECTION 2. The heading to Chapter 250, Local Government | ||
Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
CHAPTER 250. MISCELLANEOUS LOCAL GOVERNMENT REGULATORY AUTHORITY | ||
[ |
||
SECTION 3. Chapter 250, Local Government Code, is amended | ||
by adding Section 250.008 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 250.008. REMOVAL OF TREE OR VEGETATION THAT POSES FIRE | ||
RISK. (a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (c), a | ||
municipality, county, or other political subdivision may not enact | ||
or enforce any ordinance, rule, or other regulation that restricts | ||
the ability of a property owner to remove a tree or vegetation on | ||
the owner's property that the owner believes poses a risk of fire to | ||
a structure on the property or on adjacent property, including a | ||
regulation that requires the owner to file an affidavit or notice | ||
before removing the tree or vegetation. | ||
(b) This section does not prevent the enforcement of an | ||
ordinance, rule, or other regulation: | ||
(1) on property being developed under a municipal | ||
permit; or | ||
(2) that: | ||
(A) restricts the ability of a property owner to | ||
remove a tree eight inches or larger in diameter at four and a half | ||
feet above the natural ground, except that no restrictions may be | ||
made on the ability to remove a mesquite (genus Prosopis), juniper | ||
(genus Juniperus), salt cedar (genus Tamarix), or hackberry (genus | ||
Celtis) tree, regardless of size; or | ||
(B) is designed to mitigate tree-borne diseases | ||
as recommended by the Texas A&M Forest Service. | ||
(c) This section does not apply to a municipality whose | ||
extraterritorial jurisdiction is immediately adjacent to or | ||
includes all or part of a federal military installation in active | ||
use as of September 1, 2017. | ||
SECTION 4. Chapter 202, Property Code, is amended by adding | ||
Section 202.013 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 202.013. REGULATION OF CERTAIN TREE OR VEGETATION | ||
REMOVAL. (a) A property owners' association may not include or | ||
enforce a provision in a dedicatory instrument that restricts the | ||
ability of a property owner to remove a tree or vegetation on the | ||
owner's property that the owner believes poses a risk of fire to a | ||
structure on the property or on adjacent property, including a | ||
provision that requires the owner to file an affidavit or notice | ||
before removing the tree or vegetation. | ||
(b) This section does not apply to: | ||
(1) a provision in a dedicatory instrument designed to | ||
mitigate tree-borne disease as recommended by the Texas A&M Forest | ||
Service; or | ||
(2) an area of an owner's property that is in a | ||
specified drainage or conservation easement shown on a plat | ||
recorded with the applicable political subdivision. | ||
SECTION 5. Section 202.013, Property Code, as added by this | ||
Act, applies to a dedicatory instrument without regard to whether | ||
the dedicatory instrument takes effect or is renewed before, on, or | ||
after the effective date of this Act. | ||
SECTION 6. 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, 2017. |