Bill Text: TX HB3557 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to civil and criminal liability for engaging in certain conduct involving a critical infrastructure facility; creating criminal offenses.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 3)

Status: (Passed) 2019-06-14 - Effective on 9/1/19 [HB3557 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB3557-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 3557

AN ACT
relating to civil and criminal liability for engaging in certain
conduct involving a critical infrastructure facility; creating
criminal offenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the Critical
Infrastructure Protection Act.
SECTION 2. Subtitle B, Title 4, Government Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 424 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 424. PROTECTION OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 424.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "critical
infrastructure facility" has the meaning assigned by Section
423.0045(a)(1-a) and also includes:
(1) any pipeline transporting oil or gas or the
products or constituents of oil or gas; and
(2) a facility or pipeline described by this section
that is under construction and all equipment and appurtenances used
during that construction.
SUBCHAPTER B. CRIMINAL LIABILITY
Sec. 424.051. OFFENSE: DAMAGING OR DESTROYING CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY. (a) A person commits an offense if,
without the effective consent of the owner, the person enters or
remains on or in a critical infrastructure facility and
intentionally or knowingly damages or destroys the facility.
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
degree.
(c) If conduct constituting an offense under this section
also constitutes an offense under another law, the actor may be
prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.
(d) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that
the damage caused to the critical infrastructure facility was only
superficial.
Sec. 424.052. OFFENSE: IMPAIRING OR INTERRUPTING OPERATION
OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY. (a) A person commits an
offense if, without the effective consent of the owner, the person
enters or remains on or in a critical infrastructure facility and
intentionally or knowingly impairs or interrupts the operation of
the facility.
(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony.
(c) If conduct constituting an offense under this section
also constitutes an offense under another law, the actor may be
prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.
Sec. 424.053. OFFENSE: INTENT TO DAMAGE OR DESTROY CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY. (a) A person commits an offense if,
without the effective consent of the owner, the person enters or
remains on or in a critical infrastructure facility with the intent
to damage or destroy the facility.
(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony.
(c) If conduct constituting an offense under this section
also constitutes an offense under another law, the actor may be
prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.
(d) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that
the actor intended to cause only superficial damage to the critical
infrastructure facility.
Sec. 424.054. OFFENSE: INTENT TO IMPAIR OR INTERRUPT
OPERATION OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY. (a) A person
commits an offense if, without the effective consent of the owner,
the person enters or remains on or in a critical infrastructure
facility with the intent to impair or interrupt the operation of the
facility.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
(c) If conduct constituting an offense under this section
also constitutes an offense under another law, the actor may be
prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.
Sec. 424.055. PUNISHMENT FOR CORPORATIONS AND
ASSOCIATIONS. Notwithstanding Section 12.51, Penal Code, a court
shall sentence a corporation or association adjudged guilty of an
offense under this subchapter to pay a fine not to exceed $500,000.
Sec. 424.056. RESTITUTION. If a defendant is convicted of
an offense under this subchapter and the offense results in damage
to or destruction of property, a court may, in accordance with
Article 42.037, Code of Criminal Procedure, order the defendant to
make restitution to the owner of the damaged or destroyed property,
or the owner's designee, in an amount equal to the value of the
property on the date of the damage or destruction.
SUBCHAPTER C. CIVIL LIABILITY
Sec. 424.101. CIVIL LIABILITY FOR DAMAGE TO CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY. (a) A defendant who engages in conduct
constituting an offense under Section 424.051, 424.052, 424.053, or
424.054 is liable to the property owner, as provided by this
subchapter, for damages arising from that conduct.
(b) It is not a defense to liability under this section that
a defendant has been acquitted or has not been prosecuted or
convicted under Section 424.051, 424.052, 424.053, or 424.054, or
has been convicted of a different offense or of a different type or
class of offense, for the conduct that is alleged to give rise to
liability under this section.
Sec. 424.102. CERTAIN ADDITIONAL LIABILITY. In addition to
any liability under Section 424.101, an organization that, acting
through an officer, director, or other person serving in a
managerial capacity, knowingly compensates a person for engaging in
conduct occurring on the premises of a critical infrastructure
facility is liable to the property owner, as provided by this
subchapter, for damages arising from the conduct if the conduct
constituted an offense under Section 424.051, 424.052, 424.053, or
424.054.
Sec. 424.103. DAMAGES. (a) A claimant who prevails in a
suit under this subchapter shall be awarded:
(1) actual damages; and
(2) court costs.
(b) In addition to an award under Subsection (a), a claimant
who prevails in a suit under this subchapter may recover exemplary
damages.
Sec. 424.104. CAUSE OF ACTION CUMULATIVE. The cause of
action created by this subchapter is cumulative of any other remedy
provided by common law or statute.
Sec. 424.105. NONAPPLICABILITY. The following provisions
of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code do not apply to a cause of
action arising under this subchapter:
(1) Chapter 27; and
(2) Section 41.008.
SECTION 3. Section 423.0045(a)(1), Government Code, as
amended by Chapters 824 (H.B. 1643) and 1010 (H.B. 1424), Acts of
the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, is reenacted to read
as follows:
(1) "Correctional facility" means:
(A) a confinement facility operated by or under
contract with any division of the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice;
(B) a municipal or county jail;
(C) a confinement facility operated by or under
contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons; or
(D) a secure correctional facility or secure
detention facility, as defined by Section 51.02, Family Code.
SECTION 4. Section 423.0045(a)(1-a), Government Code, as
added by Chapter 1010 (H.B. 1424), Acts of the 85th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2017, is reenacted to conform to the changes made
to Section 423.0045(a)(1), Government Code, by Chapter 824 (H.B.
1643), Acts of the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, to read
as follows:
(1-a) "Critical infrastructure facility" means:
(A) one of the following, if completely enclosed
by a fence or other physical barrier that is obviously designed to
exclude intruders, or if clearly marked with a sign or signs that
are posted on the property, are reasonably likely to come to the
attention of intruders, and indicate that entry is forbidden:
(i) a petroleum or alumina refinery;
(ii) an electrical power generating
facility, substation, switching station, or electrical control
center;
(iii) a chemical, polymer, or rubber
manufacturing facility;
(iv) a water intake structure, water
treatment facility, wastewater treatment plant, or pump station;
(v) a natural gas compressor station;
(vi) a liquid natural gas terminal or
storage facility;
(vii) a telecommunications central
switching office or any structure used as part of a system to
provide wired or wireless telecommunications services;
(viii) a port, railroad switching yard,
trucking terminal, or other freight transportation facility;
(ix) a gas processing plant, including a
plant used in the processing, treatment, or fractionation of
natural gas;
(x) a transmission facility used by a
federally licensed radio or television station;
(xi) a steelmaking facility that uses an
electric arc furnace to make steel;
(xii) a dam that is classified as a high
hazard by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; or
(xiii) a concentrated animal feeding
operation, as defined by Section 26.048, Water Code; or
(B) if enclosed by a fence or other physical
barrier obviously designed to exclude intruders:
(i) any portion of an aboveground oil, gas,
or chemical pipeline;
(ii) an oil or gas drilling site;
(iii) a group of tanks used to store crude
oil, such as a tank battery;
(iv) an oil, gas, or chemical production
facility;
(v) an oil or gas wellhead; or
(vi) any oil and gas facility that has an
active flare.
SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act in adding
Subchapter C, Chapter 424, Government Code, applies only to a cause
of action that accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. A
cause of action that accrues before the effective date of this Act
is governed by the law in effect immediately before that date, and
that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 86th Legislature, Regular Session, 2019,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 7. 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, 2019.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3557 was passed by the House on May 7,
2019, by the following vote: Yeas 90, Nays 51, 1 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 3557 on May 23, 2019, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 3557 on May 26, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 97,
Nays 49, 1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3557 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 20, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 25, Nays
6; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
3557 on May 26, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 19, Nays 12.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor