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

Texas House Bill 3557 (Prior Session Legislation)

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

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)

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

Download: Texas-2019-HB3557-Enrolled.html



	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