By: Hinojosa, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Eckhardt) H.B. No. 3893
         (In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2021;
  May 10, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on
  Transportation; May 17, 2021, reported favorably by the following
  vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 17, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the modification of a 99-year lease of certain state
  property to the City of Austin and the grant of a 99-year lease of
  certain state property and certain easements to the Capital
  Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 2B(a) and (b), Chapter 34 (H.B. 215),
  General Laws, Acts of the 33rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1913,
  are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The leasehold interest granted by the state under
  Sections 2 and 2A(a)(2) of this Act shall be limited to only the
  surface of the property described in Sections 1 and 2A(a)(2) of this
  Act and shall be subject and subordinate to those rights and
  interests granted to the Capital Metropolitan Transportation
  Authority pursuant to Section 3 of this Act, provided however that
  the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority shall exercise
  those rights and interests so as to reasonably accommodate the
  public park uses authorized by Sections 2 and 2A of this Act. The
  state does not by this Act part with any title, color of title or
  interest which it now owns in the property described in this Act,
  except as granted herein.
         (b)  In the event, however, the City of Austin should fail to
  use the property described in Section 1 or 2A(a)(1) or (2) of this
  Act for the purpose or purposes designated, that property shall
  revert to the State as upon breach of condition subsequent,
  provided, however, that if the exercise of the rights and interests
  granted to the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority under
  Section 3 of this Act prevents the use of the property for a purpose
  designated for any period of time during the lease, such failure
  shall not be a breach of conditions.
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 34 (H.B. 215), General Laws, Acts of the
  33rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1913, is amended by adding
  Section 3 to read as follows:
         Sec. 3.  (a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this
  Act, the State of Texas hereby cedes and grants to the Capital
  Metropolitan Transportation Authority for a period of 99 years
  beginning on the effective date of this Act a lease of all of the
  subsurface strata below the surface of the property described only
  in Sections 1 and 2A(a)(2) of this Act and the streets abutting such
  property to the center of such streets.
         (b)  The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority may
  use the subsurface of the property described in Subsection (a) of
  this section only for public transportation, a subway or
  underground railway station, tunnel, or terminal, and
  transportation facilities, including any related retail,
  commercial, public performance and exhibition, and public amenity
  purposes. In any location and at any depth below the surface of the
  property described in Subsection (a) of this section, the Capital
  Metropolitan Transportation Authority may construct, operate,
  repair, maintain, replace, and remove the following transportation
  facilities:
               (1)  public transportation facilities, including
  subway and railway tunnels, stations, tracks, and related
  improvements;
               (2)  common areas and facilities designated for the
  general use and convenience of any subtenants, passengers,
  visitors, and occupants of the transportation facilities,
  including concourses, tunnels, piers, boarding areas, stages,
  exhibition and performance areas, seating areas, elevators, moving
  walkways, sidewalks, stairways, escalators, pedestrian entrances,
  station portals, air intakes or exits, loading zones, landscaping,
  and any related facilities or improvements;
               (3)  shops, stores, booths, stands, spaces, and related
  facilities used for any commercial, retail, market, or restaurant
  uses;
               (4)  billboards and any advertising or promotional
  signs or displays; and
               (5)  improvements, utilities, and related
  infrastructure and public amenities related to the provision and
  development of services and facilities described by Subdivisions
  (1), (2), (3), and (4) of this subsection.
         (c)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the
  State of Texas hereby cedes and grants to the Capital Metropolitan
  Transportation Authority for a period of 99 years beginning on the
  effective date of this Act the following easements on the surface of
  the property described only in Sections 1 and 2A(a)(2) of this Act
  and the streets abutting such property to the center of such
  streets:
               (1)  a temporary nonexclusive construction easement to
  use the minimum amount of the surface of the property as the Capital
  Metropolitan Transportation Authority may reasonably consider
  necessary:
                     (A)  for a period not to exceed five years from the
  commencement of construction in connection with the installation of
  the transportation facilities described by Subsection (b) of this
  section or the surface ancillary amenities described by Subdivision
  (5) of this subsection; and
                     (B)  from time to time after the period described
  by Paragraph (A) of this subdivision for the purpose of renovating,
  maintaining, repairing, replacing, relocating, or removing all or
  any part of the transportation facilities described by Subsection
  (b) of this section or the surface ancillary amenities described by
  Subdivision (5) of this subsection;
               (2)  a nonexclusive access easement for maintenance
  vehicle and pedestrian ingress, egress, and access to and from the
  transportation facilities described by Subsection (b) of this
  section on, over, and across the surface of the property, whether on
  existing roadways, sidewalks, or walkways located on the property
  or otherwise over the surface ancillary amenities described by
  Subdivision (5) of this subsection as the Capital Metropolitan
  Transportation Authority may install from time to time;
               (3)  a nonexclusive easement over the property for
  audio, visual, view, reflective light, shadow flicker, glimmer,
  noise, shadow, glare, and any other effects attributable to the
  transportation facilities described by Subsection (b) of this
  section located under or on the property and on property adjacent to
  that property;
               (4)  a nonexclusive easement over the surface of the
  property for the purpose of installing, maintaining, repairing,
  replacing, relocating, or removing from time to time any:
                     (A)  power transmission lines:
                           (i)  including overhead and underground
  transmission lines, poles, anchors, conduits, support structures,
  cables, distribution and interconnection facilities, and related
  utility facilities, infrastructure, and equipment; and
                           (ii)  excluding any substation;
                     (B)  telecommunication and data lines, including
  overhead and underground transmission lines, poles, anchors,
  conduits, support structures, cables, and related utility
  facilities, infrastructure, and equipment;
                     (C)  water, drainage, waste and sewer lines,
  conduits, support structures, and related utility facilities,
  infrastructure, and equipment; and
                     (D)  other utility facilities, infrastructure,
  and equipment as the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority
  may consider necessary or desirable in connection with the
  development, operation, and maintenance of the transportation
  facilities described by Subsection (b) of this section or the
  surface ancillary amenities described by Subdivision (5) of this
  subsection; and
               (5)  an encroachment easement for the Capital
  Metropolitan Transportation Authority to install over the surface
  of the property, for the purpose of providing access to the
  transportation facilities described by Subsection (b) of this
  section, surface ancillary amenities compatible with public park
  uses as follows:
                     (A)  for a period not to exceed five years from the
  commencement of construction in connection with the installation of
  the transportation facilities described by Subsection (b) of this
  section, the right to construct and install aboveground signage,
  booths, walkways, sidewalks, elevators, stairwells, escalators,
  awnings, entryways, exits, fences, landscaping, air intakes or
  exits, trash receptacles, and other public amenities; and
                     (B)  from time to time after the period described
  by Paragraph (A) of this subdivision, the right to:
                           (i)  maintain, repair, replace, or remove a
  surface ancillary amenity listed in Paragraph (A) of this
  subdivision; and
                           (ii)  construct or install fences,
  landscaping, trash receptacles, and surface ancillary amenities
  that are wayfinding in nature, including aboveground signage,
  booths, and awnings.
         (d)  The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority
  shall, in exercising the Capital Metropolitan Transportation
  Authority's rights and interests on the surface of the property:
               (1)  to mitigate and minimize harm to the public park
  uses, take measures that, at a minimum, comply with 49 U.S.C.
  Section 303 and 23 U.S.C. Section 138; and
               (2)  use best efforts to preserve and protect any
  existing trees that are 24 caliper inches or larger.
         (e)  Each easement granted to the Capital Metropolitan
  Transportation Authority under Subsection (c) of this section shall
  be appurtenant to the leasehold interest granted to the Capital
  Metropolitan Transportation Authority under Subsection (a) of this
  section, shall run with the property described in Subsections (a)
  and (c) of this section, and shall inure to the benefit of the
  Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Nonuse of an
  easement or right granted under Subsection (c) of this section does
  not constitute abandonment or surrender and does not preclude the
  use of the entire scope of the easement or right by the Capital
  Metropolitan Transportation Authority at any time or from time to
  time.
         (f)  The state acknowledges and agrees that the Capital
  Metropolitan Transportation Authority shall be the sole and
  exclusive owner of all transportation facilities described by
  Subsection (b) of this section and surface ancillary amenities
  described by Subsection (c)(5) of this section installed under this
  section, and the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority may
  convey or remove the same at any time or from time to time. The
  state hereby waives any lien rights, whether statutory or
  otherwise, the state has or may have to the transportation
  facilities described by Subsection (b) of this section or the
  surface ancillary amenities described by Subsection (c)(5) of this
  section.
         (g)  The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority shall
  have the right at any time and from time to time to assign,
  encumber, hypothecate, mortgage, or pledge any right, title, or
  interest granted to the Capital Metropolitan Transportation
  Authority under this section, including, without limitation, any of
  its right, title, or interest in and to the transportation
  facilities described by Subsection (b) of this section or the
  surface ancillary amenities described by Subsection (c)(5) of this
  section. Moreover, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation
  Authority is hereby authorized to grant such subleases, easements,
  and licenses over, across, through, or under the property described
  in Subsections (a) and (c) of this section as the Capital
  Metropolitan Transportation Authority may consider necessary or
  desirable in connection with the development, operation, or
  maintenance of the transportation facilities described by
  Subsection (b) of this section or the surface ancillary amenities
  described by Subsection (c)(5) of this section.
         (h)  The State of Texas does not by this Act part with any
  title, color of title, or interest which it now owns in the property
  described in this section, except as granted in this section.
         SECTION 3.  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, 2021.
 
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