Bill Text: TX SB2229 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to criminal liability for engaging in certain conduct involving a critical infrastructure facility; increasing criminal penalties.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-21 - Referred to Natural Resources & Economic Development [SB2229 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-SB2229-Introduced.html
86R5246 JCG-D | ||
By: Fallon | S.B. No. 2229 |
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relating to criminal liability for engaging in certain conduct | ||
involving a critical infrastructure facility; increasing criminal | ||
penalties. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 12.51, Penal Code, is amended by adding | ||
Subsection (f) to read as follows: | ||
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a | ||
court shall sentence a corporation or association adjudged guilty | ||
of any of the following offenses and subject to any of the following | ||
punishments to pay a fine equal to the maximum possible amount of | ||
the applicable fine multiplied by 10: | ||
(1) Section 28.02(d-1) or (d-2); | ||
(2) Section 28.03(l) or (m); and | ||
(3) Section 30.05(d)(3)(A)(iii) or (4). | ||
SECTION 2. Section 28.02, Penal Code, is amended by adding | ||
Subsections (d-1) and (d-2) to read as follows: | ||
(d-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (d) and except as provided | ||
by Subsection (d-2), an offense under this section is a felony | ||
punishable by a fine of $100,000 or imprisonment for not more than | ||
10 years, or both the fine and imprisonment, if the offense is | ||
committed on or in a critical infrastructure facility, as defined | ||
by Section 30.05. | ||
(d-2) If an offense under this section is punishable under | ||
Subsection (d-1) and Subsection (d)(1) or (2), the offense may be | ||
punished under either subsection. Notwithstanding Section | ||
12.32(b), if an offense to which this subsection applies is | ||
punished under Subsection (d)(1) or (2), the defendant may, in | ||
addition to the imprisonment, be punished by a fine of $100,000. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 28.03, Penal Code, is amended by adding | ||
Subsections (l) and (m) to read as follows: | ||
(l) Notwithstanding Subsection (b) and except as provided | ||
by Subsection (m), an offense under this section is a felony | ||
punishable by a fine of $100,000 or imprisonment for not more than | ||
10 years, or both the fine and imprisonment, if the offense is | ||
committed on or in a critical infrastructure facility, as defined | ||
by Section 30.05. | ||
(m) If an offense under this section is punishable under | ||
Subsection (l) and Subsection (b)(7), the offense may be punished | ||
under either subsection. Notwithstanding Section 12.32(b), if an | ||
offense to which this subsection applies is punished under | ||
Subsection (b)(7), the defendant may, in addition to the | ||
imprisonment, be punished by a fine of $100,000. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 30.05(b)(7), Penal Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(7) "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) [ |
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manufacturing facility; | ||
(ii) [ |
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(iii) [ |
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facility, substation, switching station, electrical control | ||
center, or electrical transmission or distribution facility, | ||
including electric power lines; | ||
(iv) [ |
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treatment facility, wastewater treatment plant, or pump station; | ||
(v) [ |
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compressor station; | ||
(vi) [ |
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storage facility; | ||
(vii) [ |
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switching office or any structure used as part of a system to | ||
provide wired or wireless telecommunications services; | ||
(viii) [ |
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yard, railroad tracks, trucking terminal, or other freight | ||
transportation facility; | ||
(ix) [ |
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including a plant used in the processing, treatment, or | ||
fractionation of natural gas; [ |
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(x) [ |
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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 that is | ||
regulated by the federal government; | ||
(xiii) a facility identified and regulated | ||
by the United States Department of Homeland Security under the | ||
Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards program; | ||
(xiv) a natural gas distribution utility | ||
facility, including a pipeline interconnection, gate station, | ||
metering station, storage facility, or regulator station; or | ||
(xv) a facility for storing and | ||
distributing crude oil or products refined from crude oil, | ||
including a valve site, pipeline interconnection, pump station, | ||
metering station, and piping and including a facility for loading | ||
and unloading trucks that transport crude oil or products refined | ||
from crude oil; or | ||
(B) if enclosed by a fence or other physical | ||
barrier or clearly marked with signs prohibiting trespassing, for | ||
the evident purpose of excluding intruders: | ||
(i) any aboveground portion of an oil, gas, | ||
or hazardous chemical pipeline; | ||
(ii) a tank or group of tanks used to store | ||
oil, gas, or hazardous chemicals, such as a tank battery; | ||
(iii) an oil, gas, or hazardous chemical | ||
production facility; or | ||
(iv) a facility for storing hazardous | ||
chemicals. | ||
SECTION 5. Section 30.05(d), Penal Code, is amended to read | ||
as follows: | ||
(d) An offense under this section is: | ||
(1) a Class B misdemeanor, except as provided by | ||
Subdivisions (2), [ |
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(2) a Class C misdemeanor, except as provided by | ||
Subdivisions [ |
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committed: | ||
(A) on agricultural land and within 100 feet of | ||
the boundary of the land; or | ||
(B) on residential land and within 100 feet of a | ||
protected freshwater area; [ |
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(3) a Class A misdemeanor, except as provided by | ||
Subdivision (4), if: | ||
(A) the offense is committed: | ||
(i) in a habitation or a shelter center; | ||
(ii) on a Superfund site; or | ||
(iii) on or in a critical infrastructure | ||
facility; | ||
(B) the offense is committed on or in property of | ||
an institution of higher education and it is shown on the trial of | ||
the offense that the person has previously been convicted of: | ||
(i) an offense under this section relating | ||
to entering or remaining on or in property of an institution of | ||
higher education; or | ||
(ii) an offense under Section 51.204(b)(1), | ||
Education Code, relating to trespassing on the grounds of an | ||
institution of higher education; or | ||
(C) the person carries a deadly weapon during the | ||
commission of the offense; or | ||
(4) a state jail felony punishable by a fine of $10,000 | ||
or by confinement for a term of one year, or both the fine and | ||
confinement, if: | ||
(A) the offense is committed on or in a critical | ||
infrastructure facility; and | ||
(B) it is shown on the trial of the offense that | ||
the defendant committed the offense with the intent to: | ||
(i) damage, destroy, deface, or tamper with | ||
equipment in the facility; or | ||
(ii) impede or inhibit the operations of | ||
the facility. | ||
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to | ||
an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An | ||
offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed | ||
by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the | ||
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of | ||
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of | ||
this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. | ||
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |