Bill Text: TX SB2485 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the establishment, administration, and use of the land and water conservation fund.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-23 - Referred to Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs [SB2485 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB2485-Introduced.html
By: Kolkhorst | S.B. No. 2485 | |
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relating to the establishment, administration, and use of the land | ||
and water conservation fund. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Chapter 31, Natural Resources Code, is amended | ||
by adding Subchapter F to read as follows: | ||
SUBCHAPTER F. LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND | ||
Sec. 31.201. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: | ||
(1) "Advisory committee" means the land and water | ||
technical advisory committee. | ||
(2) "Agricultural conservation easement" has the | ||
meaning assigned by Section 84.002, Parks and Wildlife Code. | ||
(3) "Conservation board" means the land and water | ||
conservation board. | ||
(4) "Conservation easement" has the meaning assigned | ||
by Section 183.001, Natural Resources Code. | ||
(5) "Fund" means the land and water conservation fund. | ||
(6) "Nature-based project" means a project or practice | ||
that uses protected, restored, or constructed natural features or | ||
an engineered project or practice that mimics natural processes. | ||
(7) "Public access" means a land or water area for | ||
human use and enjoyment that is relatively free of man-made | ||
structures and includes land and water parks owned or operated by | ||
the state or a political subdivision. | ||
Sec. 31.202. LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION BOARD. (a) The | ||
land and water conservation board is composed of five members as | ||
follows: | ||
(1) the commissioner or the commissioner's designee; | ||
(2) the executive director of the Texas Commission on | ||
Environmental Quality or the executive director's designee; | ||
(3) the executive director of the Parks and Wildlife | ||
Department or the executive director's designee; | ||
(4) the executive administrator of the Texas Water | ||
Development Board or the executive administrator's designee; and | ||
(5) the chair of the advisory committee established by | ||
Section 31.209 or the chair's designee. | ||
(b) The commissioner or the commissioner's designee is the | ||
chair of the conservation board. | ||
(c) The conservation board may appoint to the conservation | ||
board not more than two nonvoting members with professional or | ||
academic experience in a field related to the conservation board's | ||
duties. A member appointed under this section may serve for a term | ||
of not more than two years. | ||
Sec. 31.203. LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND. (a) The | ||
land and water conservation fund is created as a special fund in the | ||
state treasury outside the general revenue fund. | ||
(b) The fund may be used: | ||
(1) without further legislative appropriation; and | ||
(2) only as provided by this subchapter. | ||
(c) The fund consists of: | ||
(1) money transferred to the fund in accordance with | ||
Sections 49-g(c) and (c-1), Article III, Texas Constitution; | ||
(2) money appropriated to the fund by law; | ||
(3) the proceeds of fees or other sources of revenue | ||
dedicated by law for deposit to the fund; | ||
(4) interest and other earnings on the investment of | ||
money in the fund; | ||
(5) gifts, grants, or donations to the fund; and | ||
(6) money from other sources designated by the | ||
conservation board for deposit to the fund as authorized by law. | ||
(d) The conservation board may use the fund only to: | ||
(1) award a grant to an entity for a conservation, | ||
restoration, or public access project as provided by Section | ||
31.204; | ||
(2) award a grant to provide matching funds to an | ||
entity to participate in a federal program for a conservation, | ||
restoration, or public access project as provided by Section | ||
31.204; and | ||
(3) pay the necessary and reasonable expenses to | ||
administer the fund, not to exceed three percent of money disbursed | ||
from the fund in any given year. | ||
Sec. 31.204. ELIGIBLE PROJECTS AND PERSONS ELIGIBLE FOR | ||
GRANT; PRIORITY. (a) Projects eligible for a grant awarded from | ||
the fund include: | ||
(1) a public parks or natural areas project that | ||
benefits, protects, or enhances the local park grant program | ||
administered by the Parks and Wildlife Department, a private or | ||
public local park, a recreation trail or trail easement, or public | ||
access in general; and | ||
(2) a natural resource conservation project that | ||
benefits, protects, or enhances: | ||
(A) farm, ranch, and forest land, including: | ||
(i) by creating an agricultural | ||
conservation easement; | ||
(ii) by creating a conservation easement; | ||
(iii) by conserving forest lands; and | ||
(iv) through a project related to the Texas | ||
Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Program under Chapter 84, Parks | ||
and Wildlife Code; | ||
(B) wildlife or a wildlife habitat, including | ||
acquisition of a land or conservation easement for protection of a | ||
wetland or wildlife habitat; and | ||
(C) a nature-based project that uses water | ||
resources for water quality and quantity, including: | ||
(i) aquifer recharge area protection; | ||
(ii) acquisition of land or conservation | ||
easements for protection and enhancement of a water resource; and | ||
(iii) dedication for 10 years or more of a | ||
water right or permit allocation to maintain or improve instream | ||
flows, spring flows, and bay and estuary inflows; | ||
(D) a restoration project that: | ||
(i) improves water quality, prevents soil | ||
erosion, reduces loss of wildlife habitat, or restores native | ||
grassland on agricultural land; | ||
(ii) restores critical wildlife habitat, | ||
maintains or enhances fish or wildlife habitat, or restores a | ||
wetland; and | ||
(iii) enhances spring flow, restores a | ||
stream, river, or riparian area, improves habitat, or improves | ||
water quality. | ||
(b) The conservation board may award a grant under this | ||
chapter only to a district or authority created under Section 52, | ||
Article III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, a | ||
municipality, a county, a state agency, or a nongovernmental | ||
entity. | ||
(c) The conservation board by rule shall establish criteria | ||
for setting priorities for the projects eligible to receive grants | ||
under this subchapter. The criteria must include: | ||
(1) the project's use of matching funds; | ||
(2) the potential to maximize benefits in multiple | ||
eligible project areas; | ||
(3) the long-term sustainability and benefits of the | ||
project; | ||
(4) coordination and integration with other relevant | ||
projects necessary for the success of the project; | ||
(5) regional and eco-regional diversity of the | ||
project; and | ||
(6) the overall ecological benefit of the project. | ||
Sec. 31.205. APPLICATION PREPARATION ASSISTANCE. (a) The | ||
conservation board shall establish a grant program to provide | ||
financial assistance to eligible entities for conservation | ||
planning, application preparation, and administrative costs | ||
associated with eligible projects described by Section 31.204. | ||
(b) The conservation board shall provide guidance to | ||
applicants for projects that are eligible under more than one | ||
funding category. | ||
Sec. 31.206. FUNDING DETERMINATIONS; APPLICATION PROCESS. | ||
(a) The conservation board shall implement an application process | ||
to select eligible projects in accordance with the priority | ||
criteria established under Section 31.204(b). | ||
(b) If the conservation board receives a sufficient number | ||
of applications for eligible projects, the conservation board shall | ||
allocate: | ||
(1) not less than 80 percent of the funding in any | ||
cycle to public parks and natural area projects as described by | ||
Section 31.204(a)(1); and | ||
(2) not more than 20 percent of the funding in any | ||
cycle to natural resource conservation projects as described by | ||
Section 31.204(a)(2). | ||
Sec. 31.207. APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS. The conservation | ||
board may approve an application only if the conservation board | ||
finds that: | ||
(1) the application and the assistance applied for | ||
meet the requirements of this subchapter and rules adopted under | ||
this subchapter; and | ||
(2) the applicant demonstrates the ability to complete | ||
the project. | ||
Sec. 31.208. RULES. The conservation board shall adopt | ||
rules necessary to implement this subchapter, including rules that | ||
establish procedures for: | ||
(1) the administration of the fund; and | ||
(2) an application for a project grant from the fund. | ||
Sec. 31.209. LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION TECHNICAL ADVISORY | ||
COMMITTEE. (a) The land and water conservation technical advisory | ||
committee is composed of the following nine members: | ||
(1) one representative from each state agency | ||
specified by Sections 31.202(a)(1)-(4); | ||
(2) three representatives appointed by the | ||
conservation board from nongovernmental entities who have relevant | ||
experience; and | ||
(3) two representatives appointed by the conservation | ||
board from institutions of higher education who have relevant | ||
professional experience. | ||
(b) The advisory committee shall assist in developing and | ||
evaluating: | ||
(1) the application process and scoring criteria for | ||
project funding by the conservation board; | ||
(2) recommendations to the conservation board; and | ||
(3) other items as directed by the conservation board. | ||
Sec. 31.210. MONITORING AND REPORTING. (a) Not later than | ||
September 1 of every second year, the conservation board shall | ||
prepare and submit to the legislature a report quantifying the | ||
benefits of projects that have received grants under this | ||
subchapter. | ||
(b) The conservation board may use money from the fund to | ||
prepare the report required by this section. | ||
SECTION 2. The land and water conservation board shall | ||
submit to the legislature the initial report required by Section | ||
31.210, Natural Resources Code, as added by this Act, not later than | ||
September 1, 2027. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |