HBA-LJP H.B. 1630 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1630
By: Krusee
Land & Resource Management
3/7/2001
Introduced

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, a state agency is able to apply changes in its
regulations and permit requirements retroactively.  This process may raise
the price of a project and deter development.  House Bill 1630 provides
that a project be completed under the regulations that are in effect at the
time the application for the project is filed. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1630 amends the Government Code to require each state agency to
consider an application for a permit for approval solely on the basis of
any orders, regulations, rules, expiration dates, or other properly adopted
requirements in effect at the time the original application for the permit
is filed. 

The bill provides that a state agency may not shorten the duration of any
permit required for the project after an application for a permit is filed.
The bill authorizes an applicant for a permit to take advantage of a
regulation that has changed after the application for the permit was filed. 

The bill provides that provisions relating to administrative procedures and
practices of state permits (state permit procedures) apply only to
prescribed projects in progress on or commenced after September 1, 1997.
The bill also provides that these provisions do not apply to: 

_a permit issued by the Railroad Commission of Texas or a state agency
under a program that the state agency administers in lieu of the federal
government; 

_a permit related to state taxation or a form of gaming or gambling;

_state laws and regulations affecting colonias;

_the prevention of the imminent destruction of property or injury to a
person; or 

_the construction standards for public works located on state lands or
easements. 

The bill specifies that provisions relating to state permit procedures be
enforced through mandamus or declaratory or injunctive relief.  The bill
also provides that provisions relating to state permit procedures do not
limit or otherwise affect the authority of the state or a state agency to
implement or to enforce provisions under the federal Coastal Zone
Management Act of 1972 or state law relating to the public domain of
beaches and dunes. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001.