HBA-KDB H.B. 3039 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3039 By: Seaman Land & Resource Management 4/19/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Areas along the Texas coast are subject to erosion. In 1999, the 76th Legislature created the coastal response account to assist communities in areas of the state experiencing the highest levels of erosion. However, when private property is eroded, the landowner cannot restore that property to its original boundaries. Once land becomes submerged, it becomes state-owned land. House Bill 3039 sets forth provisions relating to the restoration by a beachfront owner of private property affected by coastal erosion. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the General Land Office in SECTION 2 (Section 33.613, Natural Resources Code) and SECTION 3 of this bill. ANALYSIS House Bill 3039 amends the Natural Resources Code to authorize the owner of property immediately landward of a public beach or submerged land, including state mineral lands, that has been affected by coastal erosion to restore the affected land to its original boundaries as evidenced in a residential subdivision plat for residential lots of one acre or less filed in the real property records of each county in which the affected land is located. The bill authorizes the owner to use only private resources and money for the restoration of affected land. The bill provides that after restoration the owner owns the restored land in fee simple, subject to the common law rights of the public in public beaches and the rights of a public school land lessee holding a lease on the property on the date the Act takes effect. The bill authorizes the owner, in accordance with General Land Office (GLO) rules, to build bulkheads on the restored land to prevent further erosion of that land. The bill requires a chief of an appraisal district to include on the applicable tax rolls, in the year after restoration, the restored land and any bulkhead built on the restored land. The bill requires the GLO to adopt reasonable rules, not later than December 1, 2001, to govern the restoration of affected land. The bill prohibits state money from being used to restore affected land. The bill applies only to land that on December 31, 1955, was privately owned and not submerged or owned by the School Land Board and fronts on a bay and not the Gulf of Mexico. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.