HBA-MSH, CBW H.B. 2684 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2684
By: Kuempel
Land & Resource Management
7/18/2001
Enrolled



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The Texas Department of Transportation, in conjunction with other state
agencies, has the primary responsibility of working with the United States
Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to maintain the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
(GIWW).  The final cut on the GIWW through the state of  Texas was made in
the Laguna Madre in 1949.  The Laguna Madre is a large body of shallow
water separating Padre Island from the South Texas mainland. It covers 609
square miles of estuarine and  coastal marine systems.  The boundary of
Padre Island National Seashore encompasses approximately 20,000 acres of
the Laguna Madre.  Dredging of the GIWW is necessary to remove sediment
that fills the channel through natural causes. 

The  Texas Transportation Commission (commission) is authorized to acquire
land for the placement of dredge spoils by gift, purchase, or condemnation
of property.  House Bill 2684 prohibits the commission from acquiring
property before September 1, 2005 for use as a disposal site for dredged
material from the Laguna Madre if the property on October 1, 1997 was
subject to a habitat conservation plan and requires an interim study on
placement and use options for dredged material from the GIWW.   

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 2684 amends the Transportation Code to prohibit the Texas
Transportation Commission from acquiring property before September 1, 2005
for use as a disposal site for dredged material from the Laguna Madre if
the property on October 1, 1997 was subject to a habitat conservation plan.
The bill requires the House Committee on Land and Resource Management to
conduct an interim study on placement and use options for dredged material
from the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and to report its findings and
recommendations to the speaker of the house of representatives and the
legislature no later than November 1, 2002.  The bill provides that if
Texas Department of Transportation is prohibited by a federal study from
using open water disposal methods for Laguna Madre dredge spoils these
provisions expire on a specified date. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.