HBA-KDB C.S.S.B. 517 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.S.B. 517 By: Lucio Land & Resource Management 4/30/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE There is concern that colonias lack basic services such as water, wastewater systems, electricity, and paved roads. If counties in which the colonias are located are allowed to regulate residential land development, then the proliferation of colonias may be prevented. C.S.S.B. 517 sets forth provisions authorizing a county, any part of which is located within 50 miles of an international border, to regulate certain aspects of residential land development in its unincorporated areas. 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 C.S.S.B. 517 amends the Local Government Code to authorize the commissioners court of a county by order to regulate residential land development in the unincorporated area of the county by adopting certain building codes and regulations relating to buildings, lots, and tracts. If such an order conflicts with an ordinance of a municipality, the municipal ordinance prevails within the municipality's jurisdiction to the extent of the conflict. The bill prohibits the comissioners court, if a tract of land is appraised as agricultural or open-space land by the appraisal district, from regulating development on that tract. The commissioners court is not authorized to adopt an order regulating commercial property that is uninhabitable. The bill provides that if the commissioners court adopts a residential building code (code), the commissioners court must adopt the International Residential Code (international code) as it existed on May 1, 2001, and apply the international code to all construction, alteration, remodeling, enlargement, and repair of residential structures in the unincorporated area of the county. The bill requires the commissioners court to establish procedures to administer and enforce the international code if it is adopted. The commissioners court is required to review and consider and is authorized to adopt amendments made by the International Code Council (council) to the international code after May 1, 2001. The bill provides that an inspection of a residential structure in the unincorporated area of the county must be conducted by a person who is an inspector certified by the Council, the Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc., the International Conference of Building Officials, or the Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc., or is a licensed professional engineer and who has any other qualifications established by the municipality. The bill requires the county to issue a building permit if the person submitting the application for the permit files information relating to the location of the residence, files the building plans for the residence, and complies with the applicable regulations relating to the issuance of the permit. The bill authorizes the county to charge a reasonable building permit fee and requires the county to deposit the fee in an account in the general fund of the county dedicated to the building permit program. The bill entitles the county, in a suit brought by the county attorney or other prosecuting attorney representing the county in the district court, to appropriate injunctive relief to prevent the violation or threatened violation of an order relating to the regulation of land development in counties from continuing or occurring. The bill provides that it is a Class C misdemeanor if a person violates a restriction or prohibition imposed by such an order. If the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs classifies a household as a low-income household, the bill prohibits a penalty from being assessed against the owner-occupant of the residential dwelling for a building standards or building code violation relating to the dwelling unless the county makes available to the owner-occupant housing rehabilitation assistance in an amount sufficient to cure the violation. The assistance provided must be in the form of a grant or loan and must be on payment terms that do not cause the housing expenses of the owner-occupant to exceed 30 percent of the owner-occupant's net income. The Act applies only to a county any part of which is located within 50 miles of an international border. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.S.B. 517 modifies the original to provide that the Act refers to residential land development, rather than land development. The substitute removes the definition of "substandard housing development" and adds the definitions of "International Residential Code" and "residential." The substitute prohibits the commissioners court of a county, if a tract of land is appraised as agricultural or open-space land by the appraisal district, from regulating specified land development on that tract. The substitute removes the provision which authorized the commissioners court to adopt regulations relating to the percentage of a lot or tract that may be occupied. The substitute provides that the commissioners court is not authorized to adopt an order regulating commercial property that is uninhabitable. The substitute sets forth provisions relating to the adoption of the International Residential Code. The substitute prohibits a penalty from being assessed against the owner-occupant of a low-income dwelling for a building standards or building code violation relating to the dwelling unless the county makes available to the owner-occupant housing rehabilitation assistance in a specified form and in an amount sufficient to cure the violation. The substitute provides that the Act applies only to a county any part of which is located within 50 miles of an international border.