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TITLE 31NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION
PART 1GENERAL LAND OFFICE
CHAPTER 15COASTAL AREA PLANNING
SUBCHAPTER AMANAGEMENT OF THE BEACH/DUNE SYSTEM
RULE §15.3Administration

(o) Submission of local government plans to the General Land Office. Local governments shall submit dune protection and beach access plans to the General Land Office for review, comment, and certification as to compliance with this subchapter, the Dune Protection Act, and the Open Beaches Act.

  (1) A local government's governing body must formally approve the plan prior to submission to the state agencies. Prior to formally approving its plan, a local government may request legal and technical advice from the General Land Office for assistance in meeting the requirements for state agency approval.

  (2) Review of plan amendments. The General Land Office shall either grant or deny certification of a local government's formally approved dune protection and beach access plan within 90 days of receipt of the plan.

    (A) Depending upon the degree or complexity of modifications contained in the plan amendment, the local government may request a review period shorter than 90 days based on the following guidelines:

      (i) Expedited Review period of 30 days may be requested for review of a plan amendment that is administrative in nature and does not contain variances nor substantially alter beach access or dune protection.

      (ii) Standard Review period of 60 days may be requested for review of a plan amendment that does not contain any changes to beach user fees, beach access points, changes to vehicular access, nor substantially alter beach access or dune protection.

      (iii) The local government shall provide a reasoned justification with any request for a review period of less than 90 days. It must include a detailed description of the proposed changes that will result from the amendment.

      (iv) The General Land Office will make a determination on the eligibility of an amendment for a shortened review period and notify the local government of the determination within ten working days (to run concurrently with the applicable review period) from the date the request and complete package of information regarding the proposed amendment is received. Review of plan amendments that do not qualify for a shortened review period will be completed by the General Land Office within the allowed 90 day period.

    (B) In the event of denial, the General Land Office shall send the plan back to the local government with a statement of specific objections and the reasons for denial of certification, along with suggested modifications. On receipt, the local government shall revise and resubmit the plan for review.

  (3) The General Land Office shall use the same procedure for reviewing revised or amended plans as the procedure used for reviewing the plan originally submitted.

  (4) The General Land Office's certification of local government plans shall be by adoption into the rules authorized under the Texas Natural Resources Code, §61.011. The rules adopted by the General Land Office to certify plans will consist of state approval of the plans, but the text of plans will not be adopted by the General Land Office.

  (5) Subsequent to initial certification, local governments may amend their dune protection and beach access plans by submitting the proposed changes to the General Land Office for review, comment, and certification.

  (6) A local government may request General Land Office certification of a plan or a plan amendment that includes a variance regarding any requirement or prohibition of this chapter.

(p) Submission deadline for dune protection and beach access plans. Local governments shall submit dune protection and beach access plans to the General Land Office no later than 180 days from the effective date of this subchapter. If the General Land Office does not approve a plan, the local government shall submit revisions of the plan until the plan is approved. However, any local government that submits a revised plan that has not been modified to address the state comments regarding the statutory requirements and the minimum standards identified in this subchapter is presumed to be in violation of this subchapter, the Open Beaches Act, and the Dune Protection Act. Local governments that fail to submit plans within 180 days of the effective date of this subchapter will be liable for penalties as provided in §15.9 of this title (relating to Penalties). Further, local governments that fail to submit plans by that deadline will not be authorized to permit construction within the geographic scope of this subchapter.

(q) Areas exempt from local government plans. Local government dune protection and beach access plans shall not include the following areas, which are exempt from regulation by local governments:

  (1) national park areas, national wildlife refuges, or other designated national natural areas;

  (2) state park areas, state wildlife refuges, or other designated state natural areas; and

  (3) beaches on islands and peninsulas not accessible by public road or ferry facility for as long as that condition exists.

(r) State-owned or public land not exempt from local government plans. Local government plans shall apply to all state-owned or public land other than parks and refuges, subject to the provisions of the Texas Natural Resources Code, §§31.161, et seq.

(s) Acts prohibited without a dune protection permit or beachfront construction certificate. An activity requiring a dune protection permit may typically also require a beachfront construction certificate and vice versa. Local governments shall, whenever possible, issue permits and certificates concurrently when an activity requires both. In their dune protection and beach access plans, local governments may combine the dune protection permit and the beachfront construction certificate into a single permit or a two-part permit; however, they are not required to do so.

  (1) Acts prohibited without a dune protection permit. Unless a dune protection permit is properly issued by a local government authorizing the conduct, no person shall:

    (A) damage, destroy, or remove a sand dune or a portion of a sand dune seaward of a dune protection line or within a critical dune area; or

    (B) kill, destroy, or remove in any manner any vegetation growing on a sand dune seaward of a dune protection line or within a critical dune area.

  (2) Activities exempt from dune protection permit requirements. Pursuant to the Dune Protection Act, §63.052, the following activities are exempt from the requirement for a dune protection permit, but are subject to the requirements of the Open Beaches Act and the rules promulgated under the Open Beaches Act. Where local governments have separate authority to regulate the following activities, permittees shall comply with the local laws as well. The activities exempt from the dune protection permit requirements are:

    (A) exploration for and production of oil and gas and reasonable and necessary activities directly related to such exploration and production, including construction and maintenance of production and gathering facilities located in a critical dune area which serve wells located outside of a critical dune area, provided that such facilities are located no farther than two miles from the well being served;

    (B) grazing livestock and reasonable and necessary activities directly related to grazing; and

    (C) recreational activities other than operation of a recreational vehicle.

  (3) Acts prohibited without a beachfront construction certificate. No person shall cause, engage in, or allow construction on land adjacent to and landward of public beaches and lying in the area either up to the first public road generally parallel to the public beach or to any closer public road not parallel to the beach, or to within 1,000 feet of mean high tide, whichever is greater, that affects or may affect public use of and access to and from public beaches unless the construction is properly certified by the appropriate local government as consistent with its local plan, this subchapter, and the Open Beaches Act.

  (4) Dune protection permit and beachfront construction certificate application requirements. Local governments shall require that all permit and certificate applicants fully disclose in the application all items and information necessary for the local government to make a determination regarding a permit or certificate. Local governments may require more information, but they shall require that applicants for dune protection permits and beachfront construction certificates provide, at a minimum, the following items and information.

    (A) Dune protection permit application requirements for large- and small-scale construction. For all proposed construction, local governments shall require applicants to submit the following items and information:

      (i) the name, address, phone number, and, if applicable, fax number of the applicant, and the name of the property owner, if different from the applicant;

      (ii) a complete legal description of the tract and a statement of its size in acres or square feet;

Cont'd...

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