(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;
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