85R8880 SLB-F     By: Zedler H.B. No. 2535       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the ownership and local regulation of trees and timber.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Title 6, Natural Resources Code, is amended by   adding Chapter 154 to read as follows:   CHAPTER 154. OWNERSHIP AND LOCAL REGULATION OF TREES AND TIMBER          Sec. 154.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:                (1)  "Governmental entity" means a political   subdivision of the state, including:                      (A)  a municipality; and                      (B)  a county.                (2)  "Mature tree" means a tree greater than 10 inches   in girth measured 4-1/2 feet above the natural grade.                (3)  "Mitigation fee" means a fee assessed by a   governmental entity for the removal of a tree.                (4)  "Removal of a tree" means the harvesting, cutting,   or destruction of a tree, including the damaging of a tree in a way   that will cause the death of the tree on or before the first   anniversary of the date of the damage, as determined by a   governmental entity.                (5)  "Replacement tree" means a tree of not less than   three inches in girth measured 4-1/2 feet above the natural grade   that is planted to replace a tree removed from a landowner's land.          Sec. 154.002.  OWNERSHIP OF TREES AND TIMBER. A landowner   owns all trees and timber located on the landowner's land as real   property until cut or otherwise removed from the land, unless   otherwise provided by a contract, bill of sale, deed, mortgage,   deed of trust, or other legally binding document.          Sec. 154.003.  LOCAL REGULATION OF TREES AND TIMBER. (a) A   governmental entity may not prohibit a landowner from trimming or   removing trees or timber located on the landowner's land.          (b)  A governmental entity may, if authorized by other state   law and subject to the limitations of that law, assess a mitigation   fee against a landowner for the removal of a mature tree on the   landowner's land. A mitigation fee:                (1)  must be proportional to the value of the mature   tree removed;                (2)  may not exceed $100 per inch of girth of the mature   tree removed measured at 4-1/2 feet above the natural grade; and                (3)  may be used only in the jurisdiction in which the   fee is collected and only for the purpose of tree planting and other   related activities.          (c)  A landowner is entitled to plant a replacement tree at   the landowner's expense instead of paying a mitigation fee. A   landowner who chooses to plant a replacement tree is not required to   plant a number of replacement trees whose total girth is greater   than the total girth of all the mature trees to which the mitigation   fee would have applied.          (d)  Notwithstanding any other law, a municipality may not   regulate the trimming or removal of trees or timber in the   extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality.          (e)  Subsection (d) does not apply to a municipality whose   extraterritorial jurisdiction is adjacent to or includes all or   part of a federal military base in active use as of September 1,   2017.          (f)  This section does not affect the authority of a county   to regulate the cutting of trees under Section 240.909, Local   Government Code.          (g)  This section does not apply to the facilities or   operations of an electric utility or a transmission and   distribution utility, as those terms are defined by Section 31.002,   Utilities Code.          Sec. 154.004.  APPLICABILITY TO TREE TRIMMING OR REMOVAL IN   UTILITY RIGHT-OF-WAY. This chapter does not apply to the trimming   or removal of a tree in the easement or right-of-way of a pipeline   or utility line.          SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.