ATT01awwY G*:N*:L*AL January 23, 1958

Mr. A. C. Spenoer Executive Director Texas State Soil Conservation Board 1012 First National Bank Building Temple, Texas OpinionNo, WW-346
Re: Are soil conservation districts, as authorized In H.B. 444, Acts of the 47th Legislature,authorized to leaseheavg equipment such as bulldozers, and maintainems, employ operators and use euch equipment in aarrying out aoil conservationpractices &thin the boundaries of the looal soil conservation distriot? The Districtwould charge the landowners for the use of such Dear Mr. Spencer: equipment.

You have requested our opinion on whether soil conservationdistricts, as authorized in House Bill 444, Aots, 47th Legislature,Regular Session, 1941, chapter 308,pages 491-511 (Article165a-4, V.C.S.); and hereinafter referred to as the State Soil ConservationLaw, are authorized to lease heavy equipment such a8 bulldozers and maintainers, employ operators and use such equipment in carrying out soil conservationdistricts, and whether suoh districts could charge the landowners for the we of such equipment.

3B.e following provisions of Subsections (l), (2), (3), (4),and (9)of Seation 7 of the State Soil Conservation Law are pertinent to your inquiry.-- c

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"A Soil ConservationDistrict and the supervisorsthereof shall haie'the followingpowers, i

. .:

"(1) To carry out preventive and controlmeasureswithin the district including,but not limited to, engineering operations,methods of cultivation, the' growing of vegetation, changes in use of land, and themeasures listed In Subsection o@icJof section 2 of this Act, a . m on any other landswithin the districtupon obtaining the consent of the occupiers of such lands or the necessary rights or interest in such lands;

"(2) To cooperate or enter into agreementswith, and,within the limfts of appropriationsduly made available to it by law, to furnish financial or other aid to,
. . . any occupier of landswithin the district, subject to such conditions as the supervisorsmay deem necessary to advance the purposes of this Act;

“(3) * D . and to sell, lease, or otherwisedispose of any of its property
. . . in furtherance of thepurposes and theprovisions of this Act;

“(9) As a condition to the extending of any benefits under thisActto& or theperformance of work upon, any lands not owned or controlledby this State OP any of Its agencies, the supervisorsmay require contributionsin the form of services, materials, or otherwise to any operation conferring suchbenefits, and may require landr -

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occupiers to enter into and perform such agreements OP covenantsas to the permanent use of such lards a8 will tend to prevent OP control erosion thereon." (Fmghaalsours) Subsection (14)of Section 3 of the State Soil ConservationLaw defines "Land Occupier" OP "Occupiersof Land" as "anyperson, firm OP corporationwho shallhold title to or be in possession of any lands lying within a district organized under the provisions of this Act,whether as owner, lessee, renter, tenant or otherwise".

It is noted that the stated Intent of Subsection (1) of Section 7 of the State Soil ConaervatlonLaw, au ra is to 37% incorporateby reference certainmeasures listad~n Su section o of Section 2 of the Act; however, inasmuch as Section 2 does not contain a Subsection 0, the reference is erroneoua. This reference in the enrolledbill of the Act (H.B.No, 444, 47th Legislature,R.S,, 1941, Ch. 308,p. 1364) is to "Subsection c of Se&ion 2". Furthermore, in the enrolledbfll, the third subsection of Section 2 is labeled "(c)". In view of the typographical error in the printed volume of General and Special Laws, 47th Legislature,Regular Session, 1941, and the form inconsistency In the enrolledbill, it is obvious that the reference In question correctly shouldbe to Subsection (c) of Section 2 of the Act.

Subsections (1)and (2) of Section 7 of the State Soil Conservation Law, su ra, authorize the supervisorsof local soil T-f- conservationdistr c s to undertake, in cooperationwith the occupiers of private lands, themeasures specified in the Act OP othermeasurea which achieve the purposes of the Act. The scope of this general directive, in our opinion, 1s of sufficient breadth to authorize the supervisorsof local soil conservationdistricts to leasemachinery and equipmentbelonging to the district to anyone classifiedas an "occupierof land", for use on lands lyingwithin the district,provided such use accomplishes one or more of the objectives of the State Soil ConservationLaw.

I 1 This leasing authority is further supported by Subsection 3 of Section 7, supra, and also by the language of Subsection 4 of Section 7; supra,wherein the supervisors are authorized "tomake availabln land occupiers,agrfcultural and engineeringmachinery and equipment to be used in the conservat&onof soil resources and for the prevention and control of soil erosion.

It is clear that if certain types of the equipment and machinery used to carry outmany of thesemeasures are to achieve the desired results, the services of skilled operators will be required. It la not difficult to vfsualize that in many Instances, it would be a vain deed should the supervisors lease such equipmentand not provide the lesseewith an operator-- .

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capable of running themachine in such a manner as would insure that it performed the work for which it was designed. In OUP opinion, the aforementionedSubsections (I), (2) and (4) of Section 7 of the Act, sunra, implfedly authorize the supervisors to furnish qualified operators of themachinery and equipment leased to the occupiers of private lands. Statutes lmplledly authorizewhatever is necessary to execute their commands. Terre11 v. 135 S.W. 519 (1911). Sparks, 104 Tex. 191,

Although the purposes of the State Soil Conservation Law are served the use,of equipmentand machinery of the local districts on private lands, it is obvious that the accomplishmentof such objectives also confers a direct benefit to these lands. Both the provisions of Subsections (4) and (9)of Section 7 of the Act, supra, authorize the local district supervisorsto charge the lessees a consideration for the use of such equipment on their lands. Under these provisions, the supervisorsof each soil conservation district are permitted to determine the amount of consideration that Is tobe charged for the lease of its equipment.

SUMMARY The supervisorsof local soil conservationdistricts, under the provisions of the State Soil ConservationLaw, PSouse Bill 444, Acts, 47th Leg., 1941, sh. 308,pp* 491- 5iljz are authorized to lease equipment and machinerybelonging to the destrict to the occupiers of private lands, for uses on such lands3 lying within the boundaries of the district,which conformwith thepurposes ofthis law and in conjunction therewith, to furnish operators for such.-

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leased equipment and to charge the land occupier for itsuse.

DRT:wam APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Geo. P. Blackburn, Chairman
B. H. Timmins,Jr. Mary Kate Wall Milton Richardson Yours very truly,

neral of Texa

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: W. V. Geppert