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Game,.Fishand OysterCommission Austin,Texas
Gentlemen: Attention:.HonorableA. E. Wood, C!haiI?W.U.
OpinionNo. 0-2209-A- Supplementa& Re: Interpretation of Articles 4053 ma,4053d relative~to 'the sale of'mudshell.
Pursuantto the requestcontaiuedIn your letter of May 3, 1940, this will supplementOpinionNo. O-2209 authorityof your Com- missionto contractfor the sale of mudshellbelongingto the State of-Texas. Your queatiotis are as follows:
"1. Before a permit can be iss~@dunder~Ax%icle4053, is the Game Departmentrequiredto @ve the approvalof the GovernorIV any other public officialbefore such permit is effective?
"2. C&n an outrightsale of materialsbe ma&e by the .bommis- don, with the approvalof the Governorunder Article4053d?
"3. ~Xnthe event a sale of all of the materialsin any given area is tide and whol&y or partiallypaid for, with the approval of the Governorunder Art. 4053d, then does the Gamy,Fish and Oyster Commissionhave authorityto issue a permitto another shell operatorto 'gointo the same territaryand take therefrom the materialsmentionedin said articleof the statute?
"4. Are sales.madeunder Art. 4053d, with the approvalof the Governor;valid and binding?
"5. If such 88186 are valid and,binding,then would the pur- chaserhave the right to assignthe contractor transferthe materl- als so.purch+sedto some other person or corporation?"
We believethat if we can clarifyour holdingin OpinionNo. o-2209, the enswersto each of your questionswill suggestthemselves. In that opin- ion, we traced the'legislative history~ofArticles4053 and 4053a and found that they were originally part and parcel of the same bill. They muSt,be con- struedtogether. Game, Fish and OysterCommission,Page 2 (0-2209-A)
Article4053 (as originallyenacted,Section5 of Chapter68, Acts 1911) providesthat "Anyonedesiringto purchase. . . mudshell"is directed to make writtenapplicationto the Gams, Fish, and Oyster Conunission.If the Costnlssionfinds in exercisingits admlnistrativejudgmentthat the operation will not injuriouslyaffectthe locationand the marine life therein,a permit may be grantedto operatein the territorydescribedin the application.
Article4053, then, from the time of its originalenactmentuntil the presenttime has contemplated the purchaseof mudshelland other materials, and as a conditionprecedentto the sale providedfor in Article4053d (as originallyenacted,Sec. 6 of Chapten, Acts 1911) the purchasermust secure a permit from the Commissionwhich will constitutean administrativedetermina- tion that the taking of the materialwill not "dsmageor injuriouslyaffect any oysters,oysterbeds, fish inhabitingwaters thereofor adjacentthereto", or will not "damageor injuriouslyaffect any island,reef,bar, channel,river, creek or bayou used for frequentor occasionalnavigation,nor changeor other- wise Injuriouslyaffect any currentthat would affectnavigation".
With respectto these flr@ngs, the Governorof the State has no concern. Instead,the Legislaturehas provideda specialized,highlytrained Instrumentality, the Game, Fish and Oyster Commission,to cope with the techni- cal problemsInvolved. Up until this point the exerciseof administrative discretionfor the purposeof safeguardingfish and other marine life and their places of habitationis a matterwholly within the exclusiveprovinceof the Game, Fish and OysterCommission. The Legislatureso provided. But in supply- ing the terms and conditionsof sale, the concomitantof the preliminarysteps of making an applicationand securinga permit,the Legislaturefelt that the chief executiveofficerof the State,the Governor,should have a voice. HiB authorityis limitedto determiningthese mattersof public policy.
Underlyingthe whole transaction,however,is the policymanifested by the Legislature,that,
"No specialprivilegeor exc&dve right shall be grantedto any person,associationof persons,corporateor otherwise,to take or carry away any of such productsof sny territoryor to otherwiseoperatein or upon