Texas Administrative Code › Title 31 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION › Part 1 - GENERAL LAND OFFICE › Chapter 15 - COASTAL AREA PLANNING › Subchapter A - MANAGEMENT OF THE BEACH DUNE SYSTEM › Section 15.10 - General Provisions

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) A local
				  government's ordinances, orders, resolutions, or other enactments covered by
				  this subchapter shall be read in harmony with this subchapter. If there is any
				  conflict between them which cannot be reconciled by ordinary rules of legal
				  interpretation, this subchapter controls. Certification of a local government's
				  beach access and use plan by the General Land Office may not be construed to
				  expand or detract from the statutory or constitutional authority of that local
				  government or any other governmental entity, nor may any person construe such
				  certification to authorize a local government or any other governmental entity
				  to alienate public property rights in public beaches.
(b) Boundary of the public beach. The
				  commissioner shall make determinations on issues related to the location of the
				  boundary of the public beach and encroachments on the public beach pursuant to
				  the requirements of the Open Beaches Act, §§
										61.016-
				  61.017 and §
										15.3(b) of this
				  title (relating to Administration) and §
										15.12(e) of this
				  title (relating to Temporary Orders Issued by the Land Commissioner). The
				  General Land Office and the local governments may refer enforcement cases to
				  the attorney general whenever questions of encroachment and boundaries arise
				  with respect to the public beach.
(c) Public beach presumption. Except for
				  beaches on islands or peninsulas not accessible by public road or ferry
				  facility, in administering its plan a local government shall presume that any
				  beach fronting the Gulf of Mexico within its jurisdiction is a public beach
				  unless the owner of the adjacent land obtains a declaratory judgment otherwise
				  under the Open Beaches Act, §61.019. That section provides that any person
				  owning property fronting the Gulf of Mexico whose rights are determined or
				  affected by this subchapter may bring suit for a declaratory judgment against
				  the state to try the issue or issues.
(d) Violations. A violation of any provision
				  of this subchapter, a local government dune protection and beach access plan,
				  or any permit or certificate or the conditions contained therein will subject a
				  person to the potential assessment of administrative or civil
				  penalties.
(e) Reporting
				  violations. Any local government with knowledge of a violation or a threatened
				  violation of a permit, a certificate, its dune protection and beach access
				  plan, the Dune Protection Act, the Open Beaches Act, or this subchapter shall
				  inform the General Land Office of the violation(s) within 24 hours.
(f) Withdrawal of plan certification. The
				  General Land Office may withdraw certification of all or any part of a local
				  government's dune protection and beach access plan if the local government does
				  not comply with its plan, this subchapter, the Dune Protection Act, or the Open
				  Beaches Act. Without further action by the General Land Office, a local
				  government loses, by operation of law, the authority to issue permits or
				  certificates authorizing construction within the geographic scope of this
				  subchapter and the privilege to collect beach user fees if state agency
				  certification of its dune protection and beach access plan is
				  withdrawn.
(g) Notice of withdrawal
				  of plan certification. The General Land Office will notify the local government
				  60 days prior to withdrawing certification of the local government's plan. The
				  local government may submit to the General Land Office any evidence
				  demonstrating full compliance with its plan, this subchapter, the Dune
				  Protection Act, and the Open Beaches Act. The General Land Office will consider
				  the good faith efforts of any local government to immediately and fully comply
				  with those laws during the 60-day period after the notification of intent to
				  withdraw certification.
(h) The
				  provisions contained in this subchapter do not limit the authority of the
				  General Land Office and the attorney general's office to enforce this
				  subchapter, the Dune Protection Act, and the Open Beaches Act pursuant to the
				  Texas Natural Resources Code, §
										63.181 and
				  §
										61.018.
(i) Appeals. The Dune Protection Act,
				  §63.151, and the Open Beaches Act, §61.019, contain the provisions
				  for appeals related to this subchapter.