The commissioner may grant easements and related property interests for access or rights-of-way over specified state lands and waters, subject to a Chapter 86 limitation for certain disturbance activities. Money from these easements must be deposited in a special state-treasury fund.
Sec. 51.291. GRANTS OF EASEMENTS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the commissioner may execute grants of easements or other interests in property for rights-of-way or access across, through, and under unsold public school land, the portion of the Gulf of Mexico within the jurisdiction of the state, the state-owned riverbeds and beds of navigable streams in the public domain, and all islands, saltwater lakes, bays, inlets, marshes, and reefs owned by the state within tidewater limits for: (1) telephone, telegraph, electric transmission, and power lines; (2) oil pipelines, including pipelines connecting the onshore storage facilities with the offshore facilities of a deepwater port, as defined by the federal Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C.A. Section 1501 et seq.), gas pipelines, sulphur pipelines, and other electric lines and pipelines of any nature; (3) irrigation canals, laterals, and water pipelines; (4) roads; and (5) any other purpose the commissioner considers to be in the best interest of the state. (b) Consent to conduct an activity that would disturb or remove marl, sand, gravel, shell, or mudshell on or near the surface of a state-owned riverbed or the bed of a navigable stream in the public domain may be granted only under Chapter 86, Parks and Wildlife Code. (c) Money received by the land office for the grants of easements through and under the state-owned riverbeds and beds of navigable streams in the public domain shall be deposited in a special fund account in the state treasury to be used for the removal or improvement of unauthorized structures on permanent school fund land. This fund does not impose a duty or obligation on the state to accept ownership of, remove, or improve unauthorized structures on permanent school fund land. Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2438, ch. 871, art. I, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1977. Amended by Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 624, Sec. 35, eff. Sept. 1, 1985; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 991, Sec. 15, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by: Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 387 (S.B. 654), Sec. 4, eff. June 15, 2007.