SECTION 15.10. General Provisions

(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.

Source Note: The provisions of this §15.10 adopted to be effective February 17, 1993, 18 TexReg 661; amended to be effective April 16, 1996, 21 TexReg 3004; amended to be effective June 12, 2014, 39 TexReg 4482; amended to be effective May 8, 2023, 48 TexReg 2343