SECTION 26.28. Policies for Development Within Coastal Barrier Resource System Units and Otherwise Protected Areas on Coastal Barriers

(a) Development of new infrastructure or major repair of existing infrastructure within or supporting development within Coastal Barrier Resource System Units and Otherwise Protected Areas designated on maps dated October 24, 1990, as those maps may be modified, revised, or corrected, under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act, 16 United States Code Annotated, §3503(a), shall comply with the policies in this section.

(1) Development of publicly funded infrastructure shall be authorized only if it is essential for public health, safety, and welfare, enhances public use, or is required by law.

(2) Infrastructure shall be located at sites at which reasonably foreseeable future expansion will not require development in critical areas, critical dunes, Gulf beaches, and washover areas within Coastal Barrier Resource System Units or Otherwise Protected Areas.

(3) Infrastructure shall be located at sites that to the greatest extent practicable avoid and otherwise minimize the potential for adverse effects on critical areas, critical dunes, Gulf beaches, and washover areas within Coastal Barrier Resource System Units or Otherwise Protected Areas from:

(A) construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, and causeways; and

(B) direct release to coastal waters, critical areas, critical dunes, Gulf beaches, and washover areas within Coastal Barrier Resource System Units or Otherwise Protected Areas of oil, hazardous substances, or stormwater runoff.

(4) Where practicable, infrastructure shall be located in existing rights-of-way or previously disturbed areas to avoid or minimize adverse effects within Coastal Barrier Resource System Units or Otherwise Protected Areas.

(5) Development of infrastructure shall occur at sites and times selected to have the least adverse effects practicable within Coastal Barrier Resource System Units or Otherwise Protected Areas on critical areas, critical dunes, Gulf beaches, and washover areas and on spawning or nesting areas or seasonal migrations of commercial, recreational, threatened, or endangered terrestrial or aquatic wildlife.

(b) TCEQ rules and approvals for the creation of special districts and for infrastructure projects funded by issuance of bonds by water, sanitary sewer, and wastewater drainage districts under Texas Water Code, Chapters 49, 50, and 59; water control and improvement districts under Texas Water Code, Chapter 50; municipal utility districts under Texas Water Code, Chapter 54; regional plan implementation agencies under Texas Water Code, Chapter 54; special utility districts under Texas Water Code, Chapter 65; stormwater control districts under Texas Water Code, Chapter 66; and all other general and special law districts subject to and within the jurisdiction of the TCEQ, shall comply with the policies in this section. TxDOT rules and approvals under Texas Transportation Code Chapter 201, et seq., governing planning, design, construction, and maintenance of transportation projects, shall comply with the policies in this section.

Source Note: The provisions of this §26.28 adopted to be effective October 6, 2004, 29 TexReg 9407; amended to be effective October 29, 2006, 31 TexReg 8840; transferred effective December 1, 2022, as published in the Texas Register October 28, 2022, 47 TexReg 7301