189 



Sec. 6. No permit shall be issued by the commissioners court pursuant to the 

 provisions of this Act to excavate, take, remove, or carry away any sand, mar), 

 gravel, or shell from any land owned by the State of Texas, nor from any public 

 beach in the State of Texas ; nor shall any permit be issued by the conunissioners 

 court to excavate, take, remove, or carry away any sand, marl, gravel, or shell 

 from any privately-owned land subject to the provisions of this Act which is not 

 located on a public beach, unless applicant is the owner of the land where the 

 proposed excavation, taking, removing, or carrying shall take place, or unless 

 applicant is acting with the knowledge and consent of such owner. 



Sec. 7. The provisions of this Act shall not apply : 



(1) to any taking, removing, carrying away, or excavation of sand, marl, 

 gravel, or shell made for the purpose of constructing improvements upon 

 real property, where such improvements are constructed upon the property 

 where said taking, removing, carrying away, or excavation occurs. 



(2) to any landowner desiring to shift sand, marl, gravel, or shell from one 

 location to another on land wholly owned by such landowner. 



(3) to any agency of the federal or state government, nor to any agent 

 nor officer thereof acting in his official capacity ; nor shall the provisions of 

 this Act apply to any agency of any county, city, or other political subdivision, 

 nor to any agent nor officer thereof acting in his official capacity. 



Be it provided, however, that for the purposes of this Act, any person or 

 association of persons, corporate or otherwise, holding a lease from the State 

 of Texas under the provisions of Chapter 377, Acts of the 57 th Legislature, 

 Regular Session, 1961 (Article 5415e, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas), shall 

 be treated as an owner of such laud and shall be entitled to excavate, take, re- 

 move, and carry away sand, marl, gravel, or shell for the purposes set forth 

 in this Section without first obtaining a permit from the commissioners court. 



Sec. 8. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to repeal or modify the provisions 

 of Chapter 3, Title 67, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, as amended, as it relates 

 to the powers and duties of the Parks and Wildlife Department with respect 

 to all matters pertaining to the sale, taking, carrying away, or disturbing of 

 sand, marl, gravel, or shell of commercial value, and all gravel, shells, mud shell, 

 and oyster beds and their protection from free use and unlawful disturbing or 

 appropriation as provided in said Chapter 3 ; nor shall anything in this Act be 

 construed to create any additional or supplemental requirements or procedures 

 to those set forth in the said Chapter 3, Title 67, insofar as the matters therein 

 involved are concerned. 



Sec. 9. No permit shall be assignable without the approval of the commis- 

 sioners court, and a failure or refusal of the holder to comply with the terms 

 and the conditions of such permit shall operate as an immediate termination and 

 revocation of all rights conferred therein or claimed thereunder. 



Sec. 10. The commissioners court shall give public notice of all applications 

 received for permits to excavate, take, remove, or carry away sand, marl, gravel, 

 or shell. Such notice shall be published once in a newspaper of general circu- 

 lation in the county, and shall include the name of the applicant and the location 

 and dimensions of the proposed activity. A public hearing shall be held by the 

 commissioners court in any case in which such is requested by any citizen within 

 ten days after such publication. Notice of such public hearing shall be published 

 at least once a w^eek for at least two weeks in a newspaper of general circulation 

 in the county, and such hearing may not be held less than thirty days from the 

 date of the first such publication. 



Sec. 11. For the purposes of this Act, "public beach" shall mean that beach 

 area, whether publicly or privately owned, to which the public has acquired the 

 right of access, either by statute, prescription, dedication, or by retaining a right 

 by virtue of continuous right in the public, including but not limited to that area 

 exending from the line of mean low tide bordering on the Gulf of Mexico to the 

 line of vegetation bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, or to a line 200 feet inland 

 from the line of mean low tide, whichever shall be nearer the line of mean low 

 tide, in the event the public has acquired a right of use or easement to or over 

 such area by prescription, dedication, or has retained a right by virtue of con- 

 tinuous right in the public. 



Sec. 12. This Act shall not apply to any island or peninsula that is not acces- 

 sible by a public road or common carrier ferry facility, so long as such condition 

 shall exist. 



Sec. 13. The Attorney General, any County Attorney, District Attorney, or 

 Criminal District Attorney of the State of Texas is hereby authorized and em- 

 powered, and it shall be his, or their duty to file in the District Court of the 



■37-4S7 — 69 13 



