BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2842

By: Zwiener

Culture, Recreation & Tourism

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

According to a 2006 publication by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) on managing deer populations in suburban areas, overabundant deer populations may lead to increased vehicle collisions with deer, disease transmission, and habitat degradation. A Texas Landowners Association article based on 2019 data indicates that, in the areas of Texas most heavily populated with deer, there can be as many as 293 deer per 1,000 acres. TPWD is authorized under current law to issue various permits to take protected wildlife, including a depredation permit, but eligibility for such a permit is limited. The bill author informed the committee that other programs administered by TPWD, such as the managed lands deer program, provide a structured approach to deer population management but do not permit certain effective culling methods that are permitted under a depredation permit, and, as a result, entities that are unable to obtain a depredation permit may face persistent overpopulation challenges that strain conservation efforts. C.S.H.B. 2842 seeks to provide a safe and controlled solution for deer management in certain areas while broadening access to responsible wildlife management practices in Texas by authorizing political subdivisions, state and federal agencies, public institutions of higher education, and property owners' associations to apply for a TPWD-administered depredation permit to address overpopulation in areas where deer are damaging the habitats of endangered or threatened species or where recreational hunting is not feasible.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2842 amends the Parks and Wildlife Code to require a political subdivision, a state agency, a federal agency, a public institution of higher education, or a property owners' association that desires to control by lethal means a white-tailed deer population to submit to the Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) written notice of evidence demonstrating the following:

·the use of lethal means is necessary to prevent the deer from damaging the habitat of one or more species listed by the U.S. Department of the Interior or a state agency as endangered or threatened; or

·the entity is experiencing an overpopulation of deer on property the entity owns or manages and recreational hunting is not feasible for controlling the deer population.

The bill defines "property owners' association" by reference to the meaning assigned to that term by statutory provisions regarding the construction and enforcement of restrictive covenants. The bill includes rules governing the means, methods, times, and locations of killing protected wildlife among the rules that the Parks and Wildlife Commission may adopt to implement provisions relating to permits to control protected wildlife.

C.S.H.B. 2842 authorizes TPWD, on receiving such notice, to inspect the habitat or property referenced in the notice for the following purposes:

·assessing deer management plans in the habitat relating to one or more endangered or threatened species; or

·determining whether the entity is experiencing an overpopulation of white-tailed deer on the property and whether recreational hunting for controlling the deer population is feasible.

C.S.H.B. 2842 changes the provision authorizing a person who has evidence of damage by depredation or threat to public safety to file with TPWD an application for a permit to kill protected wildlife to provide that an authorized representative of a political subdivision, a state agency, a federal agency, an institution of higher education, or a property owners' association may also file such a permit. The bill includes among the required contents of the application a statement of facts relating to, as applicable, the feasibility of recreational hunting or the need to control overpopulation to prevent damage to the habitat of one or more endangered or threatened species.

C.S.H.B. 2842 exempts the following from statutory provisions relating to hunting for hire:

·a political subdivision, a state agency, a federal agency, an institution of higher education, or a property owners' association that employs a person for compensation or promise of compensation to control by lethal means white-tailed deer as authorized under a permit issued under applicable statutory provisions; and

·a person employed by such an entity.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 2842 differs from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways by conforming to certain bill drafting conventions.