HBA-JLV H.B. 779 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 779 By: Uher Land & Resource Management 26/12/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The line of vegetation is the line that separates the public beach easement from private use property. The line of vegetation does not have a fixed location and can shift as a result of erosion. Therefore what was once private property could have become subject to a public beach easement. House Bill 779 provides that, in certain areas, the line of vegetation is along the seaward side of a stone revetment. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 779 amends the Natural Resources Code to provide that in an area of public beach where a combination stone revetment and concrete sheet pile wall, with specific characteristics, interrupts the natural line of vegetation, the line of vegetation is along the landward boundary of that strip of land conveyed to the United States of America for the construction of the stone revetment and concrete sheet pile wall and for the distance marked by the stone revetment and concrete sheet pile wall. The bill provides that a line of vegetation established is the landward boundary of the public beach and of the public easement. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.