HB 3556 Texas House · 89th Legislature (2025)

Relating to the construction of structures exceeding a certain height in certain counties containing national wildlife refuges and in adjacent counties.

HB 3556 requires developers to notify Texas Parks and Wildlife Department before constructing structures taller than 500 feet in specific counties near national wildlife refuges. It applies to counties bordering the Gulf of Mexico with refuges or adjacent counties without cities over 300,000 residents. Developers must submit review requests 90 days before construction, and the department must recommend bird-impact minimization measures within 45 days. If alternatives don’t prevent material harm to migratory birds, the department can seek court injunctions to halt construction.

Issues: ✓ Environment

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

May 2025

House Passage

Jun 2025

Senate Passage

Jun 2025

Signed into Law

Jun 2025

Introduced Mar 25, 2025 Signed Jun 20, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Engrossed → Enrolled · 6 edits · Jun 20, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was finalized as an enrolled version with minor formatting cleanup and a few substantive changes to the structure height threshold and effective date. The most significant change is that the height threshold for requiring a review request increased from 500 feet to 575 feet, meaning fewer structures will trigger the review process. Additionally, the effective date for when the new section applies was changed from 180 days after enactment to 90 days after enactment, making the requirement apply sooner.

Scope change

The bill now applies to structures taller than 575 feet instead of 500 feet, narrowing the scope of structures subject to review requirements. The effective date for applicability was shortened from 180 days to 90 days after the bill becomes effective.

REQUIREMENT

Height threshold for requiring department review increased from 500 feet to 575 feet, reducing the number of structures subject to the review process.

New subsection (f) added requiring the department to reach a final decision on alternative minimization measures within 45 days and providing for administrative hearings if the department disagrees with proposed measures.

New subsection (g) added allowing the commission to adopt rules to implement the section.

Subsection (f) from the original version was removed and replaced with the new subsection (f) described above.

TIMELINE

The section added to the Parks and Wildlife Code now applies to structures beginning construction on or after the 90th day after effective date, instead of the 180th day.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting changes including removal of 'AA' markers and cleanup of line breaks throughout the document.

Introduced → Engrossed · 8 edits · May 26, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was completely rewritten from scratch, changing from a notice-and-comment process for structures near wildlife refuges to a new review process for tall structures in specific counties. The original bill focused on counties with populations under 500,000 bordering the Gulf or containing refuges, while the new version applies to counties under 500,000 that border the Gulf with refuges or are adjacent to counties with populations over 300,000. The process now requires a formal review request 90 days before construction, with the department providing recommendations within 45 days, and includes confidentiality protections for submitted information.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed from applying to counties with populations under 500,000 that border the Gulf of Mexico or contain National Wildlife Refuges, to applying to counties with populations under 500,000 that either border the Gulf with a national wildlife refuge or are adjacent to counties with populations over 300,000.

REQUIREMENT

New requirement for a formal review request to be submitted 90 days before construction of structures taller than 500 feet

Department must provide written recommendations on minimizing impact to migratory birds within 45 days of receiving the review request

Requestor must provide written response accepting recommendations or proposing alternative measures within 45 days of receiving department recommendations

Original notice requirements and injunctive relief provisions were replaced with the new review process

DEFINITION

New applicability criteria for counties based on population thresholds and adjacency to other counties

ENFORCEMENT

Information submitted under the new section is confidential and cannot be disclosed without written consent

TIMELINE

Construction may proceed without further delay if the department fails to provide recommendations within 45 days

New section applies only to construction beginning on or after the 180th day after the Act's effective date

Floor votes · Senate May 26, 2025 · House May 6, 2025

How they voted

21–9

Passed

Total votes 30

May 26, 2025

D Democratic10

2 Yea 8 Nay

80% Nay

R Republican20

19 Yea 1 Nay

95% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jun 20, 2025

Signed into law

Signed by the Governor

executive

Jun 1, 2025

Upper · Passed

Signed in the Senate

upper

Jun 1, 2025

Lower · Passed

Signed in the House

lower

May 31, 2025

Lower · Passed

House adopts conference committee report

lower

May 31, 2025

Upper · Passed

Senate adopts conference committee report

upper

May 29, 2025

Upper · Passed

House requests conference committee-reported

upper

May 29, 2025

Lower · Passed

House requests conference committee

lower

May 29, 2025

Introduced

House refuses to concur in Senate amendments

lower

May 27, 2025

Introduced

Senate Amendments Analysis distributed

lower

May 27, 2025

Introduced

Senate Amendments distributed

lower

May 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

Senate passage as amended reported

lower

May 26, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed

upper

May 25, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed to 3rd reading as amended

upper

May 25, 2025

Upper · Passed

Amended

upper

May 25, 2025

Introduced

Amendment(s) offered

upper

May 22, 2025

Upper · Passed

Committee report printed and distributed

upper

May 22, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported favorably as substituted

upper

May 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

Vote taken in committee

upper

May 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

Left pending in committee

upper

May 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

Testimony taken in committee

upper

May 14, 2025

Committee

Referred to Natural Resources

upper

May 14, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

upper

May 8, 2025

Introduced

Received from the House

upper

May 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed

lower

May 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed to engrossment as amended

lower

May 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Amended

lower

May 6, 2025

House · Passed

House Vote: pass (104-37-2)

house

May 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report sent to Calendars

lower

May 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report distributed

lower

May 1, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported favorably as substituted

lower

Apr 30, 2025

Lower · Passed

Returned to committee

lower

Apr 23, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report sent to Calendars

lower

Apr 22, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report distributed

lower

Apr 16, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)

lower

Apr 3, 2025

Lower · Passed

Left pending in committee

lower

Apr 3, 2025

Lower · Passed

Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee

lower

Mar 25, 2025

Committee

Referred to Culture, Recreation & Tourism

lower

Mar 25, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

lower

4 primary · 3 co-sponsors