1. (a) An easement or lease, if granted by the commissioner, will be subject to the rules contained in this section and will bind the grantee to comply with the following provisions:

   1. (1) To comply with all existing rules and with all existing and future rules or orders which the commissioner determines to be necessary and proper in order to provide for the protection and conservation of the natural resources of public lands and waters.
   2. (2) To indemnify the grantor against any and all liability for damages to life, person, or property arising from the grantee's occupation and use of the area covered by the interest granted.
   3. (3) That the allowance of the easement or lease shall be subject to the express condition that the rights granted will not unduly prevent or interfere in any way with the management, administration of, or the granting, either prior or subsequent to the lease, of other rights by the commissioner or School Land Board of any part of the area included in the easement or lease.
   4. (4) To pay when due to the General Land Office the necessary filing fee and rent determined by the commissioner to be adequate compensation for the use of public lands.
   5. (5) To record at grantee's expense any easement granted by the commissioner in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the land lies and to furnish a certificate of such recording to the commissioner.

2. (b) An applicant by accepting an easement further agrees and consents to comply with and be bound by the following additional terms and conditions, excepting those which the commissioner may waive in a particular case:

   1. (1) That in the event the easement is on submerged land and is for a pipeline construction purpose:

      1. (A) to bury the pipeline below the bottom of the gulf, bay, inlet, river, or stream crossing at a depth not less than 24 inches or place on a structure of sufficient height to insure reasonable safety from sustaining flood damage;
      2. (B) to water-pressure test all lines before use to 11/2 times the anticipated working pressure;
      3. (C) to construct a steel line from new or reconditioned pipe in first class condition;
      4. (D) to electrically test or X-ray any steel line field weld to insure reasonable safety from leaks;
      5. (E) to dope and treat in such manner any steel line, before it is submerged, to offer reasonable resistance to the corrosive effect of salt water, but it shall not be necessary to dope and treat the portion of a steel line which is not submerged;
      6. (F) to bury a pipeline in such a manner so as to evenly backfill the sand, gravel, soil, or other material excavated during construction onto the disturbed area to conform as much as is reasonably possible with the bottom profile of the adjacent natural submerged land;
      7. (G) to undertake erosion preventative measures at shorelines by either terracing or excavating cuts, fills, or other disturbed areas so that they may naturally vegetate, seeding cuts and fills as soon as possible to prevent erosion, or placing gravel, stone, or rock in cuts or on fills where site factors make it unusually difficult to establish a protective vegetative cover;
      8. (H) to select a right-of-way, when feasible, which avoids shell reefs, submerged grass beds, and marshes;
      9. (I) to avoid or minimize clearing of natural vegetation from river or stream banks so that a screen of natural vegetation is left in the right-of-way or when feasible to cross a river or stream via existing bridges subject to safety restrictions or through an area already cleared.

   2. (2) That in the event the easement is on submerged land and is for a transmission line construction purpose:

      1. (A) to bury all telephone cables unless use of existing single pole, H-frame, or steel tower construction or other existing structure such as a bridge or causeway is made;
      2. (B) to encourage the joint use of electric transmission facilities and rights-of-way by two or more utilities, when feasible, to reduce the total number of transmission lines constructed and rights-of-way used across public lands;
      3. (C) to utilize, when feasible, existing rights-of-way, bridges, and causeways as an alternative to new construction of single pole, H-frame, or steel tower lines across open expanses of water, wetlands, and bays;
      4. (D) to strategically locate steel towers, H-frame, and single pole construction for minimum visibility and to bury lines crossing rivers within the constraints imposed by the current state of high voltage transmission technology;
      5. (E) to undertake erosion preventative measures at shorelines by either terracing or excavating cuts, fills, or other disturbed areas so that they may naturally vegetate, seeding cuts and fills as soon as possible to prevent erosion, or placing gravel, stone or rock in cuts or on fills where site factors make it unusually difficult to establish a protective vegetative cover.

   3. (3) That in the event the easement is on state-owned upland and is for a pipeline construction purpose:

      1. (A) to bury any pipeline at least 24 inches below the surface and construct the same so as not to interfere with the use of the land for the grazing of livestock or for farming in the usual manner;
      2. (B) to limit clearing of natural vegetation to that material which poses a hazard or a hindrance to the construction of the pipeline;
      3. (C) to dispose of brush and other materials cleared from the right-of-way by methods such as sale of forest products, on-site stacking, and/or piling of brush and tree branches for wildlife protective cover at specific locations instead of disposal by burning;
      4. (D) to minimize clearing so as to leave a screen of natural vegetation where the right-of-way crosses a highway.

   4. (4) That in the event the easement is on state-owned upland and is for a transmission line construction purpose:

      1. (A) to limit clearing of natural vegetation to that material which poses a hazard or a hindrance to the construction or operation of the transmission line;
      2. (B) to dispose of brush and other materials cleared from the right-of-way by methods such as sale of forest products, on-site stacking, and/or piling of brush and tree branches for wildlife protective cover at specific locations instead of disposal by burning;
      3. (C) to minimize clearing so as to leave a screen of natural vegetation where the right-of-way crosses a highway;
      4. (D) to erect any transmission line so as not to interfere with the use of the land for the grazing of livestock or for farming in the usual manner, except that the ordinary and usual poles, towers, and necessary guy wires may be erected.
3. (c) The grantee shall not construct, erect, or maintain any telephone, communication, electric transmission or power line, or oil pipelines, gas pipelines, sulphur pipelines, or other pipeline, unless the same is specifically provided for in the granting clause of the easement contract, that is, the grantee may construct, erect, or maintain only the specific kind of pipeline described in the granting clause of the contractual agreement; however, if the contract is for a pipeline, the grantee shall have the right to replace said pipeline with a larger or smaller pipe, or pipe of same size, installed alongside the line to be replaced provided the line being replaced is promptly removed upon completion of the replacement line; but it may not build another pipeline alongside its first pipeline or at any other location without an easement contract authorizing it; and if the contract is for a telephone, communication, transmission or power line, the grantee will have the right to replace poles, towers, and guy wires at their original location, and attach additional wires on the poles and towers; but it shall not erect additional poles, towers, and guy wires after it has erected the original line without an easement contract authorizing same.
4. (d) If the grantee injures or destroys any fences, bridges, buildings, or other structures on any right-of-way over public lands (other than the structures constructed by the grantee) the grantee shall, within a reasonable time, rebuild and repair the same to the extent that they will be in as good condition as they were before the grantee injured or destroyed them or pay the rightful owner of such structure for the damages sustained as the result thereof. The grantee shall pay to the commissioner of the General Land Office, for the benefit of the proper fund of the State of Texas, the amount of actual damages done to State-owned fences, bridges, buildings, and other improvements, timber, growing crops, and livestock (other than property belonging to the grantee) by reason of the constructing, erecting, maintaining, repairing, placing, and rebuilding of a line; provided that structures repaired by the grantee as prescribed above shall not be included.

Source Note:The provisions of this §13.12 adopted to be effective January 1, 1976.