(a) The commissioner may grant easements for any purpose, under any terms, and for any term that the commissioner deems to be in the best interest of the state.
(b) 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) 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) 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.
  (3) 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.
(c) 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. That in the event the easement is on submerged land and is for a transmission line construction purpose:
  (1) 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) 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) 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) 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.

Source Note: The provisions of this §13.12 adopted to be effective January 1, 1976; amended to be effective December 9, 2009, 34 TexReg 8780