(a) General.
  (1) Form of payment. Fees may be paid by cash, check or other legal means acceptable to the commissioner.
  (2) Time for payment. Payment is generally required in advance of issuance of easements, permits, leases and other documents and/or delivery of services and/or materials by the General Land Office (GLO).
  (3) Dishonor or nonpayment by other means. In the event a fee is not paid due to dishonor, nonpayment, or otherwise, the GLO shall have no further obligation to issue easements, permits, leases and other documents and/or provide services and/or materials to the grantee, permittee, lessee, or applicant.
(b) Board fees and charges. The board is authorized and required under the Texas Natural Resources Code, Chapter 33, to collect the fees and charges set forth in this subsection where applicable. The board will charge the following coastal lease and coastal easement fees for use of coastal public land, and will charge the following structure registration and permit fees. The board charge will be based on either the fixed fee schedule or the alternate commercial, industrial, residential, and public formulas as delineated in paragraph (1)(C) of this subsection. The greater of the fixed fee or formula rate will be charged except in the calculation of fees for residential use, Category II and residential use, Category III, where only the fixed rate method will be used. The board may adopt an escalation schedule that will allow for escalation of annual fees based on the term of a coastal lease or coastal easement.
  (1) Rental and Fees
    (A) Structure registration. Structure registration fee is required for private piers or docks that are 115 feet long or less and 25 feet wide or less and require no dredging or filling, as authorized by the Texas Natural Resources Code, §33.115. Though board approval is not required for construction, the applicant must register the location of the structure. The registration is valid for the life of the structure.
      (i) application fee: $25 (per occurrence for new, amendment and assignment applications).
      (ii) annual rent: none.
    (B) Coastal lease. The board may grant coastal leases for public purposes as prescribed by the Texas Natural Resources Code, §§33.103(1), 33.105 and 33.109. The application fee and annual rent shall be negotiable.
    (C) The following tables list the rental fees for easements and permits on coastal public land.
      (i) Residential Use, Category I.
Attached Graphic
      (ii) Residential Use, Category II.
Attached Graphic
      (iii) Residential Use, Category III.
Attached Graphic
      (iv) Commercial and Industrial Activity.
Attached Graphic
      (v) Structure (Cabin) Permits.
Attached Graphic
  (2) Senior Rent Freeze. Upon application to the GLO and submission of proof of age by a grantee, fees for coastal easements associated with a single family residence will not be increased after the point in time when the littoral property owner (one person in the case of joint ownership) reaches the age of 65, unless the area of encumbered state land increases or there is a change in use of the coastal public land.
  (3) Resource Impact Fee.
    (A) Public use projects and Residential Use, Category I projects constructed within guidelines: exempt.
    (B) All others: $100 plus $1.00 per square foot of impacted area.
  (4) New Dredge Rent. A one time rental fee due upon completion of the initial dredging for a new project. The board may consider reduced new dredge rent on a case by case basis when the material is used for habitat creation, restoration, and enhancement projects, or when it is in the public interest to do so.
  (5) Term. The term for all coastal leases and coastal easements is negotiable. Board approval is required prior to construction.
  (6) Rental adjustments--all commercial and industrial easements. At every five-year interval in the term of commercial and industrial easements, the rental fee for the easement will be subject to adjustment. The adjustment, if any, will be in accordance with the then current Fee Schedule as adopted by the board.
  (7) Implementation.
    (A) New residential developments. Upon the application for an easement associated with the development of a multi-unit or single-family residential project, the easement application will be processed and fee determined according to the appropriate commercial activity rate. Upon the sale of an individual residential unit associated with the easement, with sufficient infrastructure in place to convert use of the unit to individual use (and use of associated easement to private activity), the original easement applicant, upon agreement with the commissioner of the GLO, may pay a $50 conversion fee. The easement fee may then be reduced by the percentage that the sold unit represented to the total number of units associated with the easement. At the time the conversion fee is paid under the provisions herein, the unit will then be considered to be subject to the residential activity rates upon renewal of the easement. For units already sold prior to the effective date of this section, conversion to a residential activity rate will be granted without the payment of the conversion fee.
    (B) Additional terms. The commissioner of the GLO may require, as a condition for the granting of an easement set forth in this section, such additional terms that he feels are necessary to secure performance under any

Source Note: The provisions of this §155.15 adopted to be effective December 1, 1995, 20 TexReg 9577; amended to be effective March 20, 1997, 22 TexReg 2619; amended to be effective May 26, 2005, 30 TexReg 3020; amended to be effective September 1, 2008, 33 TexReg 6947; amended to be effective November 14, 2010, 35 TexReg 9915; amended to be effective February 3, 2013, 38 TexReg 382; amended to be effective May 15, 2013, 38 TexReg 2841; amended to be effective September 21, 2020, 45 TexReg 6595; amended to be effective September 16, 2021, 46 TexReg 5900; amended to be effective July 3, 2022, 47 TexReg 3692