The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
  (1) Agency--The General Land Office of the State of Texas.
  (2) Attachment--Any appurtenant, fixture, or other item, property or structure of any type which is incidental to or associated with a structure or facility.
  (3) Chief clerk--The chief clerk of the General Land Office.
  (4) Commissioner--The commissioner of the General Land Office.
  (5) Dangerous structure or facility--Any structure or facility on state land which presents, in the commissioner's sole determination, an imminent and unreasonable threat to public health, safety or welfare. In making such determination, the commissioner shall consider whether or not a structure or facility:
    (A) is fit for its intended purpose;
    (B) is safe for its foreseeable use by the public;
    (C) is hidden or not visibly apparent to the public;
    (D) is contaminating or has the immediate potential to contaminate air, water or other natural resources; or
    (E) possesses other characteristics or conditions which threaten public safety, health or welfare.
  (6) Deputy commissioner--The deputy commissioner of the Asset Management Division or Coastal Resources Division, as applicable, of the General Land Office.
  (7) Interested party--Person having a vested property interest in an unauthorized structure or facility.
  (8) Lienholder--Person having a security interest in an unauthorized structure or facility and whose interest is recorded in the county in which the property is located.
  (9) Owner or operator--Any person currently owning, operating, constructing, possessing, or exercising control over an unauthorized structure or facility, or the person who, immediately prior to the current owner or operator, owned, operated, constructed, possessed or exercised control over an unauthorized structure or facility.
  (10) Permanent or permanently--Left in place for 21 days or longer.
  (11) Persons--Any individual, partnership, corporation, association, governmental subdivision, or public or private organization of any character.
  (12) Petitioner--In a contested case, the person or persons filing a statement of grounds contesting an agency action or assessment.
  (13) Proceeding--Any hearing, investigation, injury, or other fact-finding or decision-making procedure, including the denial of relief or the dismissal of a complaint.
  (14) State land--Any land set apart to the permanent school fund under the constitution and laws of this state.
  (15) Structure or facility--Includes, without limitation, any structure, work, or improvement constructed on or affixed to or worked on state land, including fixed or floating piers, wharves, docks, ramps, weirs, jetties, groins, backwaters, bulkheads, artificial reefs or islands, permanent booms or mooring structures, retaining walls, levies, pilings, permanently moored vessels, cabins, houses, shelters, power transmission lines, pipelines, equipment for production, storage or treatment of oil, gas, or other minerals, roads, fences, or posts. A work or improvement includes, without limitation, any dredging or disposal of dredged material, excavation, filling, land canals, channels, or propwashing.
  (16) Unauthorized structure or facility--Any structure or facility on state land not authorized by a proper easement, lease, permit, or other instrument from the state as required by the Texas Natural Resources Code, Chapter 33 or 51.
  (17) Uncontested proceeding or case--Any proceeding other than a contested case.

Source Note: The provisions of this §17.2 adopted to be effective April 22, 1992, 17 TexReg 2472; amended to be effective February 7, 1996, 21 TexReg 663; amended to be effective May 20, 1997, 22 TexReg 4070; amended to be effective August 4, 2005, 30 TexReg 4334