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Two Rio Grande Valley lawmakers have filed legislation in the 89th Legislature that would effectively give Starbase — if it becomes a municipality — authority over road and beach closures related to spaceflight activities at Boca Chica.
After receiving a petition in December with the legally required number of signatures, Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. was required by law to schedule a vote on the question, which is whether to legally incorporate Starbase, Texas, as a Type-C municipality, defined as a municipality with a population of between 201 and 4,999.
The vote will take place as part of the May 3 uniform election. By law, only residents of the SpaceX community at Boca Chica are allowed to vote on the question, which all but ensures its approval since they were also the petition signers. If that happens, and if Senate Bill 2188 and House Bill 4066 pass the Legislature and become law, Cameron County would have no say over SpaceX proposals to close Boca Chica Beach and S.H. 4 for rocket testing, launches or other spaceflight-related operations on weekdays, from Monday 8 a.m. through Friday noon.
The county would still retain authority over closure requests on weekends — Friday noon to Monday 8 a.m., according to both bills.
S.B. 2188 was filed by Republican Sen. Adam Hinojosa, R-Corpus Christi, while H.B. 4066 was filed by Republican Rep. Janie Lopez, R-San Benito. The legislation was filed just before the filing deadline on March 14.
The bills don’t mention SpaceX, Starbase or Cameron County specifically, though the language of both bills exactly describes SpaceX at Boca Chica, and applies only to counties with spaceports and beach access “bordering on the Gulf of Mexico or its tidewater limits.”
SpaceX was reportedly in Austin in recent weeks lobbying for legislation that would effectively remove the county’s authority over beach and road closures related to spaceflight activities.
In a Feb. 14 statement on the incorporation election, the county noted that it — not SpaceX — was the sole entity authorized to impose closures, stating that “under Texas Natural Resources Code, or TNRC, 61.132, Cameron County has the authority to temporarily close the beach to protect the public health, safety and welfare.”
S.B. 2288 and H.B. 4066 would amend that portion of the TNRC to remove the county’s authority on weekday closures.
Treviño, in a Monday phone interview, told The Brownsville Herald that he had previously communicated to SpaceX that he would be “extremely opposed” to any effort to amend the law in such a way, and called it “interesting” that the legislation retains the county’s weekend closure authority. It seems likely weekend beach closures are even less popular with the public than weekday closures.
“My response to that would be if it’s not broken it doesn’t need to be fixed,” Treviño said. “Obviously in this instance there’s going to be some varied opinions on the matter.”
Depending on who you ask, those opinions range from the belief that everything necessary should be done to support SpaceX to the conviction that no one should have the authority to close beaches and roads except in emergencies, he said.
Treviño said he’s opposed to closing S.H. 4 and the beach on weekends, but realizes it may be necessary from time to time. He added that he has on occasion had to “say no” to SpaceX.
“I know people don’t believe it,” Treviño said. “Contrary to some negative thought, we’re not at the beck and call of SpaceX. We’re there to work with them and help make them succeed, but that doesn’t mean that they get everything that they ask for. … I think we’ve shown proper discretion and authority with regards to (SpaceX).”
In any case, if Hinojosa and Lopez’s legislation becomes law it will be out of the county’s hands — at least on weekdays, he said.
“This is a state issue,” he said. “The people need to lobby the local delegation as well as the representatives and senators throughout the state if they don’t think this is a good idea.”