2025 Texas sessionsRegular and both called sessions have ended. This index covers House and Senate bills, not resolutions. Statuses come from official reports.

2025 · Regular session · Senate bill

SB1215

SB1215 lets the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department authorize placement of cultivated oysters in natural oyster beds, private oyster beds or coastal waters—but only in writing.

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Official caption: Relating to the placement of a cultivated oyster in a natural oyster bed, a private oyster bed, or coastal waters.

Signed by governorSource-checked explanation published

Official report lists Senate author(s): Kolkhorst. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.

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Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.

Bill highlights

Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.

SB1215 lets the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department authorize placement of cultivated oysters in natural oyster beds, private oyster beds or coastal waters—but only in writing.
“Cultivated oyster” already means an oyster grown at any point in its life cycle in or on an artificial structure suspended in the water or resting on the bottom; the chapter concerns Eastern oysters and their subspecies.

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What does it do?

SB1215 lets the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department authorize placement of cultivated oysters in natural oyster beds, private oyster beds or coastal waters—but only in writing. The department must adopt best management practices for granting those authorizations. The law does not give oyster growers blanket permission to release oysters wherever they choose. Signed May 15, 2025, it took effect September 1, 2025. Final law; Official history.

“Cultivated oyster” already means an oyster grown at any point in its life cycle in or on an artificial structure suspended in the water or resting on the bottom; the chapter concerns Eastern oysters and their subspecies. The act creates a placement-approval path, not a new general harvesting or sales license. The existing requirement for a lease or easement before placing mariculture structures on coastal public land is not repealed. Existing definitions; Existing sales and structure restrictions; Final law.

What changed along the way?

The former statute prohibited placing a cultivated oyster in a natural or private oyster bed without this express exception. SB1215 adds a written-approval exception and expressly includes coastal waters in the prohibition unless placement is authorized under the new section. It therefore combines a new approval path with continued control of unapproved placements. The act requires best management practices but does not itself spell out their scientific criteria or demonstrate that a particular placement has been approved. Prior prohibition; Final law, sections 1–2.

The introduced, Senate committee, Senate-passed, House committee and enrolled texts contain the same substantive provisions. Both committees reported without amendments; the official amendment index lists no amendments. No rejected proposal is being presented as enacted law. All five versions; Amendment index.

For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.

Official bill versions

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?

Growers or others seeking to place cultivated oysters in the covered waters gain a way to request permission, while the department retains case-specific written control and responsibility for management practices. Approved placements could support oyster-related projects, but the act does not guarantee oyster survival, reef restoration, harvest increases or commercial returns. Those outcomes depend on the project and conditions; this briefing does not verify later agency practices or any individual authorization. Final law.

The March 12 fiscal note anticipates no significant state fiscal impact, assuming costs can be absorbed with existing resources, and no local-government fiscal impact. It does not estimate growers’ costs or environmental benefits. The three-section act makes no new appropriation. Fiscal note.

Official sources

Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.