Summary
The Texas Senate on Thursday passed the committee substitute for Senate Bill 1, the Heaven's 27 Camp Safety Act, imposing new emergency‑planning, evacuation and licensing requirements for youth camps and campgrounds and attaching enforcement including loss of licensure.
The Texas Senate on Thursday passed the committee substitute for Senate Bill 1, the Heaven's 27 Camp Safety Act, a measure that sets new emergency-planning, evacuation and licensing requirements for youth camps and other campgrounds and attaches enforcement including loss of licensure for noncompliance.
Senator Perry, author of Senate Bill 1, told colleagues the measure responds to deficiencies exposed by the July flash floods and the deaths at Camp Mystic and other sites. "This bill answers to the deficiencies in campground safety that we've learned so much about in the last few weeks," he said on the floor.
The bill requires licensed youth camps to maintain and file active, drilled evacuation and emergency plans with local emergency management coordinators and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). It bars new sleeping dormitories for youth camps located in a 100‑year floodplain, with two narrowly drawn licensure exceptions added on the floor for (1) cabins at least 1,000 feet from the floodway in certain low‑flash‑flood coastal areas and (2) camps located on still, dammed lakes where flash‑flood velocity is not a typical risk. Other provisions create staff training and orientation requirements, designate an emergency‑preparedness coordinator at each youth camp, require operable weather‑alert monitoring (assigned to a trained coordinator rather than placed in every cabin), mandate posting and lighting of evacuation routes and require camps to provide copies of emergency plans to parents or legal guardians (subject to who is guardian of record).
The bill also directs DSHS to maintain a database of filed camp emergency plans that is accessible to the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) and provides additional resources to DSHS, including funding for roughly 13 full‑time equivalents to support inspections and plan reviews, Senator Perry said.
On the floor, senators adopted four Perry amendments before final passage. One amendment shortens a compliance window for DSHS from 90 days to 45 days so the agency has two weeks to reconcile deficiencies before the summer camp season begins; another adds the coastal and still‑water exemptions described above; and a third limits the weather‑radio requirement to a designated emergency coordinator rather than radios in every cabin. The amendments were adopted without recorded opposition.
Senators emphasized the bill includes enforcement tools. "We put enforcement with it, loss of licensure," Perry said, adding the Legislature will hold licensees accountable if DSHS reports noncompliance. The author and other members said the bill also prohibits future waivers of the new statutory requirements.
Multiple senators spoke in favor on final passage, thanking the families who testified at hearings and in private meetings. Senator Zaffirini said three bills she filed during the special session were incorporated into SB1, including provisions to strengthen DSHS rulemaking and to adopt portions of the National Fire Protection Association standard for recreational vehicle parks and campgrounds (NFPA 1194).
The Senate suspended the constitutional three‑day rule and took a roll call on final passage; the clerk announced 28 ayes and no nays. The motion to pass the committee substitute for Senate Bill 1 was approved and the measure will proceed to the next steps in the legislative process.
Discussion versus action
Discussion: Senators reviewed committee hearing testimony, private meetings with families and examples from camps that did and did not evacuate successfully; senators pressed on implementation details, parental access to plans, and how to prevent complacency.
Direction/assignment: DSHS is assigned to receive and maintain emergency plans, to implement inspections and reviews, and to use additional staffing resources; TDEM will have access to the DSHS plan database.
Formal action: The Senate adopted four floor amendments and passed the committee substitute for SB1 on third reading by recorded vote (28–0) after suspending the three‑day rule.
What the bill requires (selected elements reflected in floor debate)
- Youth camps must submit and maintain an active evacuation and emergency operations plan that addresses floods, lost campers, fires, severe injuries/illnesses, fatalities and aquatic emergencies. (Senator Perry.) - Youth camps generally may not operate dormitories or place sleeping campers in a 100‑year floodplain; limited geographic exceptions for coastal and still‑water sites were added on the floor. (Floor amendments by Perry.) - Camps must designate an emergency‑preparedness coordinator, monitor weather alerts, keep evacuation routes lit and posted and provide parents/guardians with plan access (guardian of record on registration). (Senator Perry.) - DSHS must maintain a database of emergency plans accessible to TDEM; DSHS will receive additional staffing resources to review plans and perform inspections. (Senator Perry; Senator Zaffirini.) - The bill removes the ability to seek statutory waivers for these requirements going forward. (Senator Perry.)
Implementation timeline and enforcement
Senators said the statute and floor amendment timeline are designed to make the rules effective in time for the 2026 camping season, and the amended compliance window reduces DSHS response time for plan deficiencies from 90 to 45 days so issues are addressed before children arrive. Enforcement options discussed on the floor include administrative actions up to loss of licensure for licensed operators reported as noncompliant.
Stakeholder concerns and clarifications
On the floor, camp operators and some senators expressed concern that a single statewide rule would unintentionally close camps in coastal or still‑water settings where flash floods are not typical; the amendments create narrow licensure exceptions for those settings while preserving the bill's emergency‑planning and protocol requirements. Parents who testified asked that plans be enforceable and accessible; senators clarified plans will be available to parents upon request and subject to guardian‑of‑record rules for privacy and safety.
Next steps
With the Senate passage, the committee substitute for SB1 moves to the House for consideration (procedural scheduling and any House amendments were not resolved during the Senate floor action). Senators signaled strong interest in monitoring compliance and holding licensees and DSHS accountable during implementation.
Sources: Texas Senate floor debate and roll calls on Senate Bill 1, committee testimony and private meetings with families as recounted on the Senate floor.
