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Committee hears plan for temporary self‑insurance pool to expand prescribed burning
Summary
Lawmakers considered a $25 million temporary insurance pool administered by Texas A&M Forest Service to address a shortage of liability coverage for prescribed burn managers.
The Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Economic Development heard testimony on Senate Bill 2510, a committee substitute that would create a temporary $25 million prescribed burn manager self‑insurance pool administered by the Texas A&M Forest Service.
Senator Hancock explained the bill’s intent as a response to a shortage of commercial liability insurance for certified prescribed burn managers (CPBMs). “Insurance is an issue everywhere...there’s only 1 insurance company that meets the Texas financial liability requirements of a million per occurrence and 2,000,000 aggregate,” Hancock said, summarizing a Texas Department of Insurance report cited in committee.
Justin Penick, chair of the Texas Prescribed Burn Board, told the committee the lack of available insurance has sharply limited prescribed burning west of Interstate 45 and that a $25 million temporary pool could support over a million acres of prescribed burning annually if applied statewide. He described the proposal as patterned on an existing Texas A&M Forest Service program that assisted volunteer fire departments lacking vehicle insurance.
Resource witnesses Jared Goodman and Andy McCrady of the Texas A&M Forest Service participated; no additional FTEs or costs were identified during earlier MOU operations referenced in other parts of the hearing. The committee closed public testimony and left the bill pending.
