Recap from the 88th - RV Laws

While TMHA doesn’t specifically represent those in the RV business, we have many members with such crossover interests either in their retail or park operations. For those members we are including this section for their review, since there was a significant amount of activity this session impacting various aspects of the RV industry in Texas.

The first bill is H.B. 198 that allows an owner to self-inspect their travel trailer and attest in an affidavit, rather than needing to take the trailer to be inspected.

This law goes into effect on September 1, 2023.

Another RV related bill is H.B. 2636 that provides certain liability protections to the owner of a recreational vehicle park or campground for damages or injuries resulting from risks inherent to camping that are beyond the owner's control.

The liability protection for the RV park owner is limited to not include harm resulting from the park owner’s negligence, failure to property train employees, or known or should have known dangerous conditions.

But for other liability defined as, "Recreational vehicle park or campground activity," which is an activity at a recreational vehicle park or campground for recreational or educational purposes, if a posted warning sign required under the new law is present, then the RV park owner is not liable of injuries arising from such activities.

HB 2636 passed both the House and Senate with unanimous support, and therefore has immediate effect when Gov. Abbott signed it into law on June 10, 2023.

S.B. 594 is another new law that benefits RV parks. This is a follow up to a bill several sessions back that prohibited water districts from charging RV parks different water rates than they did other commercial businesses. However, missing in that law change were “water supply corporations” which, until S.B. 594, could charge different rates to RV parks.

The new law requires WSC’s to charge the same.

The law also requires TCEQ to pass rules that standardize the water connection process for RV parks, and prohibits a public utility, other than a city owned utility, from imposing a surcharge based on the number of sites in the RV park.

This law goes into effect on September 1, 2023.