A Texas Senate bill that would allow closures of a portion of Boca Chica Beach in Cameron Countyfor rocket launches has raised concerns among some Coastal Bend residents. The state senator behind the legislation, Senator Adam Hinojosa, says it won't impact other Texas beaches.
"All that my bill does is that once that authority has been granted from the federal government, it's up to the local jurisdictions or municipalities to coordinate in which days the closures occur, and those launches are going to be had," Senator Hinojosa said. "All Senate Bill 2188 does is takes the local authority of closures from the county of Cameron County to the newly authorized city of Starbase during non-peak times of the year."
Texas Senate Bill 2188 passed in the Texas State Senate, and it states that 7.5 miles of Boca Chica Beach — about 2% of the Texas coastline — could be closed to public access on certain days for rocket launches and tests at the SpaceX Launch Facility. Senator Hinojosa said these closures would only occur Monday through Friday at noon, where the weekend beach access is still authorized by the county.
"The authority for beach closures for these launches all lies with the FAA, on the federal level," said Hinojosa.
With the bill passing through Texas Senate and now in the Texas House of Representatives, Senator Adam Hinojosa addressed concerns about its potential impact on other popular beach destinations in the state.
"So the misinformation out there about you know, 'oh well this could impact other coastal areas,' it never has and it never will," said Hinojosa.
Despite these assurances, some Port Aransas residents remain worried about the precedent it might set for Texas beach access altogether.
"Any time I hear about a bill that might limit the public access to beaches in Texas, I worry," said Strain.
Cliff Strain, who has lived in and surfed the beaches in Port Aransas for nearly 50 years, expressed concern about the future of beach access in other places in the state.
“It’s a right for every Texas citizen and the people that we host here to have that ability to enjoy the beach. And I think you sell off one little piece, or allow legislation to be bent one direction, that there's a danger that it's gonna piece by piece, go away," said Strain.
Hinojosa emphasized that the bill contains very specific criteria that a beach must meet to be affected by the legislation. These include:
- The beach must border the Gulf of America.
- It must have a population of 150,000 people.
- It must have an FAA-approved launch site.
- It must have a space port.
Coastal Bend beaches such as Padre Island and Port Aransas do not meet all these criteria, meaning the bill would not impact them. Senator Hinojosa says the only beach in Texas that meets all of these requirements is Boca Chica Beach in Cameron County.
“It’s very specific to borders the Gulf, which we do qualify, have a population of 150,000 thousand which we do not qualify, so that already exempts us. And then number three we’d have to get an approved launch site through the FAA, and number four, then have a space port," Senator Hinojosa said.
Residents in other coastal cities, like Port Aransas, feel sympathy for fellow Texans a few hours South of here.
"I know that's not here, but I think also some of the limited access already in South Padre is one of the reasons why people come to our beaches. And so I see that it's going to be even further restrictions from them and I feel badly for them," Strain said. "But I think the Texas Open Beaches Act needs to be exactly that. All beaches in Texas have access for everybody."
State Senator Adam Hinojosa said there is no timeline on when the bill will be scheduled for a full vote in the house.
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