Rights and Environmental Issues

Question 1

Name three rights appointed to a landowner in the State of Texas

Answer 1

1. Water rights
2. Mineral rights
3. Homestead rights

Question 2

Which rights applies to any attempt by the government or a private entity to take your property?

Answer 2

State of Texas Landowner’s Bill of Rights

Question 3

Water rights are for what purpose?

Answer 3

They address the rights to own and use water found in lakes, streams, rivers, and the ocean

Question 4

In Texas, land owners along rivers or streams are granted which type of rights?

Answer 4

Riparian Rights

Question 5

Unlike surface water, groundwater is the property of the landowner, which allows a landowner the right to do what?

Answer 5

Capture the water beneath his or her property, and sell, lease, and move the water pumped from his or her property to a neighbor, corporation, or city

Question 6

What are the major forms of a legal life estate?

Answer 6

Homestead, dower and curtesy, and elective share

Question 7

Property acquired under dower laws is owned by whom and for how long?

Answer 7

The surviving spouse for the duration of his or her lifetime

Question 8

Concerning mineral rights, the landowner or lessor retains 1/8 interest free and clear of all costs. This is referred to as what?

Answer 8

Royalty

Question 9

Name three places human exposure to asbestos may occur.

Answer 9

Exposure may come by air, wind, and water erosion from naturally-occurring deposits as well as by the mining, manufacture and use of some asbestos-containing products

Question 10

Explain the term “friable”.

Answer 10

The term friable refers to any asbestos-containing material that, when dry, can be easily crumbled or turned to powder by hand

Question 11

In children, lead-based paint can cause what to happen?

Answer 11

In children, studies have shown that lead alters the development of growing brain cells

Question 12

Name three locations radon can enter a home.

Answer 12

Radon can enter the house through: 
Cavities in walls 
Joints in construction materials 
Gaps in suspended floors 
Gaps around utility pipes and wires 
Crawl spaces that open directly into the building 
Openings around pipes or sump pumps 
Cracks in concrete floors or foundation

Question 13

What is the main component of mold growth?

Answer 13

When excessive moisture or water accumulates indoors, mold growth will occur

Question 14

Electromagnetic fields can be caused by what?

Answer 14

Power lines, electrical wiring and appliances, which produce electric and magnetic fields

Question 15

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a deadly, colorless, odorless, poisonous gas. How is it produced?

Answer 15

By the incomplete burning of various fuels, including coal, wood, charcoal, oil, kerosene, propane, and natural gas

Question 16

High level carbon monoxide poisoning results in progressively severe symptoms. Name three.

Answer 16

Sever carbon monoxide poisoning can create symptoms of mental confusion, vomiting, loss of muscular coordination, loss of consciousness, and death

Question 17

There are many rights appointed to a landowner in the State of Texas. They include:

Answer 17

Water rights
Mineral rights
Homestead rights
State of Texas Landowner’s Bill of Rights

Question 18

Eminent Domain

Answer 18

is the legal authority that certain entities are granted that allows those entities to take private property for a public use.

Question 19

Water Rights

Answer 19

basically concern the rights to own and use water found in lakes, streams, rivers, and the ocean. In addition, they determine where parcel boundaries can be fixed with respect to adjoining bodies of water.

Question 20

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)

Answer 20

issues water rights for people who can show a beneficial use for the water, such as crop irrigation.

Question 21

Littoral Rights

Answer 21

concern properties abutting bodies of water that are not moving, such as lakes and seas.

Question 22

Riparian Rights

Answer 22

concern properties abutting moving water, such as streams and rivers.

Question 23

In Texas, land owners along rivers or streams are granted

Answer 23

Riparian Rights

Question 24

A riparian owner’s right to use water was changed in 1969 and requires

Answer 24

a state permit for the maximum actual water put to beneficial use without waste.

Question 25

A legal life estate is created by

Answer 25

state law, as opposed to, being created by a property owner’s agreement.

Question 26

Homestead law in Texas provides that:

Answer 26

A homestead can be held by every head of household and every single person.
The premises must be occupied or intend to be occupied by the family or the householder.
The head of household or householder must occupy or lease the property.

Question 27

An owner of a homestead must have lived in his or her home in Texas for 1215 days

Answer 27

in order to use the homestead exemption against bankruptcy.

Question 28

Dower

Answer 28

is a wife’s life estate interest in the husband’s property. When the husband dies, the wife can make a claim to portions of the decedent’s property.

Question 29

Curtesy

Answer 29

is the identical right enjoyed by the husband in a deceased wife’s property. Property acquired under dower laws is owned by the surviving spouse for the duration of his or her lifetime.

Question 30

To the extent that a landowner also owns the minerals in his tract, he may legally

Answer 30

sell such minerals from the surface estates. The owner of the minerals may mine or lease them.

Question 31

If buyers are concerned about potential environmental problems

Answer 31

they need to include a contingency in the contract that requires inspections and resolution of existing problems.

Question 32

Human exposure to asbestos may be caused by

Answer 32

air, wind and water erosion from naturally-occurring deposits as well as by the mining, manufacture and use of some asbestos-containing products.

Question 33

The term friable refers to

Answer 33

any asbestos-containing material that, when dry, can be easily crumbled or turned to powder by hand.

Question 34

Lead-based paint cannot

Answer 34

be absorbed through the skin. However, it is dangerous when it enters the bloodstream through ingestion or inhalation.

Question 35

Real estate agents who take listings of homes built prior to 1978

Answer 35

must have their sellers fill out a disclosure form about their knowledge or lack of knowledge about the presence of lead-based paint in the home.

Question 36

Radon

Answer 36

is an odorless, colorless, tasteless, and radioactive gas created in the ground where uranium and radium exist.
estimated to cause thousands of deaths each year, because by breathing radon, people can get lung cancer.

Question 37

Mold

Answer 37

a fungus that grows under moist conditions and causes allergic reactions in some people. When mold spores land on a damp spot indoors, they may begin growing and digesting whatever they are growing on in order to survive.

Molds produce tiny spores to reproduce, just as some plants produce seeds.

Question 38

electromagnetic fields or “EMFs,”

Answer 38

are invisible lines of force that surround any electrical device. They can be caused by power lines, electrical wiring and appliances, which produce electric and magnetic fields.

Question 39

Carbon Monoxide (CO)

Answer 39

is a deadly, colorless, odorless, poisonous gas. It is produced by the incomplete burning of various fuels, including coal, wood, charcoal, oil, kerosene, propane, and natural gas.

Question 40

High level carbon monoxide poisoning results in

Answer 40

progressively more severe symptoms, including mental confusion, vomiting, loss of muscular coordination, loss of consciousness, and death.