Governor Perry has signed Senate Bill 186, giving health officials another tool to fight West Nile.
The bill sponsored by Rep. Helen Giddings and Sen. John Carona, both of Dallas, gives authorities access to stagnant water on abandoned properties and swimming pools.
Dallas County health officials say that last year they had numerous complaints about standing water on uninhabited properties that was breeding mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes carry the West Nile virus that can be fatal or cause severe neurological damage.
The new legislation gives local officials the authority to treat the standing water on abandoned residential properties with larvicide and to access a property if they believe water could present a health danger.