81R5103 TRH-D
By: Corte H.B. No. 1014
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the requirement that certain retail water and sewer
utility services maintain auxiliary generators for use during an
extended power outage.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 13, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 13.1395 to read as follows:
Sec. 13.1395. AUXILIARY EMERGENCY GENERATORS. (a) This
section applies only to a retail public utility required to possess
a certificate of convenience and necessity, and a district or
affected county, that provide retail water or sewer utility service
to more than 1,000 customers in a county that is assigned a risk
designation of "high" or "very high" under Subsection (b).
(b) The commission by rule shall assign each county in this
state a level of risk of "low," "moderate," "high," or "very high"
according to that county's likelihood of experiencing a major
disaster, based on historical information regarding the number of
federal disaster declarations that have been declared for the
county.
(c) A retail public utility, district, or affected county to
which this section applies shall incorporate and maintain on-site
automatically starting auxiliary generators capable of ensuring
the operation of the utility's water and sewer systems in a county
that is assigned a risk designation of "high" or "very high" under
Subsection (b) during an extended power outage caused by a major
disaster.
(d) The commission by rule shall establish the minimum
operating standards for auxiliary generators required by
Subsection (c), which must include the minimum length of time and
minimum operating capacity auxiliary generators must maintain
during an extended power outage.
SECTION 2. Not later than December 1, 2009, the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality by rule shall adopt standards
as required by Section 13.1395, Water Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. A retail public utility, district, or affected
county required to incorporate and maintain an auxiliary generator
under Section 13.1395, Water Code, as added by this Act, shall
comply with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality rules adopted
under that section not later than January 31, 2010.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.