Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB3346 Compare Versions

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1	1	H.B. No. 3346
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to gas utilities and gas storage facilities.
6	6	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
7	7	SECTION 1. Section 121.001(a), Utilities Code, is amended
8	8	to read as follows:
9	9	(a) In this chapter, "gas utility" means a person who owns,
10	10	manages, operates, leases, or controls in this state property or
11	11	equipment or a pipeline, plant, facility, franchise, license, or
12	12	permit for a business that:
13	13	(1) transports, conveys, distributes, or delivers
14	14	natural gas:
15	15	(A) for public use or service for compensation;
16	16	(B) for sale to municipalities or persons engaged
17	17	in distributing or selling natural gas to the public, in a situation
18	18	described by Subdivision (3);
19	19	(C) for sale or delivery to a person operating
20	20	under a franchise or contract with a political subdivision of this
21	21	state; or
22	22	(D) for sale or delivery to the public for
23	23	domestic or other use;
24	24	(2) owns, operates, or manages a pipeline:
25	25	(A) that is for transporting or carrying natural
26	26	gas, whether for public hire or not; and
27	27	(B) for which the right-of-way has been or is
28	28	hereafter acquired by exercising the right of eminent domain, or by
29	29	lawfully representing to a property owner that the person has the
30	30	right to acquire right-of-way by the use of eminent domain; or
31	31	(3) produces or purchases natural gas and transports
32	32	or causes the transportation of natural gas by a pipeline to or near
33	33	the limits of a municipality in which the gas is received and
34	34	distributed or sold to the public by another gas utility or by the
35	35	municipality in a situation in which the business is the only or
36	36	practically the only agency of supply of natural gas to the gas
37	37	utility or municipality.
38	38	SECTION 2. Section 181.021(2), Utilities Code, is amended
39	39	to read as follows:
40	40	(2) "Gas utility" means a person, firm, or corporation
41	41	subject to the jurisdiction of the Railroad Commission of Texas, or
42	42	a municipality, engaged in the business of transporting or
43	43	distributing gas [for public consumption].
44	44	SECTION 3. Section 101.003(7), Utilities Code, is amended
45	45	to read as follows:
46	46	(7) "Gas utility" includes a person or river authority
47	47	that owns or operates for compensation in this state equipment or
48	48	facilities to transmit or distribute combustible hydrocarbon
49	49	natural gas or synthetic natural gas for sale or resale in a manner
50	50	not subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory
51	51	Commission under the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. Section 717 et
52	52	seq.). The term includes a lessee, trustee, or receiver of a gas
53	53	utility. The term does not include:
54	54	(A) a municipal corporation;
55	55	(B) a person or river authority to the extent the
56	56	person or river authority:
57	57	(i) produces, gathers, transports, or sells
58	58	natural gas or synthetic natural gas under Section 121.004 or
59	59	121.005;
60	60	(ii) distributes or sells liquefied
61	61	petroleum gas; or
62	62	(iii) transports, delivers, or sells
63	63	natural gas for fuel for irrigation wells or any other direct
64	64	agricultural use;
65	65	(C) a person to the extent the person:
66	66	(i) sells natural gas for use as vehicle
67	67	fuel;
68	68	(ii) sells natural gas to a person who later
69	69	sells the natural gas for use as vehicle fuel; or
70	70	(iii) owns or operates equipment or
71	71	facilities to sell or transport natural gas for ultimate use as
72	72	vehicle fuel;
73	73	(D) a person not otherwise a gas utility who
74	74	furnishes gas or gas service only to itself, its employees, or its
75	75	tenants as an incident of employment or tenancy, if the gas or gas
76	76	service is not resold to or used by others; [or]
77	77	(E) a person excluded from being considered a gas
78	78	utility under Section 121.007; or
79	79	(F) an electric cooperative, as that term is
80	80	defined by Section 11.003, or its subsidiary, that is excluded from
81	81	regulation as a gas utility by Section 121.008.
82	82	SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 121, Utilities Code, is
83	83	amended by adding Section 121.008 to read as follows:
84	84	Sec. 121.008. CERTAIN STORAGE FACILITIES OWNED BY ELECTRIC
85	85	COOPERATIVES EXCLUDED. An electric cooperative, as that term is
86	86	defined by Section 11.003, or its subsidiary, that sells
87	87	electricity at wholesale is not a gas utility or subject to
88	88	regulation as a gas utility solely because it provides gas storage
89	89	services for hire if the gas storage facility is predominantly
90	90	operated to support the integration of renewable resources. Such a
91	91	gas storage facility shall not have a working gas capacity of
92	92	greater than five billion cubic feet.
93	93	SECTION 5. Section 111.001(2), Natural Resources Code, is
94	94	amended to read as follows:
95	95	(2) "Public utility" means a person, association of
96	96	persons, or corporation that owns, operates, or manages crude
97	97	petroleum storage tanks or storage facilities for the public for
98	98	hire, either in connection with a pipeline, pipelines, or
99	99	otherwise. The term does not include an electric cooperative, as
100	100	that term is defined by Section 11.003, Utilities Code, or its
101	101	subsidiary, that sells electricity at wholesale and that owns or
102	102	operates an underground storage facility and provides gas storage
103	103	services to the public for hire if the gas storage facility is
104	104	predominantly operated to support the integration of renewable
105	105	resources. Such a gas storage facility shall not have a working gas
106	106	capacity of greater than five billion cubic feet.
107	107	SECTION 6. Section 111.003, Natural Resources Code, is
108	108	amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
109	109	(c) The provisions of this chapter, and any common law
110	110	requirements or limitations applicable to a common carrier, do not
111	111	apply to an underground storage facility owned or operated by an
112	112	electric cooperative, as that term is defined by Section 11.003,
113	113	Utilities Code, or its subsidiary, that sells electricity at
114	114	wholesale and offers or provides gas storage services to the public
115	115	for hire if the gas storage facility is predominately operated to
116	116	support the integration of renewable resources. Such a gas storage
117	117	facility shall not have a working gas capacity of greater than five
118	118	billion cubic feet.
119	119	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
120	120	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
121	121	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
122	122	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
123	123	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
124	124	______________________________ ______________________________
125	125	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
126	126	I certify that H.B. No. 3346 was passed by the House on April
127	127	30, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 1 present, not
128	128	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
129	129	No. 3346 on May 25, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 139, Nays 0,
130	130	3 present, not voting.
131	131	______________________________
132	132	Chief Clerk of the House
133	133	I certify that H.B. No. 3346 was passed by the Senate, with
134	134	amendments, on May 21, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
135	135	0.
136	136	______________________________
137	137	Secretary of the Senate
138	138	APPROVED: __________________
139	139	Date
140	140	__________________
141	141	Governor