Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SR1100 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R38516 TRH-F
2	2	By: Averitt S.R. No. 1100
3	3
4	4
5	5	R E S O L U T I O N
6	6	BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the State of Texas, 81st
7	7	Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, That Senate Rule 12.03 be
8	8	suspended in part as provided by Senate Rule 12.08 to enable the
9	9	conference committee appointed to resolve the differences on House
10	10	Bill 3526 (the adoption of rules by the Texas Water Development
11	11	Board regarding supplemental funding resulting from federal
12	12	economic recovery legislation) to consider and take action on the
13	13	following matter:
14	14	Senate Rule 12.03(4) is suspended to permit the committee to
15	15	add text on matters which are not included in either the house or
16	16	senate version of the bill by adding the following ARTICLES to the
17	17	bill:
18	18	ARTICLE 8. RAINWATER HARVESTING AND WATER CONSERVATION
19	19	INITIATIVES
20	20	SECTION 8.01. Subchapter A, Chapter 59, Finance Code, is
21	21	amended by adding Section 59.012 to read as follows:
22	22	Sec. 59.012. LOANS FOR DEVELOPMENTS THAT USE HARVESTED
23	23	RAINWATER. Financial institutions may consider making loans for
24	24	developments that will use harvested rainwater as the sole source
25	25	of water supply.
26	26	SECTION 8.02. Section 447.004, Government Code, is amended
27	27	by amending Subsection (c-1) and adding Subsection (c-3) to read as
28	28	follows:
29	29	(c-1) The procedural standards adopted under this section
30	30	must require that:
31	31	(1) on-site reclaimed system technologies, including
32	32	rainwater harvesting, condensate collection, or cooling tower blow
33	33	down, or a combination of those system technologies, for nonpotable
34	34	indoor use and landscape watering be incorporated into the design
35	35	and construction of:
36	36	(A) [(1)] each new state building with a roof
37	37	measuring at least 10,000 square feet; and
38	38	(B) [(2)] any other new state building for which
39	39	the incorporation of such systems is feasible;
40	40	(2) rainwater harvesting system technology for
41	41	nonpotable indoor use and landscape watering be incorporated into
42	42	the design and construction of each new state building with a roof
43	43	measuring at least 10,000 square feet that is located in an area of
44	44	this state in which the average annual rainfall is at least 20
45	45	inches; and
46	46	(3) at least 25 percent of the roof area of a building
47	47	described by Subdivision (2) be used for rainwater collection.
48	48	(c-3) The procedural standards required by Subsections
49	49	(c-1)(2) and (3) apply to a building described by Subsection
50	50	(c-1)(2) unless Subsection (c-2) applies or the state agency or
51	51	institution of higher education constructing the building provides
52	52	the state energy conservation office evidence that the amount of
53	53	rainwater that will be harvested from one or more existing
54	54	buildings at the same location is equivalent to the amount of
55	55	rainwater that could have been harvested from the new building had
56	56	rainwater harvesting system technology been incorporated into its
57	57	design and construction.
58	58	SECTION 8.03. Section 341.042(b), Health and Safety Code,
59	59	is amended to read as follows:
60	60	(b) The commission by rule shall provide that if a structure
61	61	is connected to a public water supply system and has a rainwater
62	62	harvesting system, [for indoor use:
63	63	[(1)] the structure must have appropriate
64	64	cross-connection safeguards[; and
65	65	[(2) the rainwater harvesting system may be used only
66	66	for nonpotable indoor purposes].
67	67	SECTION 8.04. Chapter 580, Local Government Code, is
68	68	amended by adding Section 580.004 to read as follows:
69	69	Sec. 580.004. RAINWATER HARVESTING. (a) Each municipality
70	70	and county is encouraged to promote rainwater harvesting at
71	71	residential, commercial, and industrial facilities through
72	72	incentives such as the provision at a discount of rain barrels or
73	73	rebates for water storage facilities.
74	74	(b) Each municipality or county that has adopted impervious
75	75	cover or density restrictions shall consider the use in a
76	76	development of harvested rainwater as an on-site water supply
77	77	source in determining whether to grant the development a credit
78	78	against or exemption from the restrictions.
79	79	(c) The Texas Water Development Board shall ensure that
80	80	training on rainwater harvesting is available for the members of
81	81	the permitting staffs of municipalities and counties at least
82	82	quarterly. Members of the permitting staffs of counties and
83	83	municipalities are encouraged to receive the training. The Texas
84	84	Water Development Board may provide the training by seminars or by
85	85	videotape or functionally similar and widely available media
86	86	without cost.
87	87	(d) A municipality or county may not deny a building permit
88	88	solely because the facility will implement rainwater harvesting.
89	89	(e) Each school district is encouraged to implement
90	90	rainwater harvesting at facilities of the district.
91	91	SECTION 8.05. Section 202.007(d), Property Code, is amended
92	92	to read as follows:
93	93	(d) This section does not:
94	94	(1) restrict a property owners' association from
95	95	regulating the requirements, including size, type, shielding, and
96	96	materials, for or the location of a composting device[, rain
97	97	barrel, rain harvesting device, or any other appurtenance] if the
98	98	restriction does not prohibit the economic installation of the
99	99	device [or appurtenance] on the property owner's property where
100	100	there is reasonably sufficient area to install the device [or
101	101	appurtenance];
102	102	(2) require a property owners' association to permit a
103	103	device [or appurtenance] described by Subdivision (1) to be
104	104	installed in or on property:
105	105	(A) owned by the property owners' association;
106	106	(B) owned in common by the members of the
107	107	property owners' association; or
108	108	(C) in an area other than the fenced yard or patio
109	109	of a property owner;
110	110	(3) prohibit a property owners' association from
111	111	regulating the installation of efficient irrigation systems,
112	112	including establishing visibility limitations for aesthetic
113	113	purposes;
114	114	(4) prohibit a property owners' association from
115	115	regulating the installation or use of gravel, rocks, or cacti; [or]
116	116	(5) restrict a property owners' association from
117	117	regulating yard and landscape maintenance if the restrictions or
118	118	requirements do not restrict or prohibit turf or landscaping design
119	119	that promotes water conservation; or
120	120	(6) require a property owners' association to permit a
121	121	rain barrel or rainwater harvesting system to be installed in or on
122	122	property if:
123	123	(A) the property is:
124	124	(i) owned by the property owners'
125	125	association;
126	126	(ii) owned in common by the members of the
127	127	property owners' association; or
128	128	(iii) located between the front of the
129	129	property owner's home and the adjacent street; or
130	130	(B) the barrel or system:
131	131	(i) is of a color other than:
132	132	(a) the original manufacturer's
133	133	color; or
134	134	(b) a color consistent with the color
135	135	scheme of the property owner's home; or
136	136	(ii) displays any language or other content
137	137	that is not typically displayed by such a barrel or system as it is
138	138	manufactured.
139	139	SECTION 8.06. Section 1.003, Water Code, is amended to read
140	140	as follows:
141	141	Sec. 1.003. PUBLIC POLICY. It is the public policy of the
142	142	state to provide for the conservation and development of the
143	143	state's natural resources, including:
144	144	(1) the control, storage, preservation, and
145	145	distribution of the state's storm and floodwaters and the waters of
146	146	its rivers and streams for irrigation, power, and other useful
147	147	purposes;
148	148	(2) the reclamation and irrigation of the state's
149	149	arid, semiarid, and other land needing irrigation;
150	150	(3) the reclamation and drainage of the state's
151	151	overflowed land and other land needing drainage;
152	152	(4) the conservation and development of its forest,
153	153	water, and hydroelectric power;
154	154	(5) the navigation of the state's inland and coastal
155	155	waters;
156	156	(6) the maintenance of a proper ecological environment
157	157	of the bays and estuaries of Texas and the health of related living
158	158	marine resources; [and]
159	159	(7) the voluntary stewardship of public and private
160	160	lands to benefit waters of the state; and
161	161	(8) the promotion of rainwater harvesting for potable
162	162	and nonpotable purposes at public and private facilities in this
163	163	state, including residential, commercial, and industrial
164	164	buildings.
165	165	SECTION 8.07. Section 16.0121, Water Code, is amended by
166	166	amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (g) to read as
167	167	follows:
168	168	(b) Except as provided by Subsection (g) [Every five years],
169	169	a retail public utility providing potable water shall perform and
170	170	file with the board, every five years, a water audit computing the
171	171	utility's most recent annual system water loss.
172	172	(g) A retail public utility shall perform and file with the
173	173	board a water loss audit annually if the utility is receiving any
174	174	financial assistance from the board.
175	175	SECTION 8.08. If the 81st Legislature makes an
176	176	appropriation to the Texas Water Development Board to provide
177	177	matching grants to political subdivisions of this state for
178	178	rainwater harvesting demonstration projects, the board shall, not
179	179	later than December 1, 2010, provide a report to the lieutenant
180	180	governor and the speaker of the house of representatives regarding
181	181	the projects for which the board has provided grants, including:
182	182	(1) a description of each project; and
183	183	(2) the amount of the grant provided for each project.
184	184	SECTION 8.09. This article does not make an appropriation.
185	185	A provision of this article that creates a new governmental
186	186	program, creates a new entitlement, or imposes a new duty on a
187	187	governmental entity is not mandatory during a fiscal period for
188	188	which the legislature has not made a specific appropriation to
189	189	implement the provision.
190	190	SECTION 8.10. This article takes effect September 1, 2009.
191	191	ARTICLE 9. CERTIFICATES OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY FOR
192	192	WATER OR SEWER SERVICES
193	193	SECTION 9.01. Section 13.245, Water Code, is amended by
194	194	amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c-1) and (c-2) to
195	195	read as follows:
196	196	(b) Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (c),
197	197	(c-1), and (c-2), the commission may not grant to a retail public
198	198	utility a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a
199	199	service area within the boundaries or extraterritorial
200	200	jurisdiction of a municipality without the consent of the
201	201	municipality. The municipality may not unreasonably withhold the
202	202	consent. As a condition of the consent, a municipality may require
203	203	that all water and sewer facilities be designed and constructed in
204	204	accordance with the municipality's standards for facilities.
205	205	(c-1) The commission may grant a certificate to a retail
206	206	public utility for a service area within the boundaries or
207	207	extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality before the 180th
208	208	day after the municipality receives the retail public utility's
209	209	application if:
210	210	(1) the municipality has not entered into a binding
211	211	commitment to serve the area that is the subject of the application
212	212	on or before the 180th day after the date a formal request for
213	213	service is made on the same or substantially similar terms as
214	214	provided by the retail public utility's application, including a
215	215	capital improvements plan as required by Section 13.244(d)(3); or
216	216	(2) the municipality has refused to provide the
217	217	service applied for as evidenced by a formal vote of the
218	218	municipality's governing body or by an official notification from
219	219	the municipality.
220	220	(c-2) The commission must include as a condition of a
221	221	certificate of convenience and necessity granted under Subsection
222	222	(c-1) that the authorized water and sewer facilities be designed
223	223	and constructed in accordance with the municipality's standards for
224	224	water and sewer facilities.
225	225	SECTION 9.02. Sections 13.2451(a) and (b), Water Code, are
226	226	amended to read as follows:
227	227	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), if [If] a
228	228	municipality extends its extraterritorial jurisdiction to include
229	229	an area certificated to a retail public utility, the retail public
230	230	utility may continue and extend service in its area of public
231	231	convenience and necessity under the rights granted by its
232	232	certificate and this chapter.
233	233	(b) The commission may not extend a municipality's
234	234	certificate of public convenience and necessity beyond its
235	235	extraterritorial jurisdiction if a landowner elects to exclude some
236	236	or all of the landowner's property within a proposed service area in
237	237	accordance with Section 13.246(h). This subsection does not apply
238	238	to a transfer of a certificate as approved by the commission [A
239	239	municipality that seeks to extend a certificate of public
240	240	convenience and necessity beyond the municipality's
241	241	extraterritorial jurisdiction must ensure that the municipality
242	242	complies with Section 13.241 in relation to the area covered by the
243	243	portion of the certificate that extends beyond the municipality's
244	244	extraterritorial jurisdiction].
245	245	SECTION 9.03. Sections 13.246(a) and (h), Water Code, are
246	246	amended to read as follows:
247	247	(a) If an application for a certificate of public
248	248	convenience and necessity or for an amendment to a certificate is
249	249	filed, the commission shall cause notice of the application to be
250	250	given to affected parties and to each county and groundwater
251	251	conservation district that is wholly or partly included in the area
252	252	proposed to be certified. If [, if] requested, the commission shall
253	253	fix a time and place for a hearing and give notice of the hearing.
254	254	Any person affected by the application may intervene at the
255	255	hearing.
256	256	(h) Except as provided by Subsection (i), a landowner who
257	257	owns a tract of land that is at least 25 acres and that is wholly or
258	258	partially located within the proposed service area may elect to
259	259	exclude some or all of the landowner's property from the proposed
260	260	service area by providing written notice to the commission before
261	261	the 30th day after the date the landowner receives notice of a new
262	262	application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity
263	263	or for an amendment to an existing certificate of public
264	264	convenience and necessity. The landowner's election is effective
265	265	without a further hearing or other process by the commission. If a
266	266	landowner makes an election under this subsection, the application
267	267	shall be modified so that the electing landowner's property is not
268	268	included in the proposed service area. An applicant for a
269	269	certificate of public convenience and necessity that has land
270	270	removed from its proposed certificated service area because of a
271	271	landowner's election under this subsection may not be required to
272	272	provide service to the removed land for any reason, including the
273	273	violation of law or commission rules by the water or sewer system of
274	274	another person.
275	275	SECTION 9.04. Section 13.254, Water Code, is amended by
276	276	amending Subsections (a-1) and (a-3) and adding Subsection (h) to
277	277	read as follows:
278	278	(a-1) As an alternative to decertification under Subsection
279	279	(a), the owner of a tract of land that is at least 50 acres and that
280	280	is not in a platted subdivision actually receiving water or sewer
281	281	service may petition the commission under this subsection for
282	282	expedited release of the area from a certificate of public
283	283	convenience and necessity so that the area may receive service from
284	284	another retail public utility. The fact that a certificate holder
285	285	is a borrower under a federal loan program is not a bar to a request
286	286	under this subsection for the release of the petitioner's land and
287	287	the receipt of services from an alternative provider. On the day
288	288	the petitioner submits the petition to the commission, the [The]
289	289	petitioner shall send [deliver], via certified mail, a copy of the
290	290	petition to the certificate holder, who may submit information to
291	291	the commission to controvert information submitted by the
292	292	petitioner. The petitioner must demonstrate that:
293	293	(1) a written request for service, other than a
294	294	request for standard residential or commercial service, has been
295	295	submitted to the certificate holder, identifying:
296	296	(A) the area for which service is sought;
297	297	(B) the timeframe within which service is needed
298	298	for current and projected service demands in the area;
299	299	(C) the level and manner of service needed for
300	300	current and projected service demands in the area;
301	301	(D) the approximate cost for the alternative
302	302	service provider to provide the service at the same level and manner
303	303	that is requested from the certificate holder;
304	304	(E) the flow and pressure requirements and
305	305	specific infrastructure needs, including line size and system
306	306	capacity for the required level of fire protection requested; and
307	307	(F) [(D)] any additional information requested
308	308	by the certificate holder that is reasonably related to
309	309	determination of the capacity or cost for providing the service;
310	310	(2) the certificate holder has been allowed at least
311	311	90 calendar days to review and respond to the written request and
312	312	the information it contains;
313	313	(3) the certificate holder:
314	314	(A) has refused to provide the service;
315	315	(B) is not capable of providing the service on a
316	316	continuous and adequate basis within the timeframe, at the level,
317	317	at the approximate cost that the alternative provider is capable of
318	318	providing for a comparable level of service, or in the manner
319	319	reasonably needed or requested by current and projected service
320	320	demands in the area; or
321	321	(C) conditions the provision of service on the
322	322	payment of costs not properly allocable directly to the
323	323	petitioner's service request, as determined by the commission; and
324	324	(4) the alternate retail public utility from which the
325	325	petitioner will be requesting service possesses the financial,
326	326	managerial, and technical capability to provide [is capable of
327	327	providing] continuous and adequate service within the timeframe, at
328	328	the level, at the cost, and in the manner reasonably needed or
329	329	requested by current and projected service demands in the area.
330	330	(a-3) Within 60 [90] calendar days from the date the
331	331	commission determines the petition filed pursuant to Subsection
332	332	(a-1) to be administratively complete, the commission shall grant
333	333	the petition unless the commission makes an express finding that
334	334	the petitioner failed to satisfy the elements required in
335	335	Subsection (a-1) and supports its finding with separate findings
336	336	and conclusions for each element based solely on the information
337	337	provided by the petitioner and the certificate holder. The
338	338	commission may grant or deny a petition subject to terms and
339	339	conditions specifically related to the service request of the
340	340	petitioner and all relevant information submitted by the petitioner
341	341	and the certificate holder. In addition, the commission may
342	342	require an award of compensation as otherwise provided by this
343	343	section. If the certificate holder has never made service
344	344	available through planning, design, construction of facilities, or
345	345	contractual obligations to serve the area the petitioner seeks to
346	346	have released, the commission is not required to find that the
347	347	proposed alternative provider is capable of providing better
348	348	service than the certificate holder, but only that the proposed
349	349	alternative provider is capable of providing the requested service.
350	350	(h) A certificate holder that has land removed from its
351	351	certificated service area in accordance with this section may not
352	352	be required, after the land is removed, to provide service to the
353	353	removed land for any reason, including the violation of law or
354	354	commission rules by a water or sewer system of another person.
355	355	SECTION 9.05. The changes made by this article to Sections
356	356	13.245, 13.2451, 13.246, and 13.254, Water Code, apply only to:
357	357	(1) a retail public utility's application for a
358	358	certificate of public convenience and necessity for a service area
359	359	in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality that is made
360	360	on or after the effective date of this article;
361	361	(2) an extension of a municipality's certificate of
362	362	public convenience and necessity for a service area in the
363	363	extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality on or after the
364	364	effective date of this article; and
365	365	(3) a petition to release an area from a certificate of
366	366	public convenience and necessity that is made on or after the
367	367	effective date of this article.
368	368	Explanation: The language is necessary to encourage
369	369	rainwater harvesting and other water conservation initiatives and
370	370	to provide for the issuance of certificates of public convenience
371	371	and necessity for water and sewer service in the extraterritorial
372	372	jurisdiction of a municipality.