82R25346 JXC-F
By: Geren, King of Taylor H.B. No. 3853
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3853:
By: Price C.S.H.B. No. 3853
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of a gas or electric corporation to use
certain land to construct or operate a transmission line.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 181.007, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 181.007. AUTHORITY TO OWN, HOLD, AND USE LAND OR OTHER
PROPERTY. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a [A] gas or
electric corporation has the power to own, hold, or use land, a
right-of-way, an easement, a franchise, or a building or other
structure as necessary for the purpose of the corporation.
(b) If a gas or electric corporation constructs a
transmission line over, under, or across land that the 2007 state
water plan proposed to use for constructing a reservoir and that was
designated before January 1, 2011, as a site of unique value for the
construction of a reservoir under Section 16.051(g) or (g-1), Water
Code, the corporation is liable for costs related to removing,
reconstructing, or relocating the transmission line.
(c) Subsection (b) does not apply to construction of a
transmission line that begins before September 1, 2011, or
construction of a transmission line that the Public Utility
Commission of Texas approves before September 1, 2011.
SECTION 2. This Act applies only to a transmission line the
construction of which begins on or after the effective date of this
Act or that the Public Utility Commission of Texas approves before
the effective date of this Act. A transmission line the
construction of which began before the effective date of this Act or
that the Public Utility Commission of Texas approves before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the construction began or the approval occurred, and that law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.