By: Nichols, Gallegos, Patrick S.B. No. 573
(In the Senate - Filed February 9, 2011; February 17, 2011,
read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
April 18, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 2; April 18, 2011,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 573 By: Nichols
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certificates of public convenience and necessity for
water or sewer services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 13.254, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (a-2) and adding Subsections (a-5) and
(a-6) to read as follows:
(a) The commission at any time after notice and hearing
may[, on its own motion or on receipt of a petition described by
Subsection (a-1),] revoke or amend any certificate of public
convenience and necessity with the written consent of the
certificate holder or if it finds that:
(1) the certificate holder has never provided, is no
longer providing, is incapable of providing, or has failed to
provide continuous and adequate service in the area, or part of the
area, covered by the certificate;
(2) in an affected county as defined in Section
16.341, the cost of providing service by the certificate holder is
so prohibitively expensive as to constitute denial of service,
provided that, for commercial developments or for residential
developments started after September 1, 1997, in an affected county
as defined in Section 16.341, the fact that the cost of obtaining
service from the currently certificated retail public utility makes
the development economically unfeasible does not render such cost
prohibitively expensive in the absence of other relevant factors;
(3) the certificate holder has agreed in writing to
allow another retail public utility to provide service within its
service area, except for an interim period, without amending its
certificate; or
(4) the certificate holder has failed to file a cease
and desist action pursuant to Section 13.252 within 180 days of the
date that it became aware that another retail public utility was
providing service within its service area, unless the certificate
holder demonstrates good cause for its failure to file such action
within the 180 days.
(a-2) A landowner is not entitled to make the election
described in Subsection (a-1) or (a-5) but is entitled to contest
under Subsection (a) the involuntary certification of its property
in a hearing held by the commission if the landowner's property is
located:
(1) within the boundaries of any municipality or the
extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality with a population
of more than 500,000 and the municipality or retail public utility
owned by the municipality is the holder of the certificate; or
(2) in a platted subdivision actually receiving water
or sewer service.
(a-5) As an alternative to decertification under Subsection
(a) and expedited release under Subsection (a-1), the owner of a
tract of land that is at least 25 acres and that is not receiving
water or sewer service may petition for expedited release of the
area from a certificate of public convenience and necessity and is
entitled to that release if the landowner's property is located in a
county with a population of at least one million, a county adjacent
to a county with a population of at least one million, or a county
with a population of more than 200,000 and less than 220,000.
(a-6) The commission shall grant a petition received under
Subsection (a-5) not later than the 60th day after the date the
landowner files the petition. The commission may not deny a
petition received under Subsection (a-5) based on the fact that a
certificate holder is a borrower under a federal loan program. The
commission may require an award of compensation to a decertified
retail public utility that is the subject of a petition filed under
Subsection (a-5) as otherwise provided by this section.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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