83R6773 RWG-F
By: Geren H.B. No. 1160
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the transfer of a certificate of convenience and
necessity in certain municipalities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 552, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 552.024 to read as follows:
Sec. 552.024. TRANSFER OF CERTIFICATE OF CONVENIENCE AND
NECESSITY IN CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES. (a) This section applies to a
municipality that:
(1) has a population of not more than 2,500;
(2) is located in a county that:
(A) has a population of 1.7 million or more; and
(B) has two municipalities with a population of
300,000 or more; and
(3) is served by a public utility that:
(A) provides service to the entire municipality;
and
(B) charges rates for 5,000 gallons of water for
residential customers that are at least 50 percent higher than the
rates charged by a municipally owned utility that serves another
part of the county in which the municipality is located.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, on application by a
municipality described by Subsection (a), the agency with authority
over certificates of convenience and necessity for water and sewer
service shall transfer a certificate of convenience and necessity
for water and sewer service from a public utility to the
municipality for the public utility's service area located in the
municipality's corporate limits, if the municipality:
(1) is willing to provide continuous and adequate
water and sewer service to the area; and
(2) has instituted a condemnation proceeding under
Chapter 21, Property Code, to acquire the property of the public
utility's water and sewer system in the municipality's corporate
limits.
(c) The transfer is effective on the date the court in which
the condemnation proceeding is pending issues an order that:
(1) transfers the property of the public utility to
the municipality; and
(2) requires the municipality to ensure continuous and
adequate water and sewer service to the citizens of the
municipality.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a condemnation proceeding in which the petition is filed on or after
September 1, 2011. A condemnation proceeding in which the petition
is filed before September 1, 2011, is governed by the law in effect
on the date the petition was filed, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. 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, 2013.