Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas House Bill HB1712 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Lozano, Villalba (Senate Sponsor - Zaffirini) H.B. No. 1712
2	2	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 2013;
3	3	May 10, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Finance;
4	4	May 20, 2013, reported favorably by the following vote: Yea 14,
5	5	Nays 0; May 20, 2013, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to an exemption from ad valorem and sales and use taxes for
11	11	property used in connection with an offshore spill response
12	12	containment system.
13	13	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	14	SECTION 1. Section 11.271, Tax Code, is amended to read as
15	15	follows:
16	16	Sec. 11.271. OFFSHORE DRILLING EQUIPMENT NOT IN USE. (a)
17	17	In this section:
18	18	(1) "Environmental protection agency of the United
19	19	States" includes:
20	20	(A) the United States Department of the Interior
21	21	and any agency, bureau, or other entity established in that
22	22	department, including the Bureau of Safety and Environmental
23	23	Enforcement and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation
24	24	and Enforcement; and
25	25	(B) any other department, agency, bureau, or
26	26	entity of the United States that prescribes rules or regulations
27	27	described by Subdivision (2)(A).
28	28	(2) "Offshore spill response containment system"
29	29	means a marine or mobile containment system that:
30	30	(A) is designed and used or intended to be used
31	31	solely to implement a response plan that meets or exceeds rules or
32	32	regulations adopted by any environmental protection agency of the
33	33	United States, this state, or a political subdivision of this state
34	34	for the control, reduction, or monitoring of air, water, or land
35	35	pollution in the event of a blowout or loss of control of an
36	36	offshore well drilled or used for the exploration for or production
37	37	of oil or gas;
38	38	(B) has a design capability to respond to a
39	39	blowout or loss of control of an offshore well drilled or used for
40	40	the exploration for or production of oil or gas that is drilled in
41	41	more than 5,000 feet of water;
42	42	(C) is used or intended to be used solely to
43	43	respond to a blowout or loss of control of an offshore well drilled
44	44	or used for the exploration for or production of oil or gas without
45	45	regard to the depth of the water in which the well is drilled; and
46	46	(D) except for any monitoring function for which
47	47	the system may be used, is used or intended to be used as a temporary
48	48	measure to address fugitive oil, gas, sulfur, or other minerals
49	49	after a leak has occurred and is not used or intended to be used
50	50	after the leak has been contained as a continuing means of producing
51	51	oil, gas, sulfur, or other minerals.
52	52	(3) "Rules or regulations adopted by any environmental
53	53	protection agency of the United States" includes 30 C.F.R. Part 254
54	54	and any corresponding provision or provisions of succeeding,
55	55	similar, substitute, proposed, or final federal regulations.
56	56	(b) An owner or lessee of a marine or mobile drilling unit
57	57	designed for offshore drilling of oil or gas wells is entitled to an
58	58	exemption from taxation of the drilling unit if the drilling unit:
59	59	(1) is being stored in a county bordering on the Gulf
60	60	of Mexico or on a bay or other body of water immediately adjacent to
61	61	the Gulf of Mexico;
62	62	(2) is not being stored for the sole purpose of repair
63	63	or maintenance; and
64	64	(3) is not being used to drill a well at the location
65	65	at which it is being stored.
66	66	(c) A person is entitled to an exemption from taxation of
67	67	the personal property the person owns or leases that is used,
68	68	constructed, acquired, stored, or installed solely as part of an
69	69	offshore spill response containment system, or that is used solely
70	70	for the development, improvement, storage, deployment, repair,
71	71	maintenance, or testing of such a system, if the system is being
72	72	stored while not in use in a county bordering on the Gulf of Mexico
73	73	or on a bay or other body of water immediately adjacent to the Gulf
74	74	of Mexico. Property described by this subsection and not used for
75	75	any other purpose is considered to be property used wholly as an
76	76	integral part of mobile or marine drilling equipment designed for
77	77	offshore drilling of oil or gas wells.
78	78	(d) Subsection (c) does not apply to personal property used,
79	79	wholly or partly, for the exploration for or production of oil, gas,
80	80	sulfur, or other minerals, including the equipment, piping, casing,
81	81	and other components of an oil or gas well. For purposes of this
82	82	subsection, the offshore capture of fugitive oil, gas, sulfur, or
83	83	other minerals that is entirely incidental to the property's
84	84	temporary use as an offshore spill response containment system is
85	85	not considered to be production of those substances.
86	86	(e) Subsection (c) does not apply to personal property that
87	87	was used, constructed, acquired, stored, or installed in this state
88	88	on or before January 1, 2013.
89	89	(f) To qualify for an exemption under Subsection (c), the
90	90	person owning or leasing the property must be an entity formed
91	91	primarily for the purpose of designing, developing, modifying,
92	92	enhancing, assembling, operating, deploying, and maintaining an
93	93	offshore spill response containment system. A person may not
94	94	qualify for the exemption by providing services to or for an
95	95	offshore spill response containment system that the person does not
96	96	own or lease.
97	97	SECTION 2. Section 11.43(c), Tax Code, is amended to read as
98	98	follows:
99	99	(c) An exemption provided by Section 11.13, 11.131, 11.17,
100	100	11.18, 11.182, 11.1827, 11.183, 11.19, 11.20, 11.21, 11.22,
101	101	11.23(h), (j), or (j-1), 11.231, 11.254, 11.271, 11.29, 11.30, or
102	102	11.31, once allowed, need not be claimed in subsequent years, and
103	103	except as otherwise provided by Subsection (e), the exemption
104	104	applies to the property until it changes ownership or the person's
105	105	qualification for the exemption changes. However, the chief
106	106	appraiser may require a person allowed one of the exemptions in a
107	107	prior year to file a new application to confirm the person's current
108	108	qualification for the exemption by delivering a written notice that
109	109	a new application is required, accompanied by an appropriate
110	110	application form, to the person previously allowed the exemption.
111	111	SECTION 3. Subchapter H, Chapter 151, Tax Code, is amended
112	112	by adding Section 151.356 to read as follows:
113	113	Sec. 151.356. OFFSHORE SPILL RESPONSE CONTAINMENT
114	114	PROPERTY. (a) In this section, "offshore spill response
115	115	containment property" means tangible personal property:
116	116	(1) described by Section 11.271(c);
117	117	(2) owned or leased by an entity described by Section
118	118	11.271(f); and
119	119	(3) used or intended to be used solely in an offshore
120	120	spill response containment system as defined by Section 11.271(a).
121	121	(b) This section does not apply to an item used, wholly or
122	122	partly, for the exploration for or production of oil, gas, sulfur,
123	123	or other minerals, including the equipment, piping, casing, and
124	124	other components of an oil or gas well. For purposes of this
125	125	subsection, the offshore capture of fugitive oil, gas, sulfur, or
126	126	other minerals that is entirely incidental to the item's temporary
127	127	use as an offshore spill response containment system is not
128	128	considered to be production of those substances.
129	129	(c) The sale, lease, rental, storage, use, or other
130	130	consumption by an entity described by Section 11.271(f) of offshore
131	131	spill response containment property used solely for the purposes
132	132	described by Section 11.271(c) and this section is exempted from
133	133	the taxes imposed by this chapter.
134	134	(d) A service performed exclusively on offshore spill
135	135	response containment property is exempted from the taxes imposed by
136	136	this chapter.
137	137	SECTION 4. Section 11.271, Tax Code, as amended by this Act,
138	138	applies only to an ad valorem tax year that begins on or after the
139	139	effective date of this Act.
140	140	SECTION 5. Section 151.356, Tax Code, as added by this Act,
141	141	does not affect tax liability accruing before the effective date of
142	142	this Act. That liability continues in effect as if this Act had not
143	143	been enacted, and the former law is continued in effect for the
144	144	collection of taxes due and for civil and criminal enforcement of
145	145	the liability for those taxes.
146	146	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
147	147	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
148	148	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
149	149	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
150	150	Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
151	151	* * * * *