83R21741 JXC-D
By: Oliveira, et al. H.B. No. 3547
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3547:
By: Bohac C.S.H.B. No. 3547
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to standards and procedures for determining whether a
person who owns, operates, or manages a pipeline is a common
carrier; authorizing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 111.002, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 111.002. COMMON CARRIERS UNDER CHAPTER. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (b), a [A] person is a common carrier subject
to the provisions of this chapter if it:
(1) owns, operates, or manages a pipeline or any part
of a pipeline in the State of Texas for the transportation of crude
petroleum to or for the public for hire, or engages in the business
of transporting crude petroleum by pipeline;
(2) owns, operates, or manages a pipeline or any part
of a pipeline in the State of Texas for the transportation of crude
petroleum to or for the public for hire and the pipeline is
constructed or maintained on, over, or under a public road or
highway, or is an entity in favor of whom the right of eminent
domain exists;
(3) owns, operates, or manages a pipeline or any part
of a pipeline in the State of Texas for the transportation of crude
petroleum to or for the public for hire which is or may be
constructed, operated, or maintained across, on, along, over, or
under the right-of-way of a railroad, corporation, or other common
carrier required by law to transport crude petroleum as a common
carrier;
(4) under lease, contract of purchase, agreement to
buy or sell, or other agreement or arrangement of any kind, owns,
operates, manages, or participates in ownership, operation, or
management of a pipeline or part of a pipeline in the State of Texas
for the transportation of crude petroleum, bought of others, from
an oil field or place of production within this state to any
distributing, refining, or marketing center or reshipping point
within this state;
(5) owns, operates, or manages, wholly or partially,
pipelines for the transportation for hire of coal in whatever form
or of any mixture of substances including coal in whatever form;
(6) owns, operates, or manages, wholly or partially,
pipelines for the transportation of carbon dioxide or hydrogen in
whatever form to or for the public for hire, but only if such person
files with the commission a written acceptance of the provisions of
this chapter expressly agreeing that, in consideration of the
rights acquired, it becomes a common carrier subject to the duties
and obligations conferred or imposed by this chapter; or
(7) owns, operates, or manages a pipeline or any part
of a pipeline in the State of Texas for the transportation of
feedstock for carbon gasification, the products of carbon
gasification, or the derivative products of carbon gasification, in
whatever form, to or for the public for hire, but only if the person
files with the commission a written acceptance of the provisions of
this chapter expressly agreeing that, in consideration of the
rights acquired, it becomes a common carrier subject to the duties
and obligations conferred or imposed by this chapter.
(b) A pipeline owner, operator, or manager is not a common
carrier subject to the provisions of this chapter unless at least 33
percent of the pipeline's capacity is used or is reasonably likely
to be used to transport one or more substances for one or more
persons who are not:
(1) corporate parents of the owner, operator, or
manager;
(2) subsidiaries of the owner, operator, or manager;
or
(3) under common control with the owner, operator, or
manager.
SECTION 2. Chapter 111, Natural Resources Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter B-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B-1. COMMON CARRIER DETERMINATION HEARINGS
Sec. 111.041. COMMON CARRIER DETERMINATION. (a) A person
who owns, operates, or manages a pipeline may not exercise the power
of eminent domain granted by Section 111.019 to construct a
pipeline unless the State Office of Administrative Hearings
determines that the person is a common carrier as defined by Section
111.002 following one or more hearings conducted under this
subchapter.
(b) A person who owns, operates, or manages a pipeline may
submit a request to the commission for a determination of whether
the person is a common carrier.
(c) If a person who has been determined to be a common
carrier as defined by Section 111.002 with regard to a pipeline
transfers the permit to operate the pipeline to another person, the
person to whom the permit is transferred may not own, operate, or
manage the pipeline as a common carrier as defined by that section
unless the person is determined to be a common carrier as defined by
that section.
Sec. 111.042. DUTIES AND POWERS OF COMMISSION. (a) The
commission shall, not later than the fifth day after the date the
commission receives a request submitted under Section 111.041:
(1) review the request for administrative
completeness; and
(2) if the request is complete, forward the request to
the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
(b) The commission shall charge a person who submits a
complete request under Section 111.041 a fee for making a common
carrier determination.
(c) The commission by rule shall establish the amount of the
fee to be charged under this section. The commission may establish a
fee schedule listing different amounts the commission may charge
for making a common carrier determination according to the location
and length of the pipeline at issue.
(d) The fee must be in an amount that covers the costs
incurred by the commission and the State Office of Administrative
Hearings in determining whether the person is a common carrier. The
commission shall consult with the State Office of Administrative
Hearings to determine the costs that the commission and the office
will incur in making determinations under this subchapter.
(e) Money collected by the commission under this section
shall be deposited in the general revenue fund to the credit of the
commission.
(f) The commission by rule may require that a person who
submits a request demonstrate to the commission or the State Office
of Administrative Hearings that the person has substantially
complied with the notice requirements of Section 111.044.
Sec. 111.043. DUTIES OF STATE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE
HEARINGS. (a) Not later than the 10th day after the date the State
Office of Administrative Hearings receives a request from the
commission under Section 111.042, the office shall provide to the
person who submitted the request notice that the office has
received the request and shall include with the notice a proposed
location, date, and time for a hearing or hearings on the request.
The proposed hearing date or dates must be not earlier than the 15th
day and not later than the 50th day after the date the office sends
the notice.
(b) The State Office of Administrative Hearings shall
conduct a hearing on the request to determine whether the person who
submitted the request is a common carrier as defined by Section
111.002. A hearing conducted under this subsection is a contested
case hearing under Chapter 2001, Government Code.
(c) The State Office of Administrative Hearings may not
conduct a hearing on a request until the person who submitted the
request pays the fee required by Section 111.042.
(d) Before issuing a final decision on a request, the State
Office of Administrative Hearings shall hold at least one public
hearing on the request in a county in which the pipeline is or will
be located. The office shall determine whether a public hearing in
more than one county is necessary based on the location and length
of the proposed pipeline.
Sec. 111.044. NOTICE. (a) After the State Office of
Administrative Hearings provides notice under Section 111.043, the
person who submitted the request shall:
(1) publish notice of the request for two consecutive
weeks before the date of the first hearing in a newspaper of general
circulation in each county in which a portion of the pipeline may be
located; and
(2) in a manner that provides a reasonable amount of
time for receipt of the notice before the date of the first hearing,
mail or deliver notice of the request to:
(A) each owner of property over which an easement
or other property interest may be required for the pipeline; and
(B) each owner of a house or other habitable
structure located within 300 feet of the centerline of the route of
the pipeline.
(b) The notice of the request must include:
(1) a statement that the person has filed a request for
a determination that could provide eminent domain authority for a
pipeline and that the determination may affect property located on
or near the route of the pipeline;
(2) the proposed location, date, and time of each
hearing that the State Office of Administrative Hearings will hold
on the request;
(3) a statement that the purpose of each hearing is to
determine whether the person who submitted the request is a common
carrier, as defined by the laws of this state, and not to determine
the route of the pipeline; and
(4) a statement that a person may attend each hearing
and offer testimony on whether the person who submitted the request
is a common carrier as defined by the laws of this state.
Sec. 111.045. DECISION; JUDICIAL REVIEW. (a) Not later
than the 15th day after the date the hearing or hearings on a
request are concluded, the State Office of Administrative Hearings
shall issue a final decision as to whether the person who submitted
the request is a common carrier as defined by Section 111.002.
(b) A final decision of the State Office of Administrative
Hearings under this section is subject to judicial review under
Chapter 2001, Government Code. The appeal is limited to a
determination of whether there is a reasonable probability that the
person who submitted the request under Section 111.041 that is the
subject of the decision is a common carrier as defined by Section
111.002 and may not include a review of the requestor's compliance
with the procedural requirements of this subchapter.
Sec. 111.046. INTERAGENCY CONTRACT. The commission and the
State Office of Administrative Hearings shall enter into an
interagency contract to pay the costs incurred by the office in
implementing this subchapter.
SECTION 3. Not later than the 30th day after the effective
date of this Act, the Railroad Commission of Texas shall adopt rules
to implement the changes in law made by this Act to Chapter 111,
Natural Resources Code.
SECTION 4. 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.