| 1 | 1 | | By: Huberty H.B. No. 3792 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to entities providing engineering services to a utility or |
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| 7 | 7 | | affiliate. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Section 1001.002, Occupations Code, is amended |
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| 10 | 10 | | by adding Subdivision (3) to read as follows: |
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| 11 | 11 | | (3) "Telephony" means the construction, deployment, |
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| 12 | 12 | | maintenance or operation of telephones and telephonic systems or |
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| 13 | 13 | | telecommunications in which telephonic equipment with or without |
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| 14 | 14 | | the use of wires is employed. It includes all design, construction, |
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| 15 | 15 | | excavation, trench safety, traffic planning or maintenance |
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| 16 | 16 | | necessary to design, deploy or maintain such systems in |
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| 17 | 17 | | rights-of-way, utility easements or private property, but does not |
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| 18 | 18 | | include constructing or placing a full-size manhole or connecting |
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| 19 | 19 | | structures between full-size manholes. |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 2. Section 1001.058, Occupations Code, is amended |
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| 21 | 21 | | by amending Subdivision (a) to read as follows: |
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| 22 | 22 | | (a) A regular full-time employee of a privately owned public |
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| 23 | 23 | | utility or cooperative utility or of the utility's affiliate, |
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| 24 | 24 | | including any agents or engineering firms performing work on behalf |
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| 25 | 25 | | of and under the supervision of such utility or affiliate, is exempt |
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| 26 | 26 | | from the licensing requirements of this chapter if the employee: |
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| 27 | 27 | | (1) performs services exclusively for the utility or |
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| 28 | 28 | | affiliate; and |
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| 29 | 29 | | (2) does not have the final authority to approve, or |
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| 30 | 30 | | the ultimate responsibility for, engineering designs, plans, or |
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| 31 | 31 | | specifications that are to be: |
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| 32 | 32 | | (A) incorporated into fixed works, systems, or |
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| 33 | 33 | | facilities on the property of others; or |
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| 34 | 34 | | (B) made available to the public. |
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| 35 | 35 | | SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect |
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| 36 | 36 | | immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members |
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| 37 | 37 | | elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas |
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| 38 | 38 | | Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for |
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| 39 | 39 | | immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |
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