By: Huberty H.B. No. 3792
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to entities providing engineering services to a utility or
affiliate.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1001.002, Occupations Code, is amended
by adding Subdivision (3) to read as follows:
(3) "Telephony" means the construction, deployment,
maintenance or operation of telephones and telephonic systems or
telecommunications in which telephonic equipment with or without
the use of wires is employed. It includes all design, construction,
excavation, trench safety, traffic planning or maintenance
necessary to design, deploy or maintain such systems in
rights-of-way, utility easements or private property, but does not
include constructing or placing a full-size manhole or connecting
structures between full-size manholes.
SECTION 2. Section 1001.058, Occupations Code, is amended
by amending Subdivision (a) to read as follows:
(a) A regular full-time employee of a privately owned public
utility or cooperative utility or of the utility's affiliate,
including any agents or engineering firms performing work on behalf
of and under the supervision of such utility or affiliate, is exempt
from the licensing requirements of this chapter if the employee:
(1) performs services exclusively for the utility or
affiliate; and
(2) does not have the final authority to approve, or
the ultimate responsibility for, engineering designs, plans, or
specifications that are to be:
(A) incorporated into fixed works, systems, or
facilities on the property of others; or
(B) made available to the public.
SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 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, 2015.