By: Nichols S.B. No. 1294
(In the Senate - Filed March 11, 2015; March 18, 2015, read
first time and referred to Committee on Transportation;
April 20, 2015, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 2; April 20, 2015,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1294 By: Nichols
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain limitations on design-build contracts for
transportation infrastructure projects.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 223.241, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subdivision (3) to read as follows:
(3) "Highway project" means a single facility between
two defined points in a highway corridor.
SECTION 2. Section 223.242, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsections (b-1), (f), and (g) and amending Subsections
(d) and (d-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) A design-build contract under this subchapter may
include a maintenance agreement requiring a design-build
contractor to maintain a project for an initial term of not longer
than five years. The maintenance agreement may authorize the
department, in its sole discretion, to exercise options extending
the term of the maintenance agreement for additional periods beyond
the initial maintenance term with each additional period being not
longer than five years. The department shall obtain pricing for the
maintenance work for each maintenance term. The department may
require separate pricing for the maintenance work to be performed
for each year of a maintenance term.
(d) The department may enter into a design-build contract
for a highway project with a construction cost estimate of $250
[$50] million or more to the department.
(d-1) The department may not enter into more than three
contracts under this section in each fiscal year. [This subsection
expires August 31, 2015.]
(f) The department shall not use the design-build method for
the construction, expansion, extension, rehabilitation,
alteration, or repair of a highway project if the project is
substantially designed by the department or another entity other
than the design-build contractor.
(g) The department shall not include more than one highway
project in a design-build contract.
SECTION 3. (a) Section 223.242(b-1), Transportation Code,
as added by this Act, applies only to a contract entered into on or
after the effective date of this Act. A contract entered into
before that date is governed by the law as it existed on the date the
contract was entered into, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
(b) Sections 223.242(f) and (g), Transportation Code, as
added by this Act, apply only to a highway project for which a
request for qualifications is issued on or after the effective date
of this Act. A highway project for which a request for
qualifications is issued before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the request for
qualifications was issued, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
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 on the 91st day after the last day of the
legislative session.
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