Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB911 Compare Versions

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Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R30934 JAM-D
2	2	By: Zaffirini, et al. S.B. No. 911
3	3	(Morrison)
4	4	Substitute the following for S.B. No. 911: No.
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the eligibility for grants for natural gas fueling
10	10	stations.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Chapter 393, Health and Safety Code, is amended
13	13	by adding Section 393.0015 to read as follows:
14	14	Sec. 393.0015. INCLUSION OF SAN ANTONIO-CORPUS
15	15	CHRISTI-LAREDO IN CLEAN TRANSPORTATION TRIANGLE. For the purposes
16	16	of this chapter, a reference to the clean transportation triangle
17	17	includes counties containing or intersected by a portion of:
18	18	(1) an interstate highway connecting San Antonio to
19	19	Corpus Christi or Laredo; or
20	20	(2) a state highway connecting Corpus Christi and
21	21	Laredo.
22	22	SECTION 2. Section 393.004, Health and Safety Code, is
23	23	amended by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
24	24	(f) In addition to other preferences under this section, for
25	25	fueling facilities to provide natural gas, the commission shall
26	26	give preference to facilities located in the triangular area in and
27	27	between the Corpus Christi, Laredo, and San Antonio areas.
28	28	SECTION 3. Section 394.005(c), Health and Safety Code, is
29	29	amended to read as follows:
30	30	(c) As a condition of receiving a grant, the qualifying
31	31	vehicle must be continuously owned, leased, or otherwise
32	32	commercially financed and registered and operated in the state by
33	33	the grant recipient until the earlier of the fourth anniversary of
34	34	the date of reimbursement of the grant-funded expenses or until the
35	35	date the vehicle has been in operation for 400,000 miles after the
36	36	date of reimbursement. Not less than 75 percent of the annual use
37	37	of the qualifying vehicle, either mileage or fuel use as determined
38	38	by the commission, must occur in:
39	39	(1) the counties any part of which are included in the
40	40	areas [area] described by Section 394.010(a-1) [394.010(a)]; or
41	41	(2) counties designated as nonattainment areas within
42	42	the meaning of Section 107(d) of the federal Clean Air Act (42
43	43	U.S.C. Section 7407).
44	44	SECTION 4. The heading to Section 394.010, Health and
45	45	Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
46	46	Sec. 394.010. CLEAN TRANSPORTATION TRIANGLES [TRIANGLE].
47	47	SECTION 5. Section 394.010, Health and Safety Code, is
48	48	amended by amending Subsections (a) and (d) and adding Subsections
49	49	(a-1) and (a-2) to read as follows:
50	50	(a) In this section:
51	51	(1) "Affected county" has the meaning assigned by
52	52	Section 386.001.
53	53	(2) "State highway" means a highway in this state
54	54	included in the plan providing for a system of state highways
55	55	prepared by the executive director of the Texas Department of
56	56	Transportation under Section 201.103, Transportation Code.
57	57	(a-1) To ensure that natural gas vehicles purchased,
58	58	leased, or otherwise commercially financed or repowered under the
59	59	program have access to fuel, and to build the foundation for a
60	60	self-sustaining market for natural gas vehicles in Texas, the
61	61	commission shall award grants to support the development of a
62	62	network of natural gas vehicle fueling stations:
63	63	(1) along the interstate highways connecting Houston,
64	64	San Antonio, Dallas, and Fort Worth;
65	65	(2) along the interstate highways connecting San
66	66	Antonio to Corpus Christi and Laredo and the state highways
67	67	connecting Corpus Christi and Laredo;[,] and
68	68	(3) in nonattainment areas and affected counties of
69	69	the state.
70	70	(a-2) In awarding the grants, the commission shall provide
71	71	for:
72	72	(1) strategically placed natural gas vehicle fueling
73	73	stations:
74	74	(A) in and between the Houston, San Antonio, and
75	75	Dallas-Fort Worth areas to enable a natural gas vehicle to travel in
76	76	that triangular area relying solely on natural gas fuel;
77	77	(B) in and between the Corpus Christi, Laredo,
78	78	and San Antonio areas to enable a natural gas vehicle to travel in
79	79	that triangular area relying solely on natural gas fuel;[,] and
80	80	(C) in nonattainment areas and affected counties
81	81	of the state, to enable a natural gas vehicle to travel in those
82	82	areas relying solely on natural gas fuel;
83	83	(2) the grants to be dispersed through a competitive
84	84	bidding process to offset a portion of the cost of installation of
85	85	the natural gas dispensing equipment;
86	86	(3) contracts that require the recipient stations to
87	87	meet operational, maintenance, and reporting requirements as
88	88	specified by the commission; and
89	89	(4) a listing, to be maintained by the commission and
90	90	made available to the public online, of all natural gas vehicle
91	91	fueling stations that have received grant funding, including
92	92	location and hours of operation.
93	93	(d) Stations funded by grants under this section must be
94	94	publicly accessible. In awarding grants for stations under this
95	95	section, the [The] commission shall give preference to:
96	96	(1) stations providing both liquefied natural gas and
97	97	compressed natural gas at a single location;
98	98	(2) stations located not more than one mile from an
99	99	interstate highway [system]; and
100	100	(3) stations located in the triangular areas described
101	101	by Subsections (a-2)(1)(A) and (B) [area between the Houston, San
102	102	Antonio, and Dallas-Fort Worth areas].
103	103	SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
104	104	a Texas emissions reduction plan grant awarded on or after the
105	105	effective date of this Act. A grant awarded before the effective
106	106	date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
107	107	award was made, and the former law is continued in effect for that
108	108	purpose.
109	109	SECTION 7. Sections 1 and 2 of this Act take effect
110	110	September 1, 2015, but only if H.B. 14, or similar legislation of
111	111	the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, that transfers
112	112	provisions governing grants for natural gas vehicle fueling
113	113	facilities along interstate highways connecting Houston, San
114	114	Antonio, Dallas, and Fort Worth and in nonattainment areas from the
115	115	Texas natural gas vehicle grant program under Chapter 394, Health
116	116	and Safety Code, to the Texas alternative fueling facility program
117	117	under Chapter 393, Health and Safety Code, becomes law. If such a
118	118	bill does not become law, those sections have no effect.
119	119	SECTION 8. Sections 3, 4, and 5, of this Act take effect
120	120	September 1, 2015, but only if H.B. 14, or similar legislation of
121	121	the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, that transfers
122	122	provisions governing grants for natural gas vehicle fueling
123	123	facilities along interstate highways connecting Houston, San
124	124	Antonio, Dallas, and Fort Worth and in nonattainment areas from the
125	125	Texas natural gas vehicle grant program under Chapter 394, Health
126	126	and Safety Code, to the Texas alternative fueling facility program
127	127	under Chapter 393, Health and Safety Code, does not become law. If
128	128	such a bill becomes law, those sections have no effect.