Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2959 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R24712 JXC-D
2	2	By: Isaac H.B. No. 2959
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2959:
4	4	By: Larson C.S.H.B. No. 2959
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the provision of wholesale water and wastewater service
10	10	to certain municipalities.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 13, Water Code, is amended
13	13	by adding Section 13.088 to read as follows:
14	14	Sec. 13.088. MUNICIPAL WHOLESALE SERVICE IN CERTAIN
15	15	COUNTIES. (a) This section applies only to:
16	16	(1) a home-rule municipality primarily located in a
17	17	county with a population of more than one million; and
18	18	(2) a general-law municipality with a population of
19	19	less than 301 located in a county with a population of more than
20	20	150,000.
21	21	(b) A municipally owned utility of a home-rule municipality
22	22	shall provide wholesale water and wastewater service to a
23	23	general-law municipality, in the corporate boundaries or the
24	24	extraterritorial jurisdiction of the general-law municipality, on
25	25	the request of the general-law municipality, at the level of
26	26	service requested by the general-law municipality, if:
27	27	(1) the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the
28	28	home-rule municipality borders the extraterritorial jurisdiction
29	29	of the general-law municipality;
30	30	(2) the general-law municipality possesses a
31	31	certificate of public convenience and necessity;
32	32	(3) a regulated aquifer is the sole water supply for
33	33	the general-law municipality at the time the request is made and
34	34	while the service is provided;
35	35	(4) a groundwater conservation district with
36	36	jurisdiction over the aquifer has determined that the aquifer has
37	37	limited capacity and experiences frequent droughts; and
38	38	(5) at least 50 percent of the territory of the
39	39	general-law municipality, including territory in the
40	40	municipality's corporate boundaries and extraterritorial
41	41	jurisdiction, is located in a recharge zone of the aquifer
42	42	described by Subdivision (3) and the groundwater conservation
43	43	district described by Subdivision (4) has determined that the
44	44	recharge zone is environmentally sensitive.
45	45	(c) A general-law municipality that makes a request and
46	46	receives wholesale water and wastewater service under this section
47	47	is responsible for:
48	48	(1) paying the general-law municipality's pro rata
49	49	share of all reasonable design, construction, and related costs and
50	50	fees associated with constructing new facilities or extending,
51	51	improving, or expanding existing facilities required for providing
52	52	the service, not including costs for oversizing the facilities
53	53	beyond the needs of the general-law municipality;
54	54	(2) all costs associated with the design and
55	55	construction of facilities required for providing the service
56	56	located in the corporate boundaries or extraterritorial
57	57	jurisdiction of the general-law municipality; and
58	58	(3) design, construction, and related activities for
59	59	facilities required for providing the service that are to be
60	60	located in the home-rule municipality's corporate boundaries or
61	61	extraterritorial jurisdiction, in accordance with the design
62	62	criteria, standards, specifications, and procedures of the
63	63	municipally owned utility.
64	64	(d) A home-rule municipality that provides wholesale water
65	65	and wastewater service through its municipally owned utility under
66	66	this section may not own, operate, or maintain facilities used to
67	67	provide the service located in the general-law municipality that
68	68	receives the service.
69	69	(e) A general-law municipality that makes a request shall
70	70	enter into a wholesale water and wastewater service agreement with
71	71	the municipally owned utility under the utility's standard terms
72	72	and conditions applicable for wholesale water and wastewater
73	73	service. The wholesale service agreement must be executed:
74	74	(1) before the initiation of preliminary engineering,
75	75	design, and construction, extensions, improvements, or expansions
76	76	of infrastructure necessary for wholesale services; and
77	77	(2) not later than the 180th day after the date the
78	78	request is submitted.
79	79	(f) After execution of the wholesale service agreement, the
80	80	home-rule municipality or the municipally owned utility may not
81	81	contest an application related to water or wastewater submitted to
82	82	the commission or the utility commission by the general-law
83	83	municipality.
84	84	(g) A municipally owned utility that receives a request
85	85	under this section:
86	86	(1) may request that the utility commission determine
87	87	whether the general-law municipality meets the requirements of
88	88	Subsection (b);
89	89	(2) may not recover through the municipally owned
90	90	utility's wholesale rates for the general-law municipality design,
91	91	construction, and related costs and fees associated with
92	92	constructing new facilities or extending, improving, or expanding
93	93	existing facilities required for the service that have been paid by
94	94	the general-law municipality and conveyed to the home-rule
95	95	municipality for ownership, operation, and maintenance; and
96	96	(3) may recover through the municipally owned
97	97	utility's wholesale rates for the general-law municipality any
98	98	costs related to the maintenance of infrastructure described in
99	99	Subdivision (2), in addition to the utility's other costs of
100	100	service as approved by the home-rule municipality.
101	101	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
102	102	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
103	103	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
104	104	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
105	105	Act takes effect September 1, 2017.