86R25694 GRM-F
By: Paddie, Dean H.B. No. 4150
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 4150:
By: Raymond C.S.H.B. No. 4150
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to safety and inspection requirements for certain
utilities that provide electricity.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 38.004, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 38.004. MINIMUM CLEARANCE STANDARD. (a)
Notwithstanding any other law, a transmission or distribution line
owned by an electric utility or an electric cooperative must be
constructed, operated, and maintained, as to clearances, in the
manner described by the National Electrical Safety Code Standard
ANSI (c)(2), as adopted by the American National Safety Institute
and in effect at the time of construction.
(b) An electric utility, municipally owned utility, or
electric cooperative shall meet the minimum clearance requirements
specified in Rule 232 of the National Electrical Safety Code
Standard ANSI (c)(2) in the construction of any transmission or
distribution line over the following lakes:
(1) Abilene;
(2) Alan Henry;
(3) Alvarado Park;
(4) Amistad;
(5) Amon G. Carter;
(6) Aquilla;
(7) Arlington;
(8) Arrowhead;
(9) Athens;
(10) Austin;
(11) Averhoff;
(12) B. A. Steinhagen;
(13) Bachman;
(14) Balmorhea;
(15) Bardwell;
(16) Bastrop;
(17) Baylor Creek;
(18) Belton;
(19) Benbrook;
(20) Big Creek;
(21) Bob Sandlin;
(22) Bonham;
(23) Bonham State Park;
(24) Brady Creek;
(25) Brandy Branch;
(26) Braunig;
(27) Brazos;
(28) Bridgeport;
(29) Brownwood;
(30) Bryan;
(31) Bryson;
(32) Buchanan;
(33) Buffalo Creek;
(34) Buffalo Springs;
(35) Caddo;
(36) Calaveras;
(37) Canyon;
(38) Casa Blanca;
(39) Cedar Creek;
(40) Champion Creek;
(41) Choke Canyon;
(42) Cisco;
(43) Cleburne State Park;
(44) Clyde;
(45) Coffee Mill;
(46) Coleman;
(47) Coleto Creek;
(48) Colorado City;
(49) Conroe;
(50) Cooper;
(51) Corpus Christi;
(52) Crook;
(53) Cypress Springs;
(54) Daniel;
(55) Davy Crockett;
(56) Diversion;
(57) Dunlap;
(58) Eagle Mountain;
(59) E. V. Spence;
(60) Fairfield;
(61) Falcon;
(62) Fayette County;
(63) Findley;
(64) Fork;
(65) Fort Parker State Park;
(66) Fort Phantom Hill;
(67) Fryer;
(68) Georgetown;
(69) Gibbons Creek;
(70) Gilmer;
(71) Gladewater;
(72) Gonzales;
(73) Graham;
(74) Granbury;
(75) Granger;
(76) Grapevine;
(77) Greenbelt;
(78) Halbert;
(79) Hawkins;
(80) Holbrook;
(81) Hords Creek;
(82) Houston;
(83) Houston County;
(84) Hubbard Creek;
(85) Inks;
(86) Jacksboro;
(87) Jacksonville;
(88) J. B. Thomas;
(89) Joe Pool;
(90) Kemp;
(91) Kickapoo;
(92) Kirby;
(93) Kurth;
(94) Lady Bird;
(95) Lake O' The Pines;
(96) Lavon;
(97) Leon;
(98) Lewisville;
(99) Limestone;
(100) Livingston;
(101) Lone Star;
(102) Lost Creek;
(103) Lyndon B. Johnson;
(104) Mackenzie;
(105) Marble Falls;
(106) Marine Creek;
(107) Martin Creek;
(108) McClellan;
(109) Medina;
(110) Meredith;
(111) Meridian State Park;
(112) Mexia;
(113) Mill Creek;
(114) Millers Creek;
(115) Mineral Wells;
(116) Monticello;
(117) Moss;
(118) Mountain Creek;
(119) Muenster;
(120) Murvaul;
(121) Nacogdoches;
(122) Naconiche;
(123) Nasworthy;
(124) Navarro Mills;
(125) New Ballinger;
(126) Nocona;
(127) Oak Creek;
(128) O. C. Fisher;
(129) O. H. Ivie;
(130) Palestine;
(131) Palo Duro;
(132) Palo Pinto;
(133) Pat Cleburne;
(134) Pat Mayse;
(135) Pinkston;
(136) Placid;
(137) Possum Kingdom;
(138) Proctor;
(139) Purtis Creek;
(140) Quitman;
(141) Raven;
(142) Ray Hubbard;
(143) Ray Roberts;
(144) Red Bluff;
(145) Richland-Chambers;
(146) Sam Rayburn;
(147) Sheldon;
(148) Somerville;
(149) Squaw Creek;
(150) Stamford;
(151) Stillhouse Hollow;
(152) Striker;
(153) Sulphur Springs;
(154) Sweetwater;
(155) Tawakoni;
(156) Texana;
(157) Texoma;
(158) Timpson;
(159) Toledo Bend;
(160) Tradinghouse Creek;
(161) Travis;
(162) Twin Buttes;
(163) Tyler;
(164) Waco;
(165) Walter E. Long;
(166) Waxahachie;
(167) Weatherford;
(168) Welsh;
(169) Wheeler Branch;
(170) White River;
(171) White Rock;
(172) Whitney;
(173) Wichita;
(174) Winnsboro;
(175) Winters-Elm Creek;
(176) Wood;
(177) Worth; and
(178) Wright Patman.
SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 38, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 38.102 to read as follows:
Sec. 38.102. REPORTS ON SAFETY PROCESSES AND INSPECTION.
(a) Each electric utility, municipally owned utility, and electric
cooperative that owns or operates transmission or distribution
assets shall submit to the commission a report that includes:
(1) a summary description of hazard recognition
training programs provided by the utility or electric cooperative
to its employees and contractors related to transmission and
distribution facilities; and
(2) a summary description of training programs
provided to employees and contractors by the utility or electric
cooperative related to the National Electrical Safety Code and
United States Army Corps of Engineers regulations and design
requirements for the construction of electric transmission and
distribution lines.
(b) An electric utility, municipally owned utility, or
electric cooperative shall submit an updated report not later than
the 30th day after the date the utility or electric cooperative
finalizes a change to a program included in a report submitted under
Subsection (a).
(c) Not later than May 1 of each year, each electric utility
that owns or operates overhead transmission or distribution
facilities greater than one kilovolt shall submit to the commission
a report on the facilities for the preceding calendar year that
includes:
(1) identified occurrences of noncompliance with
inspection criteria defined by commission rule, the date of
discovery of the noncompliance, and the remedy or mitigation plan
implemented by the utility; and
(2) identified occurrences of noncompliance with any
agreement with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, including
an easement agreement, relating to the vertical clearance of a
facility.
(d) Not later than May 1 of each year, each municipally
owned utility or electric cooperative that owns or operates
transmission or distribution assets shall submit to the commission
a report for the preceding 12-month period ending on March 31 that
includes:
(1) the percentage of the transmission or distribution
system or assets inspected for compliance with the National
Electrical Safety Code in the reporting period; and
(2) the percentage of the transmission or distribution
system or assets anticipated to be inspected for compliance with
the National Electrical Safety Code during the year in which the
report is submitted.
(e) Not later than May 1 every five years, each electric
utility that owns or operates overhead transmission facilities
shall submit to the commission a report for the preceding five-year
period ending on March 31 that includes:
(1) the percentage of overhead transmission
facilities inspected for compliance with the National Electrical
Safety Code in the reporting period; and
(2) the percentage of the overhead transmission
facilities anticipated to be inspected for compliance with the
National Electrical Safety Code during the five-year period
beginning on March 31 of the year in which the report is submitted.
(f) Subject to Subsection (g), not later than May 1 of each
year, each electric utility, municipally owned utility, or electric
cooperative that owns or operates transmission or distribution
assets shall submit to the commission a report for the preceding
12-month period ending on March 31 that includes:
(1) the number of incidents reported by employees or
the public regarding transmission and distribution assets that are
not in compliance as of March 31 with the National Electrical Safety
Code;
(2) a statement of whether the utility or electric
cooperative was aware on March 31 of the reporting period that any
portion of the utility's or electric cooperative's transmission or
distribution system was not in compliance with the National
Electrical Safety Code;
(3) a statement of whether the utility or electric
cooperative was aware on March 31 of the reporting period of any
violations of easement agreements on the basis of power line height
requirements under Section 38.004, including easement agreements
with the United States Army Corps of Engineers;
(4) the number of fatalities or injuries of
individuals other than employees resulting from transmission or
distribution assets; and
(5) a description of corrective actions taken or
planned to prevent the reoccurrence of fatalities or injuries
described by Subdivision (4).
(g) Incidents, violations, fatalities, or injuries
attributable to a natural disaster or weather event are not
required to be included in the portions of the report required under
Subsections (f)(1) through (4).
(h) Not later than September 1, each year the commission
shall make the reports publicly available on the commission's
Internet website.
(i) Reports made on incidents or violations under this
section are not admissible in a civil action. The commission may
otherwise take enforcement actions under the commission's
authority.
SECTION 3. Any electric utility, municipally owned utility,
or electric cooperative that owns a transmission or distribution
line over a lake listed in Section 38.004(b), Utilities Code, as
added by this Act, that is not in compliance on the effective date
of this Act with the clearance standards of Rule 232 of the National
Electrical Safety Code Standard ANSI (c)(2) in effect at the time
the line was constructed shall bring the line into compliance not
later than December 31, 2021. Any line over a lake listed in
Section 38.004(b), Utilities Code, as added by this Act, that must
be rebuilt to comply with this section must be constructed in
accordance with the clearance standards of Rule 232 of the National
Electrical Safety Code Standard ANSI (c)(2) in effect on the
effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. An electric utility, a municipally owned
utility, or an electric cooperative required to submit a report
under Section 38.102, Utilities Code, as added by this Act, is not
required to submit the report until May 1, 2020.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.