By: Metcalf H.B. No. 4254
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the procedure for amending or revoking certificates of
public convenience and necessity issued to certain water utilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 13.254, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 13.254. DECERTIFICATION INITIATED BY COMMISSION OR
UTILITY; EXPEDITED RELEASE INITIATED BY LANDOWNER [REVOCATION OR
AMENDMENT OF CERTIFICATE].
SECTION 2. Sections 13.254(a-2) and (d), Water Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a-2) A landowner is not entitled to file a petition under
[make the election described in] Subsection (a-1) or Section
13.2541 [(a-5)] but is entitled to contest under Subsection (a) the
involuntary certification of the landowner's [its] property in a
hearing held by the utility commission if the landowner's property
is located:
(1) in [within] the boundaries of any municipality or
the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality with a
population of more than 500,000 and the municipality or retail
public utility owned by the municipality is the holder of the
certificate; or
(2) in a platted subdivision actually receiving water
or sewer service.
(d) A retail public utility may not in any way render retail
water or sewer service directly or indirectly to the public in an
area that has been decertified under this section unless just and
adequate compensation required under Subsection (g) has been paid
[without providing compensation for any property that the utility
commission determines is rendered useless or valueless] to the
decertified retail public utility [as a result of the
decertification].
SECTION 3. Subchapter G, Chapter 13, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 13.2541 to read as follows:
Sec. 13.2541. STREAMLINED EXPEDITED RELEASE INITIATED BY
LANDOWNER. (a) Sections 13.254(a-7), (c), (d), and (h) apply to a
proceeding under this section.
SECTION 4. Sections 13.254(a-5) and (a-6), Water Code, are
transferred to Section 13.2541, Water Code, as added by this Act,
redesignated as Sections 13.2541(b), (c), (d), (e), and (f), Water
Code, and amended to read as follows:
(b) [(a-5)] As an alternative to decertification or [under
Subsection (a) and] expedited release under Section 13.254
[Subsection (a-1)], the owner of a tract of land that is at least 25
acres and that is not receiving water or sewer service may petition
for expedited release of the area from a certificate of public
convenience and necessity in the manner provided by this section
and is entitled to that release if the landowner's property is
located in a county with a population of at least one million, a
county adjacent to a county with a population of at least one
million, or a county with a population of more than 200,000 and less
than 220,000 that does not contain a public or private university
that had a total enrollment in the most recent fall semester of
40,000 or more, and not in a county that has a population of more
than 45,500 and less than 47,500.
(c) [(a-6)] The utility commission shall grant the [a]
petition [received under Subsection (a-5)] not later than the 60th
day after the date the landowner files the petition.
(d) The utility commission may not deny a petition [] based
on the fact that a certificate holder is a borrower under a federal
loan program.
(e) A certificate holder that is the subject of a petition
under this section may not borrow money under a federal loan program
after the date the petition is filed until the utility commission
issues a decision on the petition. A landowner that submits a
petition under this section may pay or defease federal loans for a
certificate holder that is a borrower under a federal loan program.
The utility commission may issue an order to require the
certificate holder to accept a loan payment or defeasance under
this subsection.
(f) The utility commission may require an award of
compensation by the petitioner to the certificate holder in the
manner provided by Sections 13.254(f), (g), and (g-1) [a
decertified retail public utility that is the subject of a petition
filed under Subsection (a-5) as otherwise provided by this
section]. The utility commission shall ensure that:
(1) the monetary amount of compensation is determined
not later than the 90th calendar day after the date the utility
commission approves the petition; and
(2) the landowner pays the compensation to the
certificate holder not later than the 90th calendar day after the
date the monetary amount of compensation is determined.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a proceeding affecting a certificate of public convenience and
necessity that commences on or after the effective date of this Act.
A proceeding affecting a certificate of public convenience and
necessity that commenced before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the proceeding is
commenced, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.