Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4382 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Zwiener H.B. No. 4382
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the issuance by the Railroad Commission of Texas of a
7	7	certificate of convenience and necessity for certain common carrier
8	8	pipelines.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter I, Chapter 111,
11	11	Natural Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
12	12	SUBCHAPTER I. CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY FOR
13	13	CERTAIN COMMON CARRIER [COAL] PIPELINES
14	14	SECTION 2. Section 111.301, Natural Resources Code, is
15	15	amended to read as follows:
16	16	Sec. 111.301. CERTIFICATE REQUIRED. A person that is a
17	17	common carrier under Sections 111.002(1)-(6), or a common carrier
18	18	of natural gas or other commodities under Section 2.105 of the
19	19	Texas Business Organizations Code,[Subsection (5), Section 111.002
20	20	of this code] must apply for and be issued a certificate of public
21	21	convenience and necessity from the commission pursuant to the
22	22	commission's authority to issue certificates under Section 111.302
23	23	[of this code] if the commission finds after a hearing that the
24	24	public convenience and necessity will be served by the construction
25	25	and operation of the pipeline.
26	26	SECTION 3. Sections 111.302(a), (c), and (d), Natural
27	27	Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
28	28	(a) The commission is further authorized, empowered, and
29	29	directed to issue certificates of public convenience and necessity
30	30	to common carrier pipelines [transporting coal in whatever form or
31	31	mixture for hire] in Texas if the commission finds that the public
32	32	convenience and necessity will be served in that existing
33	33	facilities will not be able to provide the transportation as
34	34	economically or efficiently as the proposed pipeline.
35	35	(c) The commission shall not issue a permit, certificate, or
36	36	any authority to any common carrier [applicant] whose rates and
37	37	charges are not regulated by government authority, either state or
38	38	federal, and that state or federal regulations insure to the public
39	39	[and to the ultimate electric consumer] that the contracts, rates,
40	40	and charges shall be just and reasonable, nondiscriminatory, and
41	41	offering no preference or advantage to any person, corporation,
42	42	entity, or group.
43	43	(d) The commission shall not issue a permit, certificate, or
44	44	any authority for a common carrier pipeline [to any applicant whose
45	45	pipeline transporting coal in whatever form] unless the pipeline
46	46	[transporting coal in whatever form] is to be buried at least 36
47	47	inches below the surface, except in such instances in which the
48	48	commission specifically exempts the 36-inch depth requirement and
49	49	unless the pipeline [transporting coal in whatever form] conforms
50	50	to all applicable state or federal regulations concerning the
51	51	operation, maintenance, and construction of that [same] pipeline.
52	52	SECTION 4. Sections 111.303 and 111.305, Natural Resources
53	53	Code, are amended to read as follows:
54	54	Sec. 111.303. CERTIFICATION PROCEDURE. (a) A person that
55	55	applies for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a
56	56	common carrier [The coal] pipeline under this subchapter
57	57	[applicant] shall publish, in accordance with regulations
58	58	promulgated by the commission and existing law, a notice that it has
59	59	filed the [an] application [for a certificate of public convenience
60	60	and necessity under this Act] in a newspaper of general circulation
61	61	in each county in which the project will be located. The notice
62	62	shall, among other things, specify to the extent practicable the
63	63	land which would be subject to the power of eminent domain.
64	64	(b) The commission shall then conduct public hearings in
65	65	areas of the state along the prospective pipeline right-of-way as
66	66	it shall determine shall be necessary to give all property owners
67	67	identified by the common carrier along the proposed pipeline
68	68	right-of-way an opportunity to be heard. The commission is vested
69	69	with authority and discretion to alter the right-of-way to meet
70	70	with local objections.
71	71	Sec. 111.305. OTHER AGENCIES. (a) The commission shall
72	72	seek and act on the recommendations of the Texas [Natural Resource
73	73	Conservation] Commission on Environmental Quality, the Governor's
74	74	Energy Advisory Council, or their successors responsible for
75	75	environmental determinations and shall specify the proper use and
76	76	disposal of nondischargeable water.
77	77	(b) Neither the authority conveyed to the commission by this
78	78	subchapter to issue certificates and to promulgate rules governing
79	79	common carrier pipelines [transporting coal in whatever form] nor
80	80	the powers and duties conveyed on those pipelines by this chapter
81	81	shall affect, diminish, or othe
82	82	rwise limit the jurisdiction and
83	83	authority of the Texas Water Development Board and the Texas
84	84	[Natural Resource Conservation] Commission on Environmental
85	85	Quality to regulate by applicable rules the acquisition, use,
86	86	control, disposition, and discharge of water or water rights in
87	87	Texas.
88	88	SECTION 5. Section 111.304, Natural Resources Code, is
89	89	repealed.
90	90	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.