| 1 | 1 | | 87R11877 JAM-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Rodriguez H.B. No. 3020 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to increasing the administrative penalty for a violation |
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| 8 | 8 | | of certain reliability standards concerning electric utilities. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 15.023, Utilities Code, is amended by |
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| 11 | 11 | | amending Subsections (b), (c), and (d) and adding Subsections (b-1) |
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| 12 | 12 | | and (b-2) to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (b) Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), the [The] |
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| 14 | 14 | | penalty for a violation may be in an amount not to exceed $25,000. |
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| 15 | 15 | | Each day a violation continues or occurs is a separate violation for |
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| 16 | 16 | | purposes of imposing a penalty. |
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| 17 | 17 | | (b-1) The penalty for a violation of a reliability standard |
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| 18 | 18 | | adopted by the independent organization certified under Section |
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| 19 | 19 | | 39.151 or of a commission rule relating to reliability in the |
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| 20 | 20 | | wholesale electric market may be in an amount not to exceed |
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| 21 | 21 | | $100,000. Each day a violation continues or occurs is a separate |
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| 22 | 22 | | violation for purposes of imposing a penalty. |
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| 23 | 23 | | (b-2) If a person pays a penalty to a federal authority for a |
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| 24 | 24 | | violation of a reliability standard that is the same or |
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| 25 | 25 | | substantially the same as a reliability standard adopted by the |
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| 26 | 26 | | independent organization certified under Section 39.151: |
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| 27 | 27 | | (1) the commission may not assess an administrative |
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| 28 | 28 | | penalty for the same instance or circumstance for which the person |
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| 29 | 29 | | paid the federal penalty; and |
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| 30 | 30 | | (2) the commission shall refund the full amount of an |
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| 31 | 31 | | administrative penalty that the commission assessed against the |
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| 32 | 32 | | person before the date the person paid the federal penalty, if the |
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| 33 | 33 | | commission assessed the penalty for the same instance or |
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| 34 | 34 | | circumstance for which the person paid the federal penalty. |
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| 35 | 35 | | (c) The commission by rule shall establish a classification |
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| 36 | 36 | | system for violations described by Subsection (b) and a separate |
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| 37 | 37 | | classification system for violations described by Subsection |
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| 38 | 38 | | (b-1). Each system must include [that includes] a range of |
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| 39 | 39 | | administrative penalties that may be assessed for each class of |
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| 40 | 40 | | violation, based on: |
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| 41 | 41 | | (1) the seriousness of the violation, including: |
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| 42 | 42 | | (A) the nature, circumstances, extent, and |
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| 43 | 43 | | gravity of a prohibited act; and |
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| 44 | 44 | | (B) the hazard or potential hazard created to the |
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| 45 | 45 | | health, safety, or economic welfare of the public; |
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| 46 | 46 | | (2) the economic harm to property or the environment |
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| 47 | 47 | | caused by the violation; |
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| 48 | 48 | | (3) the history of previous violations; |
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| 49 | 49 | | (4) the amount necessary to deter future violations; |
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| 50 | 50 | | (5) efforts to correct the violation; and |
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| 51 | 51 | | (6) any other matter that justice may require. |
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| 52 | 52 | | (d) The classification system established under Subsection |
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| 53 | 53 | | (c) shall provide that a penalty in an amount that exceeds $5,000 |
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| 54 | 54 | | may be assessed only if the violation is included in the highest |
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| 55 | 55 | | class of violations in the classification system. This subsection |
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| 56 | 56 | | does not apply to the classification system established under |
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| 57 | 57 | | Subsection (c) for a violation described by Subsection (b-1). |
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| 58 | 58 | | SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act to Section |
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| 59 | 59 | | 15.023, Utilities Code, apply only to a violation that occurs on or |
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| 60 | 60 | | after the effective date of this Act. For purposes of this section, |
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| 61 | 61 | | a violation occurs before the effective date of this Act if any |
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| 62 | 62 | | element of the violation occurs before that date. A violation that |
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| 63 | 63 | | occurs before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law |
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| 64 | 64 | | in effect on the date the violation occurred, and the former law is |
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| 65 | 65 | | continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 66 | 66 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |
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