By: Swanson H.B. No. 2496
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to notice provided by a public water system regarding a
water outage in an area served by a provider of fire protection
services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 341, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 341.03561 to read as follows:
Sec. 341.03561. NOTIFICATION OF WATER OUTAGE TO PROVIDER OF
FIRE SUPPRESSION SERVICES. (a) In this section:
(1) "Fire department" has the meaning assigned by
Section 795.001.
(2) "Hydrant" has the meaning assigned by Section
341.03571.
(3) "Regulatory authority" has the meaning assigned by
Section 13.002, Water Code.
(4) "Public safety answering point" has the meaning
assigned by Section 772.001.
(b) The regulatory authority for a public water system
responsible for a hydrant shall by rule or ordinance require the
public water system to provide to each fire department that
provides fire suppression services in the area in which the hydrant
is located notice of an unplanned water service interruption that
results in the hydrant being temporarily unavailable for use in a
fire emergency as soon as possible, but no later than:
(1) one hour from the first notification that a
hydrant is unavailable for use when the outage impacts multiple
hydrants; or
(2) three hours from the first notification that a
hydrant is unavailable for use when the outage impacts a singular
hydrant.
(c) The regulatory authority for a public water system
responsible for a hydrant shall by rule or ordinance require the
public water system to provide to each fire department that
provides fire suppression services in the area in which the hydrant
is located notice of a planned water service interruption that
results in the hydrant being temporarily unavailable for use in a
fire emergency prior to a disruption of service.
(d) The regulatory authority for a public water system
responsible for a hydrant shall by rule or ordinance require the
public water system to provide to each fire department that
provides fire suppression services in the area impacted by a water
service interruption under Subsections (b) or (c) notice of a
resumption of service within two hours.
(e) For the purposes of this section, a hydrant is
unavailable for use in a fire emergency if it is unavailable for
pumping directly from the hydrant or is unavailable for use in
filling a water tank on a fire truck used for fire suppression
services.
(f) The regulatory authority may approve the use of a
dynamic information database described by Section 418.192,
Government Code, to satisfy the requirements of Subsections (b),
(c), and (d).
(g) The regulatory authority may instead provide notice to a
public safety answering point that relays information to a fire
department that provides fire suppression services in the area in
which an affected hydrant is located, to satisfy the requirements
of Subsections (b), (c), and (d).
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2023.