By: Rogers H.B. No. 4133
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the streamlined expedited release of certain areas from
a certificate of public convenience and necessity.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 13.2541(b), (g), and (i), Water Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) As an alternative to decertification or expedited
release under Section 13.254, the owner of a tract of land that is
at least 25 acres and that has [is] not received [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.
(g) The monetary amount of compensation, if any, shall be
determined by a qualified individual or firm serving as independent
appraiser agreed upon by the certificate holder and the petitioner.
The determination of compensation by the independent appraiser
shall be conducted in compliance with the Uniform Standards of
Professional Appraisal Practice and is binding on the utility
commission. The costs of the independent appraiser shall be borne
by the petitioner.
(i) If the petitioner and the certificate holder cannot
agree on an independent appraiser within 10 calendar days after the
date on which the utility commission approves the petition, the
petitioner and the certificate holder shall each engage its own
appraiser at its own expense, and each appraisal shall be submitted
to the utility commission within 70 calendar days after the date on
which the utility commission approves the petition. After
receiving the appraisals, the utility commission shall appoint a
third appraiser who shall make a determination of the compensation
within 100 days after the date on which the utility commission
approves the petition. The determination may not be less than the
lower appraisal or more than the higher appraisal. The petitioner
and the certificate holder shall each pay half the cost of the third
appraisal. An appraisal under this subsection must be conducted in
compliance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal
Practice.
SECTION 2. 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 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.