By: Nichols, Creighton S.B. No. 1413
(In the Senate - Filed February 19, 2025; March 6, 2025,
read first time and referred to Committee on Water, Agriculture and
Rural Affairs; April 15, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0;
April 15, 2025, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1413 By: Hancock
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. Section 13.2541, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b), (b-1), (e), and (f) and adding
Subsections (b-2), (b-3), and (e-1) 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 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.
(b-1) This section applies only if the landowner's property
is located in:
(1) a county with a population of at least 1.2 million;
(2) [,] a county adjacent to a county with a population
of at least 1.2 million;
(3) [, or] a county with a population of more than
200,000 and less than 233,500 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; or
(4) a county adjacent to a county described by
Subdivision (2)[, and not in a county that has a population of more
than 50,500 and less than 52,000].
(b-2) This subsection applies only to a petition for a tract
of land located in a county described by Subsection (b-1)(4). The
petitioner shall provide written notice, by certified mail and
regular mail, to the certificate holder of the petitioner's intent
to petition the utility commission for expedited release of an area
from a certificate of public convenience and necessity under this
section not later than the 60th day before the date on which the
petitioner submits the petition to the utility commission. The
notice must include contact information for the property owner
whose tract or tracts are the subject of the petition. The
certificate holder may waive the notice required by this
subsection.
(b-3) [(b-1)] On the day a petitioner submits a petition to
the utility commission under this section, the petitioner shall
send, via certified mail, a copy of the petition to the certificate
holder, who may submit information to the utility commission to
controvert information submitted by the petitioner.
(e) The certificate holder may not initiate an application
to borrow money under a federal loan program after the date the
notice is provided or waived under Subsection (b-2) [petition is
filed] until the utility commission issues a decision on the
petition.
(e-1) A landowner that submits a petition under this section
may agree to pay to the certificate holder that is the subject of
the petition under this section an amount equal to the amount
necessary to pay or defease a federal loan for a certificate holder
that is a borrower under a federal loan program. On request from
the petitioner, the certificate holder must provide the petitioner
with the amount necessary to pay or defease the federal loan. The
utility commission may issue an order to require the certificate
holder to accept a loan payment or defeasance under this section.
(f) If the utility commission determines that compensation
to the certificate holder is owed under this section and Section
13.254(g), the [The] utility commission shall [may] require an
award of compensation to be paid by the petitioner to the
certificate holder [in the manner provided by this section]. If the
utility commission requires an award of compensation, the utility
commission shall require the petitioner to submit a report to the
utility commission verifying for the purposes of Subsection (j)
that the compensation has been paid to the certificate holder.
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, 2025.
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