Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2389 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R10424 SCR-F
2	2	By: Eckhardt S.B. No. 2389
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to entities authorized to provide water or sewer service.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Sections 572.052(c) and (d), Local Government
12	12	Code, are amended to read as follows:
13	13	(c) A public utility agency is a:
14	14	(1) separate agency;
15	15	(2) political subdivision of this state; [and]
16	16	(3) political entity and corporate body; and
17	17	(4) retail public utility for the purposes of Chapter
18	18	13, Water Code.
19	19	(d) A public utility agency may not impose a tax but has all
20	20	the other powers and obligations that are related to facilities and
21	21	that are provided by law to a municipality that owns a facility,
22	22	except as provided by Section 572.061.
23	23	SECTION 2. Chapter 572, Local Government Code, is amended
24	24	by adding Subchapter D to read as follows:
25	25	SUBCHAPTER D. RECEIVERSHIP AND TEMPORARY MANAGEMENT
26	26	Sec. 572.101. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
27	27	(1) "Commission" means the Texas Commission on
28	28	Environmental Quality.
29	29	(2) "Utility" and "water supply or sewer service
30	30	corporation" have the meanings assigned by Section 13.002, Water
31	31	Code.
32	32	(3) "Utility commission" means the Public Utility
33	33	Commission of Texas.
34	34	Sec. 572.102. APPLICABILITY. (a) This subchapter applies
35	35	only to a utility or water supply or sewer service corporation
36	36	providing water or sewer service in the territory of a public
37	37	utility agency.
38	38	(b) For purposes of this subchapter, a reference in Chapter
39	39	13, Water Code, to a person includes a public utility agency.
40	40	Sec. 572.103. RECEIVERSHIP. (a) At the request of the
41	41	utility commission or the commission, the attorney general shall
42	42	bring suit for the appointment of a receiver that is a public
43	43	utility agency in the manner provided by Section 13.412, Water
44	44	Code, to collect the assets and carry on the business of a utility
45	45	or water supply or sewer service corporation that:
46	46	(1) has abandoned operation of its facilities;
47	47	(2) informs the utility commission or the commission
48	48	that the owner is abandoning the system;
49	49	(3) violates a final order of the utility commission
50	50	or the commission;
51	51	(4) allows any property owned or controlled by it to be
52	52	used in violation of a final order of the utility commission or the
53	53	commission;
54	54	(5) violates a final judgment issued by a district
55	55	court in a suit brought by the attorney general under:
56	56	(A) Chapter 7 or 13, Water Code; or
57	57	(B) Chapter 341, Health and Safety Code;
58	58	(6) is subject to an administrative penalty for a
59	59	violation of Subchapter M, Chapter 13, Water Code, or a rule adopted
60	60	by the utility commission under that subchapter; or
61	61	(7) violates a final judgment issued by a court in a
62	62	proceeding to enforce a provision of a permit issued by a
63	63	groundwater conservation district under Chapter 36.
64	64	(b) To facilitate the regionalization of water and sewer
65	65	service, the utility commission shall prioritize an application
66	66	submitted under Section 13.412(g), Water Code, by a public utility
67	67	agency. The utility commission shall issue an order approving the
68	68	acquisition proposed in the application not later than the 120th
69	69	day after the date the utility commission determines the
70	70	application is complete.
71	71	Sec. 572.104. TEMPORARY MANAGEMENT. The utility commission
72	72	or the commission, after providing to the utility or water supply or
73	73	sewer service corporation notice and an opportunity to be heard by
74	74	the commissioners at a utility commission or commission meeting,
75	75	may authorize a public utility agency to temporarily manage and
76	76	operate a utility or water supply or sewer service corporation in
77	77	the manner provided by Section 13.4132, Water Code, if the utility
78	78	or corporation:
79	79	(1) has discontinued or abandoned operations or the
80	80	provision of services;
81	81	(2) has been or is being referred to the attorney
82	82	general for the appointment of a receiver under Section 572.103; or
83	83	(3) provides retail water or sewer utility service
84	84	through fewer than 10,000 taps or connections and violates a final
85	85	order of the commission by failing to:
86	86	(A) provide system capacity that is greater than
87	87	the required raw water or groundwater production rate or the
88	88	anticipated daily demand of the system;
89	89	(B) provide a minimum pressure of 35 pounds per
90	90	square inch throughout the distribution system under normal
91	91	operating conditions; or
92	92	(C) maintain accurate or properly calibrated
93	93	testing equipment or other means of monitoring the effectiveness of
94	94	a chemical treatment or pathogen inactivation or removal process.
95	95	SECTION 3. Section 13.002, Water Code, is amended by adding
96	96	Subdivision (16-a) and amending Subdivisions (19) and (23) to read
97	97	as follows:
98	98	(16-a) "Public utility agency" means a public utility
99	99	agency created under Chapter 572, Local Government Code.
100	100	(19) "Retail public utility" means any person,
101	101	corporation, public utility, water supply or sewer service
102	102	corporation, municipality, public utility agency, political
103	103	subdivision or agency operating, maintaining, or controlling in
104	104	this state facilities for providing potable water service or sewer
105	105	service, or both, for compensation.
106	106	(23) "Water and sewer utility," "public utility," or
107	107	"utility" means any person, corporation, cooperative corporation,
108	108	affected county, or any combination of these persons or entities,
109	109	other than a municipal corporation, public utility agency, water
110	110	supply or sewer service corporation, or [a] political subdivision
111	111	of the state, except an affected county, or their lessees,
112	112	trustees, and receivers, owning or operating for compensation in
113	113	this state equipment or facilities for the transmission, storage,
114	114	distribution, sale, or provision of potable water to the public or
115	115	for the resale of potable water to the public for any use or for the
116	116	collection, transportation, treatment, or disposal of sewage or
117	117	other operation of a sewage disposal service for the public, other
118	118	than equipment or facilities owned and operated for either purpose
119	119	by a municipality or other political subdivision of this state or a
120	120	water supply or sewer service corporation, but does not include any
121	121	person or corporation not otherwise a public utility that furnishes
122	122	the services or commodity only to itself or its employees or tenants
123	123	as an incident of that employee service or tenancy when that service
124	124	or commodity is not resold to or used by others.
125	125	SECTION 4. Section 13.004(a), Water Code, is amended to
126	126	read as follows:
127	127	(a) Notwithstanding any other law, the utility commission
128	128	has the same jurisdiction over a water supply or sewer service
129	129	corporation that the utility commission has under this chapter over
130	130	a water and sewer utility if the utility commission finds that the
131	131	water supply or sewer service corporation:
132	132	(1) is failing to conduct annual or special meetings
133	133	in compliance with Section 67.007; [or]
134	134	(2) is operating in a manner that does not comply with
135	135	the requirements for classifications as a nonprofit water supply or
136	136	sewer service corporation prescribed by Sections 13.002(11) and
137	137	(24); or
138	138	(3) is operating in a manner that necessitates
139	139	appointment of a receiver or temporary manager for the water supply
140	140	or sewer service corporation in the manner provided by Subchapter
141	141	K.
142	142	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.