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House Bill 2876 |
House Author: Callegari et al. |
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Effective: 9-1-05 |
Senate Sponsor: Armbrister |
House Bill 2876 amends the Water Code to make numerous changes relating to certificates of public convenience and necessity (CCN) for water and sewer service. The bill adds to the required contents of a CCN or CCN amendment application submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and requires the applicant to provide notice to certain landowners. It also adds to the factors that the TCEQ may take into account in its consideration of CCN and CCN amendment applications.
The bill provides that if a municipality extends its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) to include an area certificated by a retail public utility, that utility may continue and may extend service in its CCN area. The written consent of owners of property in the extension area is required and any extension beyond the municipality's ETJ is void without such consent.
The bill allows a municipality with a population of 500,000 or more to exercise the power of eminent domain to acquire a substandard water or sewer system if all of the system's facilities are located entirely within the municipality's boundaries. It prohibits the TCEQ, with certain exceptions, from granting a retail public utility a CCN for a service area within the boundaries or ETJ of such a municipality unless the municipality gives its consent and sets out provisions relating to landowner rights. The bill prohibits a supplier of wholesale water or sewer service from requiring a purchase to obtain a CCN if the purchaser is not otherwise required to do so and includes provisions relating to CCN decertification.