1-1  By:  Puente (Senate Sponsor - Madla)                   H.B. No. 832
    1-2        (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 1993;
    1-3  April 27, 1993, read first time and referred to Committee on
    1-4  Intergovernmental Relations; May 5, 1993, reported favorably by the
    1-5  following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 5, 1993, sent to printer.)
    1-6                            COMMITTEE VOTE
    1-7                          Yea     Nay      PNV      Absent 
    1-8        Armbrister                                    x    
    1-9        Leedom                                        x    
   1-10        Carriker                                      x    
   1-11        Henderson          x                               
   1-12        Madla              x                               
   1-13        Moncrief           x                               
   1-14        Patterson          x                               
   1-15        Rosson             x                               
   1-16        Shapiro            x                               
   1-17        Wentworth          x                               
   1-18        Whitmire           x                               
   1-19                         A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
   1-20                                AN ACT
   1-21  relating to the civil penalty a municipality may recover for a
   1-22  violation of certain water control ordinances.
   1-23        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
   1-24        SECTION 1.  Section 54.012, Local Government Code, is amended
   1-25  to read as follows:
   1-26        Sec. 54.012.  Civil Action.  A municipality may bring a civil
   1-27  action for the enforcement of an ordinance:
   1-28              (1)  for the preservation of public safety, relating to
   1-29  the materials or methods used to construct a building or other
   1-30  structure or improvement, including the foundation, structural
   1-31  elements, electrical wiring or apparatus, plumbing and fixtures,
   1-32  entrances, or exits;
   1-33              (2)  relating to the preservation of public health or
   1-34  to the fire safety of a building or other structure or improvement,
   1-35  including provisions relating to materials, types of construction
   1-36  or design, interior configuration, illumination, warning devices,
   1-37  sprinklers or other fire suppression devices, availability of water
   1-38  supply for extinguishing fires, or location, design, or width of
   1-39  entrances or exits;
   1-40              (3)  for zoning that provides for the use of land or
   1-41  classifies a parcel of land according to the municipality's
   1-42  district classification scheme;
   1-43              (4)  establishing criteria for land subdivision or
   1-44  construction of buildings, including provisions relating to street
   1-45  width and design, lot size, building width or elevation, setback
   1-46  requirements, or utility service specifications or requirements;
   1-47              (5)  implementing civil penalties under this subchapter
   1-48  for conduct classified by statute as a Class C misdemeanor;
   1-49              (6)  relating to dangerously damaged or deteriorated
   1-50  structures or improvements;
   1-51              (7)  relating to conditions caused by accumulations of
   1-52  refuse, vegetation, or other matter that creates breeding and
   1-53  living places for insects and rodents; <or>
   1-54              (8)  relating to the interior configuration, design,
   1-55  illumination, or visibility of business premises exhibiting for
   1-56  viewing by customers while on the premises live or mechanically or
   1-57  electronically displayed entertainment intended to provide sexual
   1-58  stimulation or sexual gratification; or
   1-59              (9)  relating to point source effluent limitations or
   1-60  the discharge of a pollutant, other than from a non-point source,
   1-61  into a sewer system, including a sanitary or storm water sewer
   1-62  system, owned or controlled by the municipality.
   1-63        SECTION 2.  Section 54.017(b), Local Government Code, is
   1-64  amended to read as follows:
   1-65        (b)  A civil penalty under this section may not exceed $1,000
   1-66  a day for a violation of an ordinance, except that a civil penalty
   1-67  under this section may not exceed $5,000 a day for a violation of
   1-68  an ordinance relating to point source effluent limitations or the
    2-1  discharge of a pollutant, other than from a non-point source, into
    2-2  a sewer system, including a sanitary or storm water sewer system,
    2-3  owned or controlled by the municipality.
    2-4        SECTION 3.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
    2-5  only to a violation committed on or after the effective date of
    2-6  this Act.  For purposes of this section, a violation is committed
    2-7  on or after the effective date of this Act only if each element of
    2-8  the violation occurs on or after that date.
    2-9        (b)  A violation committed before the effective date of this
   2-10  Act is covered by the law in effect when the violation was
   2-11  committed, and the former law is continued in effect for this
   2-12  purpose.
   2-13        SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
   2-14        SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-15  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-16  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-17  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-18  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
   2-19                               * * * * *
   2-20                                                         Austin,
   2-21  Texas
   2-22                                                         May 5, 1993
   2-23  Hon. Bob Bullock
   2-24  President of the Senate
   2-25  Sir:
   2-26  We, your Committee on Intergovernmental Relations to which was
   2-27  referred H.B. No. 832, have had the same under consideration, and I
   2-28  am instructed to report it back to the Senate with the
   2-29  recommendation that it do pass and be printed.
   2-30                                                         Armbrister,
   2-31  Chairman
   2-32                               * * * * *
   2-33                               WITNESSES
   2-34                                                  FOR   AGAINST  ON
   2-35  ___________________________________________________________________
   2-36  Name:  Minerva R. Flores                         x
   2-37  Representing:  San Antonio/S.A. Water System
   2-38  City:  San Antonio
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   2-40  Name:  Robert Martinez                           x
   2-41  Representing:  Self
   2-42  City:  San Antonio
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   2-44  Name:  David Earl                                x
   2-45  Representing:  San Antonio/S.A. Water System
   2-46  City:  San Antonio
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