73R8040 SOS-D By Earley H.B. No. 923 Substitute the following for H.B. No. 923: By Earley C.S.H.B. No. 923 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to statewide energy policy and research. 1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-4 ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS 1-5 SECTION 1.01. DEFINITIONS. In this Act: 1-6 (1) "Committee" means the Texas Committee on Energy 1-7 Policy. 1-8 (2) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher 1-9 Education Coordinating Board. 1-10 (3) "Council" means the Texas Energy Coordination 1-11 Council. 1-12 (4) "Postsecondary educational institution" means an 1-13 institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, 1-14 Education Code, or a private or independent college or university 1-15 that is accredited by a recognized accrediting agency, as defined 1-16 by that section. 1-17 SECTION 1.02. PURPOSE. The purposes of this Act are to 1-18 develop a statewide energy policy and to coordinate the development 1-19 and marketing of all aspects of energy research at postsecondary 1-20 educational institutions and at nonprofit research organizations or 1-21 associations, from the development of basic theoretical and 1-22 experimental frameworks to the transfer of new energy technology to 1-23 the marketplace. 1-24 SECTION 1.03. ENERGY ACCOUNT. (a) The energy account is 2-1 created as a special account in the general revenue fund in the 2-2 state treasury. 2-3 (b) The account consists of gifts, grants, and funds 2-4 appropriated by the legislature. 2-5 (c) Money in the account may be appropriated only to the 2-6 council for the purposes of this Act. 2-7 SECTION 1.04. FUNDING. In addition to money appropriated 2-8 from the energy account, the council is entitled to an 2-9 appropriation each biennium in an amount equal to: 2-10 (1) three times the estimated amount of money raised 2-11 from private sources during the previous biennium, if the estimated 2-12 amount is $500,000 or more but less than $1,000,000; 2-13 (2) five times the estimated amount of money raised 2-14 from private sources during the previous biennium, if the estimated 2-15 amount is $1,000,000 or more but less than $1,500,000; and 2-16 (3) seven times the estimated amount of money raised 2-17 from private sources during the previous biennium, if the estimated 2-18 amount is $1,500,000 or more, with a maximum entitlement under 2-19 this section of $21 million. 2-20 ARTICLE 2. TEXAS COMMITTEE ON ENERGY POLICY 2-21 SECTION 2.01. TEXAS COMMITTEE ON ENERGY POLICY. The Texas 2-22 Committee on Energy Policy is composed of the following ex officio 2-23 members: 2-24 (1) the governor; 2-25 (2) the lieutenant governor; 2-26 (3) the speaker of the house of representatives; 2-27 (4) the chairman of the house of representatives 3-1 committee on energy; 3-2 (5) the chairman of the senate committee on natural 3-3 resources; 3-4 (6) a member of the Railroad Commission of Texas, 3-5 appointed by the Railroad Commission of Texas; 3-6 (7) a member of the Public Utility Commission of 3-7 Texas, appointed by the Public Utility Commission of Texas; and 3-8 (8) the commissioner of the General Land Office. 3-9 SECTION 2.02. TERMS; VACANCY. (a) Appointed members serve 3-10 for two-year terms expiring February 1 of each odd-numbered year. 3-11 (b) The original appointing authority shall appoint a person 3-12 with similar qualifications to fill the unexpired portion of the 3-13 term of a vacancy of an appointed member of the committee. 3-14 SECTION 2.03. OFFICERS; MEETINGS. (a) The members of the 3-15 committee shall elect annually a presiding officer of the 3-16 committee. 3-17 (b) The committee may elect other officers it considers 3-18 necessary. 3-19 (c) The committee shall meet at least once each calendar 3-20 quarter and at other times at the call of the presiding officer. 3-21 SECTION 2.04. COMPENSATION; EXPENSES. A member of the 3-22 committee may not receive compensation for service performed for 3-23 the committee. A member is entitled to receive reimbursement from 3-24 the energy account, subject to any applicable limitation provided 3-25 by the General Appropriations Act, for actual or necessary expenses 3-26 incurred in performing services as a member of the committee. 3-27 SECTION 2.05. STAFF. (a) The committee may employ staff or 4-1 may use the staff of the governor or of the council. The council 4-2 shall provide any staff requested by the committee. 4-3 (b) The committee may not employ an individual, and an 4-4 employee of the committee may not continue in employment with the 4-5 committee, if the individual at the time of employment or while 4-6 employed by the committee is: 4-7 (1) a person required to register under Chapter 305, 4-8 Government Code; or 4-9 (2) a member of the legislature. 4-10 SECTION 2.06. POWERS AND DUTIES. (a) The committee may: 4-11 (1) set priority areas for energy coordination or for 4-12 energy research; 4-13 (2) provide national leadership on emerging energy 4-14 policy; 4-15 (3) adopt rules for the administration of this 4-16 article; 4-17 (4) accept gifts and grants for the administration of 4-18 its duties; and 4-19 (5) use a service or facility contributed to the 4-20 committee by any source. 4-21 (b) The committee shall: 4-22 (1) develop coherent long-term energy policy for this 4-23 state; 4-24 (2) make recommendations to the state and to industry 4-25 regarding energy use; and 4-26 (3) encourage cooperation and coordination between 4-27 public and private entities regarding energy use and energy 5-1 research, development, and commercialization. 5-2 ARTICLE 3. TEXAS ENERGY COORDINATION COUNCIL 5-3 SECTION 3.01. COMPOSITION. (a) The Texas Energy 5-4 Coordination Council is a state agency composed of the following 5-5 ex officio members: 5-6 (1) the associate dean for research in the College of 5-7 Engineering at Texas Tech University; 5-8 (2) the director of the Energy System Laboratory of 5-9 Texas A&M University; 5-10 (3) the director of the Center for Energy Studies at 5-11 The University of Texas at Austin; 5-12 (4) the director of the Energy Laboratory of the 5-13 University of Houston; and 5-14 (5) the director of the Alternative Energy Institute 5-15 of West Texas State University. 5-16 (b) The governor shall appoint the following members to 5-17 serve on the council: 5-18 (1) a representative of the natural gas industry; 5-19 (2) a representative of the oil industry; 5-20 (3) a representative of the alternative fuels 5-21 industry; 5-22 (4) a representative of the Texas Sustainable Energy 5-23 Council or renewable energy industry; 5-24 (5) a representative of the electric utility industry; 5-25 and 5-26 (6) a representative of an energy consumer 5-27 organization or environmental organization. 6-1 (c) If a postsecondary educational institution eliminates 6-2 the entity whose director serves on the council, the institution 6-3 shall name a representative to serve on the council. The 6-4 representative must be an individual at the institution with 6-5 responsibilities related to the mission of the council and must 6-6 hold a position of a level similar to the level of the position of 6-7 director of the eliminated entity. 6-8 SECTION 3.02. TERMS; VACANCY. (a) Appointed members serve 6-9 for staggered terms of two years, with the terms of three members 6-10 expiring December 31 of each year. 6-11 (b) The governor shall appoint an individual with similar 6-12 qualifications to fill the unexpired portion of the term of a 6-13 vacancy of an appointed member of the council. 6-14 SECTION 3.03. OFFICERS; MEETINGS. (a) The members of the 6-15 council shall elect annually a presiding officer of the council. 6-16 (b) The council may elect other officers it considers 6-17 necessary. 6-18 (c) The council shall meet at least once each calendar 6-19 quarter and at other times at the call of the presiding officer. 6-20 SECTION 3.04. COMPENSATION; EXPENSES. A member of the 6-21 council may not receive compensation for service performed for the 6-22 council. A member is entitled to receive reimbursement, subject to 6-23 any applicable limitation provided by the General Appropriations 6-24 Act, for actual or necessary expenses incurred in performing 6-25 services as a member of the council. 6-26 SECTION 3.05. STAFF. (a) The council may employ staff or 6-27 may use, with the entity's consent, the staff of the coordinating 7-1 board, a participating postsecondary educational institution, or a 7-2 nonprofit research organization or association. 7-3 (b) The council may not employ an individual, and an 7-4 employee of the council may not continue in employment with the 7-5 council, if the individual at the time of employment or while 7-6 employed by the council is: 7-7 (1) a person required to register under Chapter 305, 7-8 Government Code; or 7-9 (2) a member of the legislature. 7-10 SECTION 3.06. DUTIES. The council shall: 7-11 (1) establish an institute for building energy 7-12 efficiency throughout this state; 7-13 (2) adopt strategies to assess energy resources; 7-14 (3) promote energy efficiency in transportation; 7-15 (4) make recommendations to reduce energy consumption 7-16 by the state; 7-17 (5) promote energy efficiency in industry; 7-18 (6) assess the interrelation between energy and the 7-19 environment; 7-20 (7) promote the efficient use of renewable resources; 7-21 (8) evaluate the effects of existing energy taxes on 7-22 the state economy; 7-23 (9) recommend new energy taxes to promote energy 7-24 efficiency; 7-25 (10) promote the formation of consortia to study 7-26 energy uses; 7-27 (11) actively seek monetary support for the purposes 8-1 of this Act; 8-2 (12) coordinate the transfer of energy technology to 8-3 the marketplace; 8-4 (13) promote the use of energy research findings; 8-5 (14) encourage and coordinate energy research among 8-6 postsecondary educational institutions, other public and private 8-7 entities, industrial entities, and nonprofit research entities; 8-8 (15) coordinate energy research among state research 8-9 programs; 8-10 (16) provide criteria and recommendations for the 8-11 awarding of grants for energy research projects approved by state 8-12 research programs; 8-13 (17) promote energy technologies in nonresource areas; 8-14 and 8-15 (18) provide support for the committee. 8-16 SECTION 3.07. POWERS. The council may: 8-17 (1) encourage research collaborations among 8-18 postsecondary educational institutions and nonprofit research 8-19 organizations or associations; 8-20 (2) coordinate information sharing among postsecondary 8-21 educational institutions and nonprofit research organizations or 8-22 associations; 8-23 (3) encourage projects that propose innovative, 8-24 collaborative efforts among two or more postsecondary educational 8-25 institutions or nonprofit research organizations or associations or 8-26 between a postsecondary educational institution or nonprofit 8-27 research organization or association and private industry; 9-1 (4) conduct public relations activities concerning the 9-2 activities of the council; 9-3 (5) develop computer software to facilitate the 9-4 discharge of the council's duties; 9-5 (6) establish a computer data base of energy research 9-6 information that is accessible to all postsecondary educational 9-7 institutions and all nonprofit research organizations or 9-8 associations; 9-9 (7) contract or cooperate with private research 9-10 entities; 9-11 (8) conduct technical seminars on energy research; 9-12 (9) provide information to the public on energy 9-13 research; and 9-14 (10) meet and coordinate with each institution of 9-15 higher education's federal funds coordinator designated under 9-16 Section 751.022(d), Government Code. 9-17 SECTION 3.08. GIFT, GRANT, AND CONTRIBUTED SERVICE OR 9-18 FACILITY. (a) The council may accept a gift or grant from any 9-19 source to be used by the council for the purposes of this Act. 9-20 (b) The council may use a service or facility contributed to 9-21 the council by any source. 9-22 SECTION 3.09. DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS. (a) The council may 9-23 make grants from funds available to the council to postsecondary 9-24 educational institutions or nonprofit research organizations or 9-25 associations to fund research consistent with the mission of the 9-26 council. To receive a grant from the council, a postsecondary 9-27 educational institution or a nonprofit research organization or 10-1 association must submit to the council an application for the 10-2 grant, on a form prescribed by the council, and a proposal for the 10-3 project for which the grant is sought. 10-4 (b) The council shall approve applications on an equitable 10-5 basis. 10-6 (c) Not later than September 1 of each fiscal year, the 10-7 comptroller shall certify to the council the amount of appropriated 10-8 funds available from which to make grants under this section for 10-9 that fiscal year. 10-10 (d) The council may not approve an application if the amount 10-11 of money required to fund the proposal is greater than an amount 10-12 equal to the total amount of money available to the council to make 10-13 grants under this section for the fiscal year during which the 10-14 award is made. 10-15 (e) For each application approved by the council, the 10-16 council shall certify to the comptroller the amount of funds 10-17 approved for the project. To the extent that funds are available 10-18 for this purpose, the comptroller shall issue a warrant to the 10-19 postsecondary educational institution or nonprofit research 10-20 organization or association in the amount certified in the order 10-21 that the comptroller receives the certification. The warrant shall 10-22 be drawn against the amounts appropriated to the council. 10-23 ARTICLE 4. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 10-24 SECTION 4.01. TRANSITION. (a) Not later than February 1, 10-25 1994, the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Public Utility 10-26 Commission of Texas shall make initial appointments of members to 10-27 serve on the Texas Committee on Energy Policy for terms expiring 11-1 February 1, 1995. 11-2 (b) Not later than January 1, 1994, the governor shall make 11-3 initial appointments of three representatives to serve on the Texas 11-4 Energy Coordination Council for terms expiring December 31, 1994, 11-5 and three representatives to serve on the council for terms 11-6 expiring December 31, 1995. 11-7 SECTION 4.02. EMERGENCY. The importance of this legislation 11-8 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 11-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 11-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 11-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended, 11-12 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its 11-13 passage, and it is so enacted.