By Hightower H.B. No. 2473
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain agricultural commodities.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 5b.(a), Article 911b, Vernon's Texas
1-5 Civil Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
1-6 Sec.5b. (a) A person transporting eligible agricultural
1-7 commodities for compensation or hire, for the benefit of the
1-8 original producer or grower, an independent ginning service, a
1-9 grain or rice elevator business, a feedlot or livestock marketing
1-10 business, a livestock slaughtering business, or a producers' or
1-11 growers' cooperative association, between any point of production,
1-12 processing, or storage, or from any point of production,
1-13 processing, or storage to any point of first manufacture,
1-14 regardless of who directs, controls, or pays for the transportation
1-15 is not required to obtain a certificate of public convenience and
1-16 necessity from the Commission or to comply with tariffs or orders
1-17 of the Commission governing rates and charges to be offered,
1-18 demanded, or received for such service if the person holds an
1-19 agricultural permit issued by the Commission.
1-20 (1) The Commission shall, by regulation or as a
1-21 contested matter properly before the Commission in an enforcement
1-22 proceeding, define the terms "agricultural commodities," "point of
1-23 production," "point of processing," "point of storage," and "point
2-1 of first manufacture." These terms shall include, in addition to
2-2 such other commodities or points as the Commission shall designate:
2-3 (A) agricultural commodities: cotton, timber
2-4 and timber products, livestock, grain, fresh fruits, and fresh
2-5 vegetables;
2-6 (B) point of production: farms and ranches at
2-7 which the agricultural commodities were grown;
2-8 (C) point of processing: cotton gins, saw
2-9 mills, paper mills, grain or rice mills, dryers, and animal auction
2-10 barns;
2-11 (D) point of storage: grain or rice elevators,
2-12 compresses, and warehouses;
2-13 (E) point of first manufacture: the point at
2-14 which the identity of the commodity substantially changes to a
2-15 product that is then marketed for consumer use. Commodities which
2-16 are transported after initial processing in such changed status to
2-17 a point of further processing before they are marketed for consumer
2-18 use remain eligible agricultural commodities.
2-19 SECTION 2. Section 4. (a)(1) Article 911b, Vernon's Texas
2-20 Civil Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
2-21 Sec. 4. (a)(1) The Commission is hereby vested with power
2-22 and authority and it is hereby made its duty to supervise and
2-23 regulate the transportation of property for compensation or hire by
2-24 motor vehicle on any public highway in this State, to fix,
2-25 prescribe or approve the maximum or minimum or maximum and minimum
3-1 rates, fares and charges of each motor carrier in accordance with
3-2 the specific provisions herein contained, to prescribe all rules
3-3 and regulations necessary for the government of motor carriers, to
3-4 require the filing of such monthly, annual or other reports and
3-5 other data of motor carriers as the Commission may deem necessary,
3-6 to prescribe the schedules and services of motor carriers operating
3-7 as common carriers, and to supervise and regulate motor carriers in
3-8 all matters affecting the relationship between such carriers and
3-9 the shipping public whether herein specifically mentioned or not.
3-10 To ensure nondiscriminatory rates, charges, and classifications for
3-11 all shippers and users of regulated transportation services for
3-12 which the Commission prescribes rates, charges, and
3-13 classifications, the Commission shall establish collective
3-14 ratemaking procedures for all commodities and services for which it
3-15 prescribes rates, charges, and classifications. Those procedures
3-16 must assure that respective revenues and costs of carriers engaged
3-17 in the transportation of the particular commodity or service for
3-18 which rates are prescribed are ascertained. Failure on the part of
3-19 any carrier to comply with this subsection or the rules and
3-20 regulations adopted under it may result in suspension or
3-21 cancellation of the carrier's operating authority by the
3-22 Commission.
3-23 (2) The Commission shall, at the earliest date
3-24 practicable after the effective date of this Act, investigate all
3-25 existing rates and charges in effect on the effective date of this
4-1 Act which relate to transportation of shipments of general
4-2 commodities, including agricultural commodities not otherwise
4-3 included as eligible agricultural commodities under Sec. 5b. of
4-4 this Act, weighing in excess of 500 pounds by motor carriers <other
4-5 than> including specialized motor carriers and <other than>
4-6 including contract carriers subject to Commission-prescribed
4-7 tariffs governing transportation of specialized commodities.
4-8 Following such investigation, the Commission shall establish,
4-9 pursuant to existing ratemaking procedures prescribed in
4-10 Subdivision (1) of this subsection, simplified base rates and
4-11 charges applicable on such shipments, which rates and charges shall
4-12 be based on carriers' actual operating costs incurred in
4-13 transporting the shipments for which such simplified rates and
4-14 charges are prescribed plus a reasonable margin.
4-15 (3) Base rates and charges for shipments of general
4-16 commodities weighing in excess of 500 pounds, including
4-17 agricultural commodities not otherwise included as eligible
4-18 agricultural commodities under Sec. 5b. of this Act, transported by
4-19 motor carriers <other than> including specialized motor carriers
4-20 and <other than> including contract carriers subject to
4-21 Commission-prescribed tariffs governing transportation of
4-22 specialized commodities shall be reviewed pursuant to the
4-23 ratemaking procedures prescribed in Subdivision (1) of this
4-24 subsection no less than annually by the Commission and, if
4-25 necessary, shall be adjusted pursuant to the ratemaking procedures
5-1 prescribed in Subdivision (1) of this subsection to ensure that
5-2 such base rates and charges remain just and reasonable and to
5-3 ensure that such base rates and charges continue to cover carriers'
5-4 actual operating costs incurred in transporting involved shipments
5-5 plus a reasonable margin. The annual base rate review required by
5-6 this subsection shall be additional to any and all other procedures
5-7 now available for review and adjustment by the Commission of rates
5-8 on involved shipments weighing in excess of 500 pounds.
5-9 (4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or
5-10 any existing Commission regulation, motor carriers <other than>
5-11 including specialized motor carriers and <other than> including
5-12 contract carriers subject to Commission-prescribed tariffs
5-13 governing transportation of specialized commodities shall be
5-14 permitted to deviate from the prescribed base rate (i) for
5-15 shipments weighing in excess of 500 pounds but less than 10,000
5-16 pounds by an amount not to exceed <five> 25 percent above or below
5-17 such base rate and (ii) for shipments weighing in excess of 10,000
5-18 pounds by an amount not to exceed <15> 25 percent above or below
5-19 such base rate; provided, that a carrier or carriers electing to so
5-20 deviate shall file notice thereof with the Commission. Such
5-21 proposed deviation shall become effective five days after filing
5-22 and receipt by the Commission. In the event the simplified base
5-23 rate is thereafter increased or decreased, such increase or
5-24 decrease shall be applied to any deviation rate published under
5-25 this subdivision. Provided, however, that the Commission shall
6-1 promptly provide notice to the public of any deviation under this
6-2 subsection and with respect to any such deviation any interested
6-3 party shall have the right to petition the Commission for
6-4 suspension of such deviation within 15 days of such notice on the
6-5 grounds that the deviation results in predatory pricing as
6-6 hereinafter defined. The deviation shall remain in effect and
6-7 shall not be suspended unless the Commission, after hearing, shall
6-8 determine that suspension is warranted and so orders.
6-9 (5) "Predatory pricing" means the charging of rates,
6-10 fares, or charges by a carrier which are below that carrier's
6-11 actual operating costs or unreasonably above such costs or which
6-12 are unduly discriminatory. A motor carrier regulated under this
6-13 Act may not engage in predatory pricing. Any interested party,
6-14 including any interested motor carrier and any interested shipper,
6-15 may file a petition for suspension with the Commission seeking to
6-16 have the Commission determine if predatory pricing exists. The
6-17 Commission shall duly prescribe appropriate expedited procedures
6-18 for hearing and for interim decision on any such complaint at the
6-19 Commission conference next following completion of the hearing or
6-20 as early thereafter as is reasonably possible. The Commission may
6-21 charge a fee for the filing of any documents required to be filed
6-22 with the Commission under Subdivision (4) of this subsection.
6-23 (6) Should the Commission determine that a carrier has
6-24 engaged in predatory pricing as defined in Subdivision (5) of this
6-25 subsection, the Commission may: (1) suspend the carrier's
7-1 deviation from the base rate; (2) direct the carrier to charge and
7-2 collect the base rate; and (3) direct the carrier to repay any
7-3 overcharges and collect any undercharges.
7-4 (7) All rates, fares, and charges governing shipments
7-5 weighing in excess of 500 pounds in effect on the effective date of
7-6 this Act shall remain in effect until such time as the Commission
7-7 completes the investigation and prescribes the base rates and
7-8 charges which are required by this subsection. The deviation
7-9 procedures provided in Subdivision (4) of this subsection for
7-10 specialized motor carriers and contract carriers subject to
7-11 Commission-prescribed tariffs governing transportation of
7-12 specialized commodities shall become effective upon establishment
7-13 of such base rates and charges, which shall be no later than
7-14 January 1, <1988> 1994. The rates, fares, or charges in effect on
7-15 January 1, <1988> 1994, shall be rates, fares, or charges for the
7-16 purposes of this Act until any or all of such base rates, fares,
7-17 and charges shall be investigated and prescribed as new base rates,
7-18 fares, and charges by the Commission.
7-19 (8) The Commission shall have the power and authority
7-20 after January 1, 1988, to review, after notice and hearing, the
7-21 rates then in effect governing shipments weighing 500 pounds or
7-22 less by motor carriers <other than> including specialized motor
7-23 carriers and <other than> including contract carriers subject to
7-24 Commission-prescribed tariffs governing transportation of
7-25 specialized commodities, and following such review, if deemed
8-1 necessary by the Commission to accomplish the objectives of this
8-2 Act, the Commission may order that the deviation, suspension, and
8-3 predatory pricing provisions and procedures of Subdivisions (3),
8-4 (4), and (5) of this subsection applicable to shipments weighing in
8-5 excess of 500 pounds but less than 10,000 pounds be likewise
8-6 applicable to shipments weighing 500 pounds or less.
8-7 (9) The Commission shall also have power and authority
8-8 to order, after notice and hearing, if deemed necessary to
8-9 accomplish the objectives of this Act, that the deviation
8-10 percentages provided in Subdivision (4) of this subsection be
8-11 adjusted; provided, however, such deviation percentages shall not
8-12 be decreased by the Commission so as to be less than five percent
8-13 above or 25 percent below the base rate for shipments weighing
8-14 10,000 pounds or less and shall not be less than 15 percent above
8-15 or 25 percent below the base rate for shipments weighing in excess
8-16 of 10,000 pounds.
8-17 SECTION 3. Article 911b, Section 4 (a)(10) is repealed.
8-18 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
8-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
8-23 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
8-24 passage, and it is so enacted.