BILL ANALYSIS C.S.S.B. 421 By: Wentworth (Krusee) 04-12-95 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND Certain home-rule municipalities, having a population over 450,000 and operating a city-owned electric utility, included tracts of land within their extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) without being able to provide water and sewer service to such areas. Although these municipalities are unable or unwilling to provide such service, they have refused to release such areas from their ETJ, which effectively prevents the areas from obtaining needed services from certain adjacent municipalities capable of providing these services. A companion bill, H.B. 1016, was heard and left pending before the Land and Resource Management Committee of the House. PURPOSE This legislation provides for the transfer of certain narrowly defined areas from the ETJ of certain municipalities which currently provide no water, sewer or electrical services to such defined areas, to the ETJ of certain municipalities adjacent to such defined areas, which have adopted a service plan to provide water and sewer service to such areas. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1 Amends Subchapter B, Chapter 42, Local Government Code, by adding Section 42.024. (a) Defines the adopting and releasing municipalities. (b) Defines where the area must be located and what conditions must exist for the area to be eligible for transfer. Also states that the adopting municipality must adopt water pollution control ordinances and a water and sewer service plan in the area to be adopted. (c) Provides that the service plan shall include an assessment of whether participation in any regional facility is available and feasible and terms of participation, including reimbursement of expenditures associated with the regional facility. Provides for resolution of any disagreements by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. Prohibits the releasing municipality from discontinuing any existing service agreement with the adopting municipality prior to January 1, 1995. (d) States when the transfer takes place. (e) Provides that if land under the control of the same ownership is split between the ETJ of a municipality subject to this section and the jurisdiction of another municipality, the authority granted under Chapter 212, Local Government Code, is with the municipality selected by the land owner. (f) Specifies that the bill does not require the releasing municipality to participate in regional wastewater facilities servicing, or to provide new services to, the released area. (g) Specifies that the provisions of the bill control over other provisions of Subchapter B, Chapter 42, Local Government Code. SECTION 2 Severability provision. States that no part of the bill shall become inoperative by reason of unconstitutionality of any other portion of the bill. SECTION 3 Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE SECTION 1 (a) The substitute changes the maximum population of the adopting municipality from 15,000 to 25,000. (c) The substitute changes the provisions of the bill pertaining to the service plan for water and sewer service to be adopted by the adopting municipality to specify that the service plan shall include an assessment of whether participation in any regional facility is available and feasible and terms of participation, including reimbursement of expenditures associated with the regional facility; to provide for resolution of any disagreements by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission; and to prohibit the releasing municipality from discontinuing any existing service agreement with the adopting municipality prior to January 1, 1995. (d) The substitute clarifies that the transferred area is released from the ETJ of the releasing municipality on the same date it is included in the ETJ of the adopting municipality. (e) The substitute changes this subsection to provide that if land under the control of the same ownership is split between the ETJ of a municipality subject to this section and the jurisdiction of another municipality, the authority granted under Chapter 212, Local Government Code, is with the municipality selected by the land owner. (f) The substitute adds this subsection, which specifies that the bill does not require the releasing municipality to participate in regional wastewater facilities servicing, or to provide new services to, the released area. (g) The substitute adds this subsection, which specifies that the bill controls over Subchapter B, Chapter 42, Local Government Code. SECTION 2 The substitute changes this section to set forth a severability provision. SECTION 3 Emergency clause. The substitute renumbers this section from 2 to 3. SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION S.B. 421 was considered in a public hearing on April 11, 1995. The committee considered a complete substitute for the bill. The substitute was adopted without objection. The bill was reported favorably as substituted, with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed, by a record vote of 5 ayes, 0 nays, 0 pnv, 4 absent.