By Thompson H.B. No. 2090
74R7481 T
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to incentives for motor vehicles propelled by liquefied
1-3 gas.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 153, Tax Code, is amended
1-6 by adding Section 153.3022 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 153.3022. TEMPORARY EXEMPTION. (a) For five years
1-8 after the effective date of this Act, the tax imposed by this
1-9 subchapter does not apply to any person using a liquefied
1-10 gas-propelled motor vehicle, including a motor vehicle equipped to
1-11 use liquefied gas interchangeably with another motor fuel, so long
1-12 as the person files a timely permit application in accordance with
1-13 this subchapter and pays a $10 application fee per vehicle.
1-14 (b) As used in this section, "person" means a corporation,
1-15 organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency,
1-16 business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any
1-17 other legal entity; including a transportation or transit authority
1-18 or a city transit department or any other transportation entity
1-19 established under Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd Legislature,
1-20 Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-21 Statutes), Chapter 683, Acts of the 66th Legislature, Regular
1-22 Session, 1979 (Article 1118y, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
1-23 Article 1118z, Revised Statutes, Chapter 791 of the Government
1-24 Code, or eligible for any funding under Article 6663c, Revised
2-1 Statutes.
2-2 SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 153, Section 153.303, Tax
2-3 Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-4 (b) An application for a permit must be filed on a form
2-5 provided by the comptroller showing the following:
2-6 (i) the kind and class of permit desired;
2-7 (ii) the odometer reading of a Class A through F motor
2-8 vehicle;
2-9 (iii) whether the vehicle is dedicated,
2-10 flexible-fueled or dual-fueled;
2-11 (iv) the certified emissions standard of the motor
2-12 vehicle, such as Transitional Low-Emission Vehicle (TLEV),
2-13 Low-Emission Vehicle (LEV), Ultra Low-Emission Vehicle (ULEV) or
2-14 Inherently Low-Emission Vehicle (ILEV), if the vehicle complies
2-15 with Clean-Fuel Vehicle Emissions Standards under the Clean Air Act
2-16 (42 U.S.C. Section 7583) or in rules promulgated by the
2-17 Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (40 CFR
2-18 Sec. 88.311-93; 40 CFR Sec. 88.104-94; 40 CFR Sec. 88.105-94); and
2-19 (v) other information required by the comptroller.
2-20 (c) A permit shall be posted in a conspicuous place or kept
2-21 available for inspection at the principal place of business of the
2-22 owner. A permit holder shall reproduce the permit and keep a copy
2-23 on display at each additional place of business from which
2-24 liquefied gas is sold, delivered, or used in motor vehicles. A
2-25 person holding an interstate trucker's permit shall reproduce the
2-26 permit and carry a copy with each motor vehicle being operated into
2-27 or from Texas. The liquefied gas tax decal user shall affix the
3-1 decal in the lower right-hand corner of the front windshield of the
3-2 passenger side of the vehicle, except that the placement of special
3-3 decals issued for vehicles certified to a Clean-Fuel Vehicle
3-4 Emissions Standard of ULEV or ILEV shall be governed by rules
3-5 promulgated by the comptroller in coordination with the Texas
3-6 Department of Transportation and the Texas Natural Resource
3-7 Conservation Commission.
3-8 (d) The comptroller shall issue to a person using a
3-9 liquefied gas-propelled motor vehicle a decal that is visually
3-10 distinct, in design and color, from the comptroller's standard
3-11 decal, if the vehicle has been certified to a Clean-Fuel Vehicle
3-12 Emissions Standard of ILEV or ULEV. The Texas Department of
3-13 Transportation, the comptroller and the Texas Natural Resource
3-14 Conservation Commission shall enter into an inter-agency agreement
3-15 to coordinate the design and placement on the vehicle of special
3-16 decals necessary for the identification of vehicles exempt from
3-17 high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane restrictions or other
3-18 transportation control measures.
3-19 SECTION 3. Section 64, Article 6701d, Revised Statutes, is
3-20 amended to read as follows:
3-21 Sec. 64. (1) The Texas Transportation Commission <State
3-22 Highway Commission> may by resolution or order entered in its
3-23 minutes, and local authorities may by ordinance, with respect to
3-24 any limited-access or controlled-access roadway under their
3-25 respective jurisdictions prohibit the use of any such roadway by
3-26 parades, funeral processions, pedestrians, bicycles, non-motorized
3-27 traffic, or by any person operating a motor driven cycle. The
4-1 Texas Transportation Commission <State Highway Commission> or the
4-2 local authority adopting any such prohibitory regulation shall
4-3 erect and maintain official traffic-control devices on the
4-4 limited-access or controlled-access highway on which such
4-5 regulations are applicable and when in place no person shall
4-6 disobey the restrictions stated on such devices.
4-7 (2) The Texas Transportation Commission by resolution
4-8 or order entered in its minutes, and local authorities by
4-9 ordinance, with respect to any limited-access or controlled-access
4-10 roadway under their respective jurisdictions shall provide that a
4-11 person operating a vehicle certified to a Clean-Fuel Vehicle
4-12 Emissions Standard of Ultra Low-Emission Vehicle (ULEV), Inherently
4-13 Low-Emission Vehicle (ILEV), or Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) is
4-14 exempt from transportation control measures, in any location in the
4-15 state, which restrict a vehicle's access to certain roadway lanes
4-16 based on the number of occupants in that vehicle, usually known as
4-17 high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. The Texas Department of
4-18 Transportation is authorized to enter into all necessary agreements
4-19 with local authorities and other state agencies to effectuate this
4-20 exemption. The Texas Department of Transportation, the Comptroller
4-21 of Public Accounts and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
4-22 Commission shall enter into an inter-agency agreement to coordinate
4-23 the design and placement on the vehicle of special decals necessary
4-24 for the identification of vehicles exempt from HOV lane
4-25 restrictions or other transportation control measures.
4-26 SECTION 4. Subchapter F, Chapter 382, Health and Safety
4-27 Code, is amended by adding Section 382.142 to read as follows:
5-1 Sec. 382.142. TRANSPORTATION CONTROL MEASURE EXEMPTIONS. A
5-2 person operating a vehicle certified to an emissions standard of
5-3 Ultra Low-Emission Vehicle (ULEV), Inherently Low-Emission Vehicle
5-4 (ILEV), or Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) is exempt from
5-5 transportation control measures, existing for environmental reasons
5-6 and included in the State Implementation Plan, which restrict
5-7 vehicle usage based primarily on temporal considerations, such as
5-8 time-of-day or day-of-week, including employer trip reduction (ETR)
5-9 program restrictions. An employer whose employees travel to work
5-10 by such ULEV, ILEV or ZEV vehicles is eligible for appropriate
5-11 credits against ETR program requirements as provided by rules
5-12 promulgated by the board. An employee operating such ULEV, ILEV or
5-13 ZEV vehicle will receive any ETR program incentives provided by
5-14 their employer. The board is authorized to enter into all
5-15 necessary agreements with local authorities and other state
5-16 agencies to effectuate these credits and exemptions. The Texas
5-17 Department of Transportation, the Comptroller of Public Accounts
5-18 and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission shall enter
5-19 into an inter-agency agreement to coordinate the design and
5-20 placement on the vehicle of special decals necessary for the
5-21 identification of vehicles exempt from HOV lane restrictions or
5-22 other transportation control measures.
5-23 SECTION 5. The change in the law made by this article does
5-24 not affect taxes imposed before the effective date of this article,
5-25 and the law in effect before the effective date of this article is
5-26 continued in effect for purposes of the liability for and
5-27 collection of those taxes.
6-1 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
6-2 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
6-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.