75R10517 JMM-F
By Cuellar H.B. No. 1487
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1487:
By Siebert C.S.H.B. No. 1487
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of certain transportation service
1-3 providers; providing penalties.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. PURPOSE; LEGISLATIVE INTENT. The purpose of this
1-6 Act is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the people of
1-7 this state through the registration of transportation service
1-8 providers and freight forwarders that operate in this state. This
1-9 Act is not intended to regulate the rates, routes, or services
1-10 provided by transportation service providers or freight forwarders.
1-11 SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS. In this Act:
1-12 (1) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of licensing
1-13 and regulation.
1-14 (2) "Department" means the Texas Department of
1-15 Licensing and Regulation.
1-16 (3) "Motor carrier" has the meaning assigned by 49
1-17 U.S.C. Section 13102.
1-18 (4) "Person" means an individual, corporation,
1-19 partnership, or association.
1-20 (5) "Transportation service provider" or "freight
1-21 forwarder" means a person, other than a motor carrier, that holds
1-22 itself out to the general public to provide transportation in this
1-23 state only of property for compensation and in the ordinary course
1-24 of its business:
2-1 (A) assembles and consolidates, or provides for
2-2 assembling and consolidating, a shipment;
2-3 (B) performs or provides for break-bulk and
2-4 distribution operations of a shipment;
2-5 (C) assumes responsibility for the land
2-6 transportation of property at any point from origin to destination;
2-7 and
2-8 (D) uses a motor or rail carrier for any part of
2-9 the transportation.
2-10 SECTION 3. REGISTRATION REQUIRED; EXCEPTIONS. (a) A person
2-11 may not operate as a transportation service provider or freight
2-12 forwarder in this state without a certificate of registration
2-13 issued under this Act.
2-14 (b) This Act does not apply to a person that acts as a
2-15 customs broker as defined by 19 U.S.C. Section 1641.
2-16 (c) This Act does not apply to a person that is engaged in
2-17 the wholesale distribution of alcoholic beverages and that operates
2-18 trucks and delivery vehicles under Chapter 19, 20, 21, 64, or 65,
2-19 Alcoholic Beverage Code.
2-20 SECTION 4. REGISTRATION PROCEDURE. (a) A person seeking to
2-21 register under this Act as a transportation service provider must
2-22 submit to the department:
2-23 (1) an application on a form prescribed by the
2-24 commissioner; and
2-25 (2) a nonrefundable registration fee.
2-26 (b) The application form prescribed under this section must
2-27 require that an applicant include:
3-1 (1) the current and each previous business name of the
3-2 applicant, if the applicant is not an individual;
3-3 (2) the physical business address of the applicant;
3-4 (3) the type of business organization of the applicant
3-5 and the date the business was started or incorporated, if
3-6 applicable;
3-7 (4) the applicant's federal employer identification
3-8 number or social security number, as applicable; and
3-9 (5) if the applicant is a corporation, a list of
3-10 related domestic or foreign entities and the names and social
3-11 security numbers of the corporation's officers and shareholders.
3-12 (c) A certificate of registration is valid for two years
3-13 after the date the certificate is issued.
3-14 (d) To renew a certificate of registration, the registration
3-15 holder must submit to the department:
3-16 (1) an application for renewal on a form prescribed by
3-17 the commissioner; and
3-18 (2) a registration renewal fee.
3-19 (e) A registration holder may not transfer or assign a
3-20 certificate of registration issued under this Act.
3-21 SECTION 5. FEES. The Texas Commission of Licensing and
3-22 Regulation shall set the registration and renewal fees in amounts
3-23 reasonable and necessary to cover the cost of administering this
3-24 Act.
3-25 SECTION 6. TRANSPORTATION SERVICE PROVIDER FUND. The
3-26 department shall deposit fees collected under this Act to the
3-27 credit of the transportation service provider fund. Money in that
4-1 fund may be appropriated only to the department and only to
4-2 administer and enforce this Act.
4-3 SECTION 7. DENIAL, SUSPENSION, OR REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATE
4-4 OF REGISTRATION. (a) The commissioner may deny, suspend, or
4-5 revoke a certificate of registration for a violation of this Act or
4-6 a rule adopted under this Act.
4-7 (b) The denial, suspension, or revocation of a certificate
4-8 of registration by the commissioner and the appeal from that action
4-9 are governed by the procedures for a contested case hearing under
4-10 Chapter 2001, Government Code.
4-11 SECTION 8. ADOPTION OF RULES. The commissioner shall adopt
4-12 rules necessary to implement this Act, including requirements for
4-13 the issuance, renewal, denial, suspension, and revocation of a
4-14 certificate of registration.
4-15 SECTION 9. QUALIFICATIONS. (a) An individual is not
4-16 eligible for a certificate of registration or must surrender an
4-17 existing certificate if:
4-18 (1) during the period the individual holds the
4-19 certificate of registration or during the 10-year period preceding
4-20 the date the certificate is issued, the individual has been
4-21 convicted of a crime under Chapter 481 or 483, Health and Safety
4-22 Code, or laws containing substantially the same elements under the
4-23 laws of any other state, the United States, or another country; or
4-24 (2) the individual owes delinquent taxes to any local,
4-25 state, or federal taxing entity.
4-26 (b) The department may refuse to grant a certificate of
4-27 registration to a person, other than an individual, or may suspend
5-1 or revoke the person's certificate if:
5-2 (1) the department determines that, during the period
5-3 the person holds the certificate or during the 10-year period
5-4 preceding the date the certificate is issued, an officer, director,
5-5 member, or shareholder of the person or of a person that owns
5-6 shares in the person has been convicted of a crime under Chapter
5-7 481 or 483, Health and Safety Code, or laws containing
5-8 substantially the same elements under the laws of any other state,
5-9 the United States, or another country; or
5-10 (2) the person owes delinquent taxes to any local,
5-11 state, or federal taxing entity.
5-12 SECTION 10. RECORDS. (a) A transportation service provider
5-13 shall maintain a record that contains for each shipment of property
5-14 the transportation service provider assumes responsibility for
5-15 transporting:
5-16 (1) the name of the shipper of the property;
5-17 (2) the type of property that is being transported;
5-18 (3) the destination point of the property that is
5-19 being transported;
5-20 (4) the name of the person receiving the property; and
5-21 (5) the name of the person transporting the property.
5-22 (b) The transportation service provider shall keep a copy of
5-23 a record required under this section until the fourth anniversary
5-24 of the date the property is transported.
5-25 SECTION 11. AUDIT. (a) The department may periodically
5-26 audit the business records of a transportation service provider
5-27 registered under this Act.
6-1 (b) For the purpose of carrying out this Act, the department
6-2 may:
6-3 (1) examine a record required to be maintained under
6-4 Section 10 of this Act or another book, record, paper, or object
6-5 that the department determines is necessary for conducting a
6-6 complete examination; or
6-7 (2) question, under oath, any person associated with
6-8 the business, including an officer, director, or employee of the
6-9 transportation service provider, or any person claiming the person
6-10 was negatively affected by an alleged violation of this Act by the
6-11 transportation service provider.
6-12 (c) If a person required by the department to submit to an
6-13 examination under this section refuses to permit the examination or
6-14 to answer any question authorized by this Act, the commissioner may
6-15 suspend the transportation service provider's certificate of
6-16 registration until the examination is completed.
6-17 SECTION 12. ENFORCEMENT. The commissioner, with the
6-18 assistance of the Department of Public Safety, may investigate a
6-19 violation of this Act or a rule adopted under this Act. The
6-20 commissioner or any law enforcement agency may file a complaint
6-21 with the district attorney of Travis County or with the prosecuting
6-22 attorney of the county in which a violation is alleged to have
6-23 occurred.
6-24 SECTION 13. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS. The department shall
6-25 cooperate with federal or state agencies in carrying out this Act.
6-26 SECTION 14. CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) A transportation service
6-27 provider commits an offense if the person knowingly violates this
7-1 Act.
7-2 (b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
7-3 SECTION 15. CIVIL PENALTY. A transportation service
7-4 provider that knowingly violates this Act or knowingly fails to
7-5 comply with a rule adopted under this Act is liable for a civil
7-6 penalty of not less than $100 or more than $500 for each violation.
7-7 SECTION 16. POSTING OF CERTIFICATE REQUIRED. A registration
7-8 holder shall post the certificate of registration issued under this
7-9 Act in the person's place of business in a location visible to the
7-10 public.
7-11 SECTION 17. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect September
7-12 1, 1997, except that Section 3 of this Act, which prohibits a
7-13 transportation service provider from operating in this state
7-14 without a certificate of registration, and Section 14 of this Act
7-15 take effect January 1, 1998.
7-16 SECTION 18. EMERGENCY. The importance of this legislation
7-17 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-18 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-19 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-20 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.