1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the testing of natural gas piping systems in school
1-3 district facilities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Title 102, Revised Statutes, is amended by adding
1-6 Article 6053-2a to read as follows:
1-7 Art. 6053-2a. TESTING OF NATURAL GAS PIPING SYSTEMS IN
1-8 SCHOOL DISTRICT FACILITIES
1-9 Sec. 1. (a) At least every two years, before the beginning
1-10 of the school year, each school district shall pressure test the
1-11 natural gas piping system in each school district facility. The
1-12 testing may be performed on a two-year cycle under which the
1-13 district pressure tests the natural gas piping system in
1-14 approximately one-half of the facilities each year. If a school
1-15 district operates one or more school district facilities on a
1-16 year-round calendar, the pressure test in each of those facilities
1-17 must be conducted and reported not later than July 1 of the year in
1-18 which the pressure test is performed. A test performed under a
1-19 municipal code will satisfy the pressure testing requirements.
1-20 (b) The pressure test shall determine whether the natural
1-21 gas piping downstream of the school district's meter holds at least
1-22 normal operating pressure over a specified period determined by the
1-23 Railroad Commission of Texas.
1-24 (c) During the pressure test, each system supply inlet and
2-1 outlet in the facility must be closed.
2-2 (d) At the request of a school district, the Railroad
2-3 Commission of Texas shall assist the district in developing a
2-4 procedure for conducting the test.
2-5 Sec. 2. (a) Each school district shall provide written
2-6 notice to the district's natural gas supplier specifying the date
2-7 and result of each pressure test or other inspection.
2-8 (b) The supplier shall maintain a copy of the notice until
2-9 at least the first anniversary of the date on which the supplier
2-10 received the notice.
2-11 (c) The supplier shall terminate service to a school
2-12 district facility if:
2-13 (1) the supplier receives official notification from
2-14 the firm or individual conducting the test of a hazardous natural
2-15 gas leakage in the facility piping system; or
2-16 (2) the district fails to perform a test or other
2-17 inspection at the facility as required by this article.
2-18 (d) An identified natural gas leakage in a school district
2-19 facility must be reported to the board of trustees of the district
2-20 in which the facility is located.
2-21 (e) For purposes of this section, "supplier" means the
2-22 individual or company selling and delivering the natural gas to a
2-23 school district facility. If more than one individual or company
2-24 sells and delivers natural gas to facilities of a school district,
2-25 each individual or company is a supplier for purposes of this
2-26 section.
2-27 Sec. 3. The Railroad Commission of Texas shall enforce this
3-1 article.
3-2 SECTION 2. Notwithstanding Article 6053-2a, Revised
3-3 Statutes, as added by this Act, if a school district is not able,
3-4 before the beginning of the 1997-1998 school year, to perform the
3-5 tests or other inspections of natural gas piping system pressure as
3-6 required by that article, the district shall perform the tests or
3-7 other inspections as soon as practicable thereafter. In that case,
3-8 a supplier, as defined by Article 6053-2a, Revised Statutes, as
3-9 added by this Act, may not terminate service to a school district
3-10 facility if:
3-11 (1) the district gives written notice to the supplier
3-12 before the beginning of the 1997-1998 school year that the district
3-13 is not able to perform the tests or other inspections before the
3-14 beginning of the school year; or
3-15 (2) the Railroad Commission of Texas orders the
3-16 supplier not to terminate the service.
3-17 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-22 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-23 passage, and it is so enacted.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1611 was passed by the House on May
5, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 111, Nays 32, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1611 on May 24, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 122, Nays
18, 2 present, not voting.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1611 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 22, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays
1.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor