1-1     By:  Brown                                            S.B. No. 1529

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 13, 1997; March 20, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;

 1-4     April 7, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 10,

 1-5     Nays 0; April 7, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to the provision of housing and utility services for

 1-9     certain dwellings.

1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-11           SECTION 1.  Section 1, Chapter 353, Acts of the 65th

1-12     Legislature, Regular Session, 1977 (Article 1446d, Vernon's Texas

1-13     Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Subdivision (3) to read as

1-14     follows:

1-15                 (3)  "Housing for older persons" means housing:

1-16                       (A)  intended for and solely occupied by persons

1-17     62 years of age or older; or

1-18                       (B)  intended and operated for occupancy by at

1-19     least one person 55 years of age or older per dwelling unit.  To

1-20     qualify as housing for older persons under this paragraph, the

1-21     housing must have at least the following:

1-22                             (i)  significant facilities and services

1-23     specifically designed to meet the physical or social needs of older

1-24     persons or, if the provision of such facilities and services is not

1-25     practicable, the housing must be necessary to provide important

1-26     housing opportunities for older persons;

1-27                             (ii)  at least 80 percent of dwelling units

1-28     set aside for occupancy by at least one person 55 years of age or

1-29     older per dwelling unit; and

1-30                             (iii)  policies and procedures, and

1-31     adherence thereto, which demonstrate an intent by the owner or

1-32     manager to provide housing for persons 55 years of age or older.

1-33           SECTION 2.  Section 2, Chapter 353, Acts of the 65th

1-34     Legislature, Regular Session, 1977 (Article 1446d, Vernon's Texas

1-35     Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:

1-36           Sec. 2.  (a)  No incorporated city or town, including a

1-37     home-rule city or other political subdivision of the state, may

1-38     issue a permit, certificate, or other authorization for the

1-39     construction or occupancy of a new apartment house or conversion to

1-40     a condominium unless the construction plan provides for individual

1-41     metering by the utility company or submetering by the owner of each

1-42     dwelling unit for the measurement of the quantity of electricity,

1-43     if any, consumed by the occupants within that dwelling unit.

1-44           (b)  The provisions of Subsection (a) of this section shall

1-45     not apply to the issuance of a permit for the construction of

1-46     housing for older persons with 100 or more dwelling units or to the

1-47     issuance of a permit to a nonprofit organization for construction

1-48     of a new apartment house for occupancy by the low-income elderly

1-49     when the nonprofit organization establishes, by submission of

1-50     engineering and cost data and a sworn statement, that all cost

1-51     savings will be passed on to the low-income elderly tenants.

1-52           (c)  An apartment house owner and a mobile home park owner

1-53     may provide for submetering of each dwelling unit for the

1-54     measurement of the quantity of electricity, if any, consumed by the

1-55     occupants within that dwelling unit.

1-56           (d)  Before issuing a permit, certificate, or other

1-57     authorization for the construction of housing for older persons, an

1-58     incorporated city or town, including a home-rule city or other

1-59     political subdivision of the state, shall require that the

1-60     construction plan provide for the requirements for housing for

1-61     older persons as defined in Section 1 of this Act.

1-62           SECTION 3.  Chapter 353, Acts of the 65th Legislature,

1-63     Regular Session, 1977 (Article 1446d, Vernon's Texas Civil

1-64     Statutes), is amended by adding a new Section 3 and renumbering the

 2-1     existing Section 3 as Section 4 to read as follows:

 2-2           Sec. 3.  No apartment house owner or mobile home park owner

 2-3     who provides housing for older persons pursuant to this Act may be

 2-4     considered a wholesale utility customer.

 2-5           Sec. 4 [3].  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the

 2-6     Public Utility Commission of Texas shall promulgate rules,

 2-7     regulations, and standards under which any owner, operator, or

 2-8     manager of an apartment house or mobile home park which is not

 2-9     individually metered for electricity for each dwelling unit may

2-10     install submetering equipment for each individual dwelling unit for

2-11     the purpose of fairly allocating the cost of each individual

2-12     dwelling unit's electrical consumption.  In addition to other

2-13     appropriate safeguards for the tenant, such rules and regulations

2-14     shall require (a) that an apartment house owner or mobile home park

2-15     owner shall not impose on the tenant any extra charges, over and

2-16     above the cost per kilowatt hour which is charged by the utility to

2-17     the owner, and (b) that the apartment house owner shall maintain

2-18     adequate records regarding submetering and shall make such records

2-19     available for inspection by the tenant during reasonable business

2-20     hours.  Any rule, regulation, or standard promulgated by the

2-21     commission pursuant to this section shall be deemed to have been

2-22     entered or adopted under the Public Utility Regulatory Act (Article

2-23     1446c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), and for purposes of

2-24     enforcement, both utility companies and the owners, operators, or

2-25     managers of apartment houses included in this Act are subject to

2-26     enforcement pursuant to Sections 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, and 77 of

2-27     the Public Utility Regulatory Act (Article 1446c, Vernon's Texas

2-28     Civil Statutes).  All electric submetering equipment shall be

2-29     subject to the same rules, regulations, and standards established

2-30     by the Public Utility Commission for accuracy, testing, and record

2-31     keeping of meters installed by electric utilities and shall be

2-32     subject to the meter testing requirements of Section 36 of the

2-33     Public Utility Regulatory Act (Article 1446c, Vernon's Texas Civil

2-34     Statutes).

2-35           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

2-36           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-37     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-38     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-39     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-40     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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