1-1     By:  Jackson                                           S.B. No. 295
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed January 27, 1999; February 1, 1999,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Economic Development;
 1-4     March 1, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; March 1, 1999,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 295                  By:  Jackson
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to the servicing of a portable fire extinguisher.
1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12           SECTION 1.  Section 5, Article 5.43-1, Insurance Code, is
1-13     amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to
1-14     read as follows:
1-15           (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (e) of this section, no
1-16     [No] portable fire extinguisher, fixed fire extinguisher system, or
1-17     extinguisher equipment may be leased, sold, rented, serviced, or
1-18     installed in this state unless it carries a label of approval or
1-19     listing of a testing laboratory approved by the department [State
1-20     Board of Insurance].
1-21           (e)  The commissioner by rule shall permit a person to
1-22     service a portable fire extinguisher regardless of whether it
1-23     carries a label described by Subsection (a) of this section.
1-24           SECTION 2.  Section 10, Article 5.43-1, Insurance Code, is
1-25     amended to read as follows:
1-26           Sec. 10.  CERTAIN ACTS PROHIBITED.  No person or firm may do
1-27     any of the following:
1-28                 (1)  engage in the business of installing or servicing
1-29     portable fire extinguishers without a valid certificate of
1-30     registration;
1-31                 (2)  engage in the business of planning, certifying,
1-32     installing, or servicing fixed fire extinguisher systems without a
1-33     valid certificate of registration;
1-34                 (3)  install or service or certify the servicing of
1-35     portable fire extinguishers or plan, certify, service, or install
1-36     fixed fire extinguisher systems without a valid license;
1-37                 (4)  perform hydrostatic testing of fire extinguisher
1-38     cylinders manufactured in accordance with the specifications and
1-39     requirements of the United States Department of Transportation
1-40     without a valid hydrostatic testing certificate of registration;
1-41                 (5)  obtain or attempt to obtain a certificate of
1-42     registration or license by fraudulent representation;
1-43                 (6)  install or service portable fire extinguishers or
1-44     plan, certify, service, or install fixed fire extinguisher systems
1-45     contrary to the provisions of this article or the rules formulated
1-46     and administered under the authority of this article;
1-47                 (7)  install, service, or hydrostatic test a fire
1-48     extinguisher that does not have the proper identifying labels,
1-49     except as provided by Subsection (e) of Section 5 of this article;
1-50                 (8)  sell, install, service, or recharge a carbon
1-51     tetrachloride fire extinguisher; or
1-52                 (9)  violate Subsection (a) of Section 5 of this
1-53     article.
1-54           SECTION 3.  The Commissioner of Insurance shall adopt rules
1-55     under Subsection (e), Section 5, Article 5.43-1, Insurance Code, as
1-56     added by this Act, not later than January 1, 2000.
1-57           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-58     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-59     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-60     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-61     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
1-62     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
1-63     passage, and it is so enacted.
1-64                                  * * * * *