By Geren H.B. No. 1396
77R4639 ATP-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the authority of an emergency communication district to
1-3 provide emergency siren warning service.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 772.202, Health and Safety Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 772.202. PURPOSE. It is the purpose of this subchapter
1-8 to establish the number 9-1-1 as the primary emergency telephone
1-9 number for use by certain local governments in this state and to
1-10 encourage units of local government and combinations of those units
1-11 to develop and improve emergency communication procedures and
1-12 facilities in a manner that will make possible the quick response
1-13 to any person calling the telephone number 9-1-1 seeking police,
1-14 fire, medical, rescue, and other emergency services. It is also a
1-15 purpose of this subchapter to provide other emergency services to
1-16 warn persons within the district of impending danger from weather
1-17 or other potential disasters. To these purposes [this purpose] the
1-18 legislature finds that:
1-19 (1) it is in the public interest to shorten the time
1-20 required for a citizen to request and receive emergency aid;
1-21 (2) there exist thousands of different emergency
1-22 telephone numbers throughout the state, and telephone exchange
1-23 boundaries and central office service areas do not necessarily
1-24 correspond to public safety and political boundaries;
2-1 (3) a dominant part of the state's population is
2-2 located in rapidly expanding metropolitan areas that generally
2-3 cross the boundary lines of local jurisdictions and often extend
2-4 into two or more counties; [and]
2-5 (4) provision of a single, primary three-digit
2-6 emergency number through which emergency services can be quickly
2-7 and efficiently obtained would provide a significant contribution
2-8 to law enforcement and other public safety efforts by making it
2-9 less difficult to notify public safety personnel quickly; and
2-10 (5) coordinated publicly operated emergency warning
2-11 systems in expanding metropolitan areas are essential to minimize
2-12 loss of life by warning persons in the district of weather-related
2-13 dangers and other potential disasters.
2-14 SECTION 2. Section 772.203, Health and Safety Code, is
2-15 amended by adding Subdivisions (4) and (5) to read as follows:
2-16 (4) "Emergency siren warning service" means a service
2-17 through which persons are warned of weather-related dangers and
2-18 other potential disasters through the use of sirens.
2-19 (5) "Emergency siren warning system" means a system
2-20 designed to warn persons of weather-related dangers and other
2-21 disasters through the use of sirens.
2-22 SECTION 3. Section 772.207(c), Health and Safety Code, is
2-23 amended to read as follows:
2-24 (c) The board may contract with any public or private entity
2-25 to carry out the purposes of this subchapter, including the
2-26 operation of a 9-1-1 system and an emergency siren warning system.
2-27 SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 772, Health and Safety Code,
3-1 is amended by adding Section 772.2101 to read as follows:
3-2 Sec. 772.2101. ESTABLISHMENT OF EMERGENCY SIREN WARNING
3-3 SERVICE. (a) A district may provide emergency siren warning
3-4 service to each participating jurisdiction.
3-5 (b) A district that provides emergency siren warning service
3-6 shall use one or both of the following plans:
3-7 (1) the district may design, implement, and operate an
3-8 emergency siren warning system for each participating jurisdiction
3-9 with the consent of the jurisdiction; or
3-10 (2) the district may design, implement, and operate an
3-11 emergency siren warning system for two or more participating
3-12 jurisdictions with the consent of each of those jurisdictions if a
3-13 joint operation would be more economically feasible than separate
3-14 systems for each jurisdiction.
3-15 (c) Under either plan authorized by Subsection (b), the
3-16 final plans for the particular system must have the approval of
3-17 each participating jurisdiction covered by the system.
3-18 (d) A district that provides emergency siren warning service
3-19 shall create a task force to develop minimum standards for an
3-20 emergency siren warning system. The task force must include
3-21 representatives from each participating jurisdiction and may
3-22 include other persons that possess knowledge and expertise
3-23 necessary or useful to develop an effective emergency siren warning
3-24 system. The board of the district shall determine the number of
3-25 representatives on the task force. The board may adopt any
3-26 recommendations the task force develops regarding an emergency
3-27 siren warning system.
4-1 (e) A service supplier involved in providing emergency siren
4-2 warning service, a manufacturer of equipment used in providing
4-3 emergency siren warning service, or an officer or employee of a
4-4 service supplier involved in providing emergency siren warning
4-5 service is not liable for any claim, damage, or loss arising from
4-6 the provision of emergency siren warning service unless the act or
4-7 omission proximately causing the claim, damage, or loss constitutes
4-8 gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct.
4-9 SECTION 5. Section 772.212(a), Health and Safety Code, is
4-10 amended to read as follows:
4-11 (a) A 9-1-1 system established under this subchapter must be
4-12 capable of transmitting requests for fire-fighting, law
4-13 enforcement, ambulance, and medical services to a public safety
4-14 agency or agencies that provide the requested service at the place
4-15 from which the call originates. A 9-1-1 system or an emergency
4-16 siren warning system may [also] provide for transmitting requests
4-17 for other emergency services, such as poison control, suicide
4-18 prevention, [and] civil defense, weather-related warnings, and
4-19 other disaster warnings with the approval of the board and the
4-20 consent of the participating jurisdiction.
4-21 SECTION 6. Section 772.214, Health and Safety Code, is
4-22 amended to read as follows:
4-23 Sec. 772.214. 9-1-1 EMERGENCY SERVICE FEE. (a) The board
4-24 may impose a 9-1-1 emergency service fee on service users in the
4-25 district.
4-26 (b) The fee may be imposed only on the base rate charge or
4-27 its equivalent, excluding charges for coin-operated telephone
5-1 equipment. The fee may not be imposed on more than 100 local
5-2 exchange access lines or their equivalent for a single business
5-3 entity at a single location, unless the lines are used by residents
5-4 of the location. The fee may also not be imposed on any line that
5-5 the [Advisory] Commission on State Emergency Communications
5-6 excluded from the definition of a local exchange access line or an
5-7 equivalent local exchange access line pursuant to Section 771.063.
5-8 If a business service user provides residential facilities, each
5-9 line that terminates at a residential unit and that is a
5-10 communication link equivalent to a residential local exchange
5-11 access line shall be charged the 9-1-1 emergency service fee. The
5-12 fee must have uniform application and must be imposed in each
5-13 participating jurisdiction.
5-14 (c) The rate of the fee may not exceed four [three] percent
5-15 of the monthly base rate charged a service user by the principal
5-16 service supplier in the participating jurisdiction.
5-17 (d) The board shall set the amount of the fee each year as
5-18 part of the annual budget. The board shall notify each service
5-19 supplier of a change in the amount of the fee not later than the
5-20 91st day before the date the change takes effect.
5-21 (e) In imposing the fee, the board shall attempt to match
5-22 the district's revenues to its operating expenditures and to
5-23 provide reasonable reserves for contingencies and for the purchase
5-24 and installation of 9-1-1 emergency service and emergency siren
5-25 warning service equipment.
5-26 (f) The board may use the district revenues for allowable
5-27 operating expenses as defined in Section 772.217 or for operating
6-1 expenses, equipment, bond repayment obligations and contingencies
6-2 to establish and operate a publicly operated emergency siren
6-3 warning system. In preparing a budget for money to be used in any
6-4 fiscal year to provide emergency siren warning service in the
6-5 district, the board may not budget from the district's revenues an
6-6 amount exceeding the equivalent of revenues derived from imposing a
6-7 9-1-1 emergency service fee of one percent of the monthly base rate
6-8 charged a service user by the principal service supplier in the
6-9 participating jurisdiction for:
6-10 (1) the payment of principal and interest on bonds;
6-11 (2) the provision of reasonable reserves for
6-12 contingencies; and
6-13 (3) the purchase, installation and operation of an
6-14 emergency siren warning system.
6-15 (g) If the revenue received from the fee exceeds the amount
6-16 of money needed to fund the district, the board by resolution shall
6-17 reduce the rate of the fee to an amount adequate to fund the
6-18 district or suspend the imposition of the fee. If the board
6-19 suspends the imposition of the fee, the board by resolution may
6-20 reinstitute the fee if money received by the district is not
6-21 adequate to fund the district.
6-22 (h) [(f)] In a public agency whose governing body at a later
6-23 date votes to receive 9-1-1 service or emergency siren warning
6-24 service from the district, the fee is imposed beginning on the date
6-25 the board approves making the public agency a participating
6-26 jurisdiction. The fee authorized to be charged in a district
6-27 applies to new territory added to the district when the territory
7-1 becomes part of the district.
7-2 SECTION 7. Section 772.221, Health and Safety Code, is
7-3 amended to read as follows:
7-4 Sec. 772.221. ISSUANCE OF BONDS. The board may issue and
7-5 sell bonds in the name of the district to finance:
7-6 (1) the acquisition by any method of facilities,
7-7 equipment, or supplies necessary for the district to begin
7-8 providing 9-1-1 service and emergency siren warning service to all
7-9 participating jurisdictions; and
7-10 (2) the installation of equipment necessary for the
7-11 district to begin providing 9-1-1 service and emergency siren
7-12 warning service to all participating jurisdictions.
7-13 SECTION 8. Section 772.222, Health and Safety Code, is
7-14 amended to read as follows:
7-15 Sec. 772.222. REPAYMENT OF BONDS. (a) The board may provide
7-16 for the payment of the principal of and interest on the bonds by
7-17 pledging all or any part of the district's revenues from the 9-1-1
7-18 emergency service fee or from other sources.
7-19 (b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), if the bonds are
7-20 initially issued to provide for the acquisition or installation of
7-21 facilities, equipment, or supplies necessary to provide emergency
7-22 siren warning service, the amount of district revenues that may be
7-23 pledged for the payment of the principal of and interest on the
7-24 bonds is subject to the limitation imposed by Section 772.214(f).
7-25 SECTION 9. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
7-26 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
7-27 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
8-1 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
8-2 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.