By Whitmire S.B. No. 1185 77R7051 MTB-F A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to the construction of telecommunications facilities. 1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-4 SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 7, Local Government Code, is 1-5 amended by adding Chapter 246 to read as follows: 1-6 CHAPTER 246. CONSTRUCTION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES 1-7 Sec. 246.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: 1-8 (1) "Commission" means the Public Utility Commission 1-9 of Texas. 1-10 (2) "Facility" means a building, structure, or other 1-11 device that is used or useful in the provision of public utility or 1-12 telecommunications services. 1-13 (3) "Impervious cover regulation" means an ordinance, 1-14 regulation, rule, or other enactment by a county, a municipality, 1-15 or other authority that limits the development of real property 1-16 based on the amount of impervious cover to be constructed. 1-17 (4) "Public utility" has the meaning assigned by 1-18 Section 51.002, Utilities Code. 1-19 (5) "Regulating authority" means a county, 1-20 municipality, or other political subdivision of this state that has 1-21 adopted an impervious cover regulation by ordinance, order, 1-22 resolution, rule, or other enactment. 1-23 (6) "Telecommunications utility" has the meaning 1-24 assigned by Section 51.002, Utilities Code. 2-1 Sec. 246.002. REQUEST PROCESS. (a) A regulating authority 2-2 that receives a written request by a telecommunications utility or 2-3 public utility to construct a facility or expand an existing 2-4 facility on real property owned, leased, or occupied by the 2-5 telecommunications utility or public utility in an area governed by 2-6 impervious cover regulation shall approve or deny the request not 2-7 later than the 30th day after the date the request is received. 2-8 (b) The regulating authority shall approve the request 2-9 unless the regulating authority finds, after a hearing, that: 2-10 (1) the request does not meet the standards of the 2-11 regulating authority's impervious cover regulations; and 2-12 (2) additional, suitable vacant land contiguous with 2-13 the proposed building site that is sufficient to satisfy the 2-14 impervious cover regulation is available: 2-15 (A) without the use of condemnation; 2-16 (B) not later than the 60th day after the date 2-17 the request is delivered to the regulating authority; and 2-18 (C) for a price that does not exceed the lowest 2-19 fair market value of vacant land within a one-mile radius of the 2-20 property that is the subject of the request under Subsection (a). 2-21 (c) The regulatory authority shall provide written notice of 2-22 a denial. The notice must specify the findings on which the 2-23 authority relied in denying the request. 2-24 (d) If a regulating authority does not make a decision 2-25 before the deadline prescribed by Subsection (a): 2-26 (1) the request is approved; and 2-27 (2) the regulating authority may not apply the 3-1 authority's impervious cover regulations to the property that is 3-2 the subject of the request under Subsection (a). 3-3 Sec. 246.003. COMMISSION JURISDICTION. The commission has 3-4 jurisdiction to enforce this chapter and to ensure that legal 3-5 requirements are enforced in a competitively neutral, 3-6 nondiscriminatory, and reasonable manner. 3-7 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.