SRC-TJG, VRA H.B. 1594 78(R) BILL ANALYSIS Senate Research Center H.B. 1594 By: West, George "Buddy" (Williams) Natural Resources 5/19/2003 Engrossed DIGEST AND PURPOSE Currently, Section 117, Natural Resources Code contains requirements for community liaison activities between pipeline operators and local officials. H.B. 1594 amends provisions passed by the 77th Texas Legislature concerning the steps a pipeline operator must take to provide safety related information to local fire, police, and public emergency response officials. Personal meetings with those local officials are preferred. However, if those local officials do not respond to invitations for personal meetings, then the statute provides for other alternatives. In current statute, there are specific provisions requiring pipeline operators who have hazardous lines within 1,000 feet of a school to all attend the first annual school board budget meeting for the district in which that school is located and present their emergency response plans. H.B. 1594 amends the requirement that all pipeline operators attend the first budget meeting. It would instead specify the emergency response information which must be sent to a school board, upon request of the school board. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 117.012, Natural Resources Code, by amending Subsections (h), (i), and (k), and adding Subsections (l) and (m), as follows: (h) Authorizes an operator or the operator's representative to conduct required community liaison activities as provided by Subsection (i) only if the operator or the operator's representative has made an effort, by one or several specific methods, to conduct a community liaison meeting in person with the officials. (i) Makes a conforming change. (k) Adds new language requiring the owner or operator of certain hazardous facilities located within 1,000 feet of a public school building containing classrooms, or within 1,000 feet of another public school facility where students congregate, to perform certain actions. (l) Requires a pipeline operator or the operator's representative to appear at a regularly scheduled meeting of the school board to explain the items listed in Subsection (k) if requested by the school board. (m) Prohibits the Railroad Commission of Texas from requiring the release of parts of an emergency response plan that describe the technical details of vulnerabilities of the pipeline to an act of terrorism. Requires security sensitive information to be made available for review by but not provided to the school board. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 2003.