78R10330 SGA-D


By:  Chisum                                                       H.B. No. 1792

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1792:                                   

By:  Davis of Harris                                          C.S.H.B. No. 1792



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the authority of the Office of Public Interest Counsel 
under the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 5.275, Water Code, is amended to read as 
follows:        
	Sec. 5.275.  APPEAL.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection 
(b), a [A] ruling, decision, or other act of the commission may not 
be appealed by the counsel.
	(b)  The counsel may, under Section 2001.038, Government 
Code, contest the validity of rates set by the commission or a 
package of rules adopted by the commission on the basis that the 
rates or rules:
		(1)  were set or adopted without the proper legal 
procedure; or      
		(2)  exceed the commission's authority.                                
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and 
applies only to:    
		(1)  a proposal for decision amended by the Texas 
Commission on Environmental Quality on or after that date; and
		(2)  rates set or a package of rules finally adopted by 
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on or after that 
date.