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Amend CSHB 2702 (Senate committee printing) by adding the
following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to Article 1 of the bill
and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of Article 1 as appropriate:
SECTION ____. Effective October 1, 2005, Article 6445,
Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
Art. 6445. POWER AND AUTHORITY. (a) Power and authority
are hereby conferred upon the Texas Department of Transportation
[Railroad Commission of Texas] over all railroads, and suburban,
belt and terminal railroads, and over all public wharves, docks,
piers, elevators, warehouses, sheds, tracks and other property used
in connection therewith in this State, and over all persons,
associations and corporations, private or municipal, owning or
operating such railroad, wharf, dock, pier, elevator, warehouse,
shed, track or other property to fix, and it is hereby made the duty
of the said department [Commission] to adopt all necessary rates,
charges and regulations, to govern and regulate such railroads,
persons, associations and corporations, and to correct abuses and
prevent unjust discrimination in the rates, charges and tolls of
such railroads, persons, associations and corporations, and to fix
division of rates, charges and regulations between railroads and
other utilities and common carriers where a division is proper and
correct, and to prevent any and all other abuses in the conduct of
their business and to do and perform such other duties and details
in connection therewith as may be provided by law.
(b) All powers and duties of the Railroad Commission of
Texas that relate to railroads and the regulation of railroads are
transferred to the Texas Department of Transportation.
(c) A reference in law to the Railroad Commission of Texas
that relates to railroads and the regulation of railroads means the
Texas Department of Transportation.
SECTION ____. Effective October 1, 2005, Subchapter A,
Chapter 81, Natural Resources Code, is amended by adding Section
81.002 to read as follows:
Sec. 81.002. TEXAS ENERGY COMMISSION. (a) The Railroad
Commission of Texas is renamed the Texas Energy Commission.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), Article 6445,
Revised Statutes, a reference in law to the Railroad Commission of
Texas means the Texas Energy Commission.
(c) The Texas Energy Commission is the successor agency to
the Railroad Commission of Texas under Section 30(b), Article XVI,
Texas Constitution.
SECTION ____. (a) Effective October 1, 2005:
(1) the name of the Railroad Commission of Texas is
changed to the Texas Energy Commission;
(2) all powers, duties, obligations, rights,
contracts, leases, records, assets, property, funds, and
appropriations of the Railroad Commission of Texas:
(A) that do not primarily relate to railroads and
the regulation of railroads are the powers, duties, obligations,
rights, contracts, leases, records, assets, property, funds, and
appropriations of the Texas Energy Commission; and
(B) that primarily relate to railroads and the
regulation of railroads are the powers, duties, obligations,
rights, contracts, leases, records, assets, property, funds, and
appropriations of the Texas Department of Transportation;
(3) all rules, policies, forms, procedures, and
decisions of the Railroad Commission of Texas:
(A) that do not relate primarily to railroads and
the regulation of railroads are continued in effect as rules,
policies, forms, procedures, and decisions of the Texas Energy
Commission until superseded by a rule or other appropriate action
of the Texas Energy Commission; and
(B) that relate primarily to railroads and the
regulation of railroads are continued in effect as rules, policies,
forms, procedures, and decisions of the Texas Department of
Transportation until superseded by a rule or other appropriate
action of the Texas Department of Transportation;
(4) all full-time employees of the Railroad Commission
of Texas:
(A) who do not primarily perform functions
related to railroads and the regulation of railroads become
employees of the Texas Energy Commission; and
(B) who primarily perform functions related to
railroads and the regulation of railroads become employees of the
Texas Department of Transportation;
(5) any investigation, complaint, action, contested
case, or other proceeding involving the Railroad Commission of
Texas that:
(A) does not relate primarily to railroads and
the regulation of railroads is transferred without change in status
to the Texas Energy Commission, and the Texas Energy Commission
assumes, without a change in status, the position of the Railroad
Commission of Texas in any investigation, complaint, action,
contested case, or other proceeding that does not relate primarily
to railroads and the regulation of railroads involving the Railroad
Commission of Texas; and
(B) relates primarily to railroads and the
regulation of railroads is transferred without change in status to
the Texas Department of Transportation, and the Texas Department of
Transportation assumes, without a change in status, the position of
the Railroad Commission of Texas in any investigation, complaint,
action, contested case, or other proceeding that relates primarily
to railroads and the regulation of railroads involving the Railroad
Commission of Texas; and
(6) a member of the Railroad Commission of Texas is a
member of the Texas Energy Commission.
(b) The Railroad Commission of Texas shall adopt a timetable
for phasing in the change of the agency's name so as to minimize the
fiscal impact of the name change. Until October 1, 2005, to allow
for phasing in the change of the agency's name and in accordance
with the timetable established as required by this section, the
agency may perform any act authorized by law for the Railroad
Commission of Texas as the Railroad Commission of Texas or as the
Texas Energy Commission. Any act of the Railroad Commission of
Texas acting as the Texas Energy Commission after the effective
date of this Act and before October 1, 2005, is an act of the
Railroad Commission of Texas.
(c) The transfer of the powers and duties of the Railroad
Commission of Texas that relate primarily to railroads and the
regulation of railroads to the Texas Department of Transportation
does not affect the validity of a right, privilege, or obligation
accrued, a contract or acquisition made, any liability incurred, a
permit or license issued, a penalty, forfeiture, or punishment
assessed, a rule adopted, a proceeding, investigation, or remedy
begun, a decision made, or other action taken by or in connection
with the Railroad Commission of Texas.
SECTION ____. As soon as possible after the effective date
of this article but before October 1, 2005, the Railroad Commission
of Texas shall determine and report to the Texas Department of
Transportation on:
(1) which obligations, contracts, records, assets,
and property of the Railroad Commission of Texas relate primarily
to railroads and the regulation of railroads; and
(2) which employees of the Railroad Commission of
Texas perform duties that relate primarily to railroads and the
regulation of railroads.