79R14189 CBH-F


By:  Puente                                                       H.B. No. 2434

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2434:                                   

By:  Puente                                                   C.S.H.B. No. 2434



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to submetering and allocation of water service.                      
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 13.502, Water Code, is amended by  adding 
Subsections (f)-(i) to read as follows:
	(f)  Before the executive director may approve a request to 
change from submetered billing to allocated billing under 
Subsection (e), the property owner or manager must submit 
documentation to the commission in support of the request as 
provided by Subsection (i).  The executive director shall assign 
commission staff who are knowledgeable in water billing issues to 
review the documentation and make a recommendation to the executive 
director concerning whether to approve or disapprove the request.  
In reviewing the documentation, the staff shall consider whether 
needed repairs or problems are routine in nature or are 
extraordinary and constitute good cause for the billing change.  
The executive director may not approve the request unless the 
property owner or manager demonstrates that all reasonable 
steps were taken to ensure the proper installation and maintenance 
of the submetering system and that the circumstances reasonably 
justify the billing change.
	(g)  The commission by rule shall require a property owner or 
manager requesting a billing change under Subsection (e) to provide 
timely notice to affected tenants of the request. The notice must 
include information relating to the manner in which a tenant may 
comment to the commission on the request.
	(h)  If the executive director does not approve a request for 
a billing change under Subsection (e), the executive director shall 
provide to the property owner or manager an explanation of why the 
request was disapproved.  Disapproval of a request does not 
preclude a property owner or manager from submitting subsequent 
requests.
	(i)  A property owner or manager who submits a request for a 
billing change under Subsection (e) must submit with the request 
any relevant and detailed information necessary to support the 
request, including:
		(1)  if the request is based on equipment failures:                    
			(A)  at least one independent itemized bid 
indicating the number of submeters that are malfunctioning or that 
need to be replaced and the cost of the equipment and labor to 
replace the submeters;
			(B)  copies of any relevant repair or service 
invoices during the previous 12 months; and
			(C)  an explanation of why the equipment failed 
before the end of the equipment's expected useful life, if 
applicable; and
		(2)  if the request is based on meter reading or billing 
problems:   
			(A)  copies of any resident complaints, any 
correspondence with billing companies, and any correspondence from 
the commission regarding consumer complaints directly attributable 
to billing company problems; and
			(B)  an affidavit by the property owner or manager 
regarding efforts to find alternative service providers that 
includes an explanation of why alternative providers could not be 
used.
	SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act apply to a 
request to change from submetered billing to allocated billing for 
which the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has not issued 
a final decision before the effective date of this Act.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.