79R7032 CBH-D

By:  Puente                                                       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 
amending Subsections (b), (d), and (e) and adding Subsections 
(f)-(i) to read as follows:
	(b)  Except as provided by Subsection [Subsections] (c) [and 
(d)], a manager of a condominium or the owner of an apartment house, 
manufactured home rental community, or multiple use facility, on 
which construction begins after January 1, 2003, shall provide for 
the measurement of and billing for the quantity of water, if any, 
consumed by the occupants of each unit through the installation of:
		(1)  submeters, owned by the property owner or manager, 
for each dwelling unit or rental unit; or
		(2)  individual meters, owned by the retail public 
utility, for each dwelling unit or rental unit.
	(d)  On request by the property owner or manager, a retail 
public utility shall install individual meters owned by the utility 
in an apartment house, manufactured home rental community, multiple 
use facility, or condominium on which construction begins after 
January 1, 2003, unless the retail public utility determines that 
installation of meters is not feasible.  If the retail public 
utility determines that installation of meters is not feasible, or 
if the property owner or manager does not request individual 
metering service from the utility, the property owner or manager 
shall install a plumbing system that is compatible with the 
installation of submeters or individual meters, shall install and 
use submeters to bill tenants for water use, and may not use a 
formula allocation system for billing.  A retail public utility may 
charge reasonable costs to install individual meters.
	(e)  An owner of an apartment house, manufactured home rental 
community, or multiple use facility or a manager of a condominium 
may not change from submetered billing to allocated billing unless:
		(1)  the commission [executive director] approves [of] 
the change after a public hearing and on a showing by the owner or 
manager of unusual and exceptional circumstances that result in 
making the continuation of submetering extremely difficult [in 
writing after a demonstration of good cause, including meter 
reading or billing problems that could not feasibly be corrected or 
equipment failures]; and
		(2)  the property owner meets rental agreement 
requirements established by the commission.
	(f)  For purposes of Subsection (e)(1), the cost of repairing 
and maintaining a submetering system is not an unusual or 
exceptional circumstance.
	(g)  The commission by rule shall prescribe the procedure for 
holding a public hearing under Subsection (e), including rules 
relating to notice and opportunity for hearing from individual 
tenants who are potentially affected by the requested change.
	(h)  The commission may require an owner of an apartment 
house, manufactured home rental community, or multiple use facility 
or a manager of a condominium who requests a hearing under 
Subsection (e) to pay the commission a reasonable fee to reimburse 
the commission for the expenses incurred in investigating the 
validity of the owner's or manager's assertion and in administering 
the notice and hearing.
	(i)  Fees received under Subsection (h) shall be deposited to 
the credit of the submetering account in the general revenue fund.  
Money in the submetering account may be appropriated only to the 
commission to reimburse the commission for the expenses described 
by Subsection (h).
	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.