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  H.B. No. 3346
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to gas utilities and gas storage facilities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 121.001(a), Utilities Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  In this chapter, "gas utility" means a person who owns,
  manages, operates, leases, or controls in this state property or
  equipment or a pipeline, plant, facility, franchise, license, or
  permit for a business that:
               (1)  transports, conveys, distributes, or delivers
  natural gas:
                     (A)  for public use or service for compensation;
                     (B)  for sale to municipalities or persons engaged
  in distributing or selling natural gas to the public, in a situation
  described by Subdivision (3);
                     (C)  for sale or delivery to a person operating
  under a franchise or contract with a political subdivision of this
  state; or
                     (D)  for sale or delivery to the public for
  domestic or other use;
               (2)  owns, operates, or manages a pipeline:
                     (A)  that is for transporting or carrying natural
  gas, whether for public hire or not; and
                     (B)  for which the right-of-way has been or is
  hereafter acquired by exercising the right of eminent domain, or by
  lawfully representing to a property owner that the person has the
  right to acquire right-of-way by the use of eminent domain; or
               (3)  produces or purchases natural gas and transports
  or causes the transportation of natural gas by a pipeline to or near
  the limits of a municipality in which the gas is received and
  distributed or sold to the public by another gas utility or by the
  municipality in a situation in which the business is the only or
  practically the only agency of supply of natural gas to the gas
  utility or municipality.
         SECTION 2.  Section 181.021(2), Utilities Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
               (2)  "Gas utility" means a person, firm, or corporation
  subject to the jurisdiction of the Railroad Commission of Texas, or
  a municipality, engaged in the business of transporting or
  distributing gas [for public consumption].
         SECTION 3.  Section 101.003(7), Utilities Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
               (7)  "Gas utility" includes a person or river authority
  that owns or operates for compensation in this state equipment or
  facilities to transmit or distribute combustible hydrocarbon
  natural gas or synthetic natural gas for sale or resale in a manner
  not subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory
  Commission under the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. Section 717 et
  seq.). The term includes a lessee, trustee, or receiver of a gas
  utility. The term does not include:
                     (A)  a municipal corporation;
                     (B)  a person or river authority to the extent the
  person or river authority:
                           (i)  produces, gathers, transports, or sells
  natural gas or synthetic natural gas under Section 121.004 or
  121.005;
                           (ii)  distributes or sells liquefied
  petroleum gas; or
                           (iii)  transports, delivers, or sells
  natural gas for fuel for irrigation wells or any other direct
  agricultural use;
                     (C)  a person to the extent the person:
                           (i)  sells natural gas for use as vehicle
  fuel;
                           (ii)  sells natural gas to a person who later
  sells the natural gas for use as vehicle fuel; or
                           (iii)  owns or operates equipment or
  facilities to sell or transport natural gas for ultimate use as
  vehicle fuel;
                     (D)  a person not otherwise a gas utility who
  furnishes gas or gas service only to itself, its employees, or its
  tenants as an incident of employment or tenancy, if the gas or gas
  service is not resold to or used by others; [or]
                     (E)  a person excluded from being considered a gas
  utility under Section 121.007; or
                     (F)  an electric cooperative, as that term is
  defined by Section 11.003, or its subsidiary, that is excluded from
  regulation as a gas utility by Section 121.008.
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter A, Chapter 121, Utilities Code, is
  amended by adding Section 121.008 to read as follows:
         Sec. 121.008.  CERTAIN STORAGE FACILITIES OWNED BY ELECTRIC
  COOPERATIVES EXCLUDED. An electric cooperative, as that term is
  defined by Section 11.003, or its subsidiary, that sells
  electricity at wholesale is not a gas utility or subject to
  regulation as a gas utility solely because it provides gas storage
  services for hire if the gas storage facility is predominantly
  operated to support the integration of renewable resources. Such a
  gas storage facility shall not have a working gas capacity of
  greater than five billion cubic feet.
         SECTION 5.  Section 111.001(2), Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
               (2)  "Public utility" means a person, association of
  persons, or corporation that owns, operates, or manages crude
  petroleum storage tanks or storage facilities for the public for
  hire, either in connection with a pipeline, pipelines, or
  otherwise. The term does not include an electric cooperative, as
  that term is defined by Section 11.003, Utilities Code, or its
  subsidiary, that sells electricity at wholesale and that owns or
  operates an underground storage facility and provides gas storage
  services to the public for hire if the gas storage facility is
  predominantly operated to support the integration of renewable
  resources. Such a gas storage facility shall not have a working gas
  capacity of greater than five billion cubic feet.
         SECTION 6.  Section 111.003, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
         (c)  The provisions of this chapter, and any common law
  requirements or limitations applicable to a common carrier, do not
  apply to an underground storage facility owned or operated by an
  electric cooperative, as that term is defined by Section 11.003,
  Utilities Code, or its subsidiary, that sells electricity at
  wholesale and offers or provides gas storage services to the public
  for hire if the gas storage facility is predominately operated to
  support the integration of renewable resources. Such a gas storage
  facility shall not have a working gas capacity of greater than five
  billion cubic feet.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 3346 was passed by the House on April
  30, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 144, Nays 0, 1 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 3346 on May 25, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 139, Nays 0,
  3 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 3346 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 21, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
  0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor