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Amend CSHB 725 by adding the following SECTIONS and renumbering the subsequent SECTIONS accordingly:
SECTION ____.  Section 13.254, Water Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (a-2) and adding Subsections (a-5) and (a-6) to read as follows:
(a)  The commission at any time after notice and hearing may[, on its own motion or on receipt of a petition described by Subsection (a-1),] revoke or amend any certificate of public convenience and necessity with the written consent of the certificate holder or if it finds that:
(1)  the certificate holder has never provided, is no longer providing, is incapable of providing, or has failed to provide continuous and adequate service in the area, or part of the area, covered by the certificate;
(2)  in an affected county as defined in Section 16.341, the cost of providing service by the certificate holder is so prohibitively expensive as to constitute denial of service, provided that, for commercial developments or for residential developments started after September 1, 1997, in an affected county as defined in Section 16.341, the fact that the cost of obtaining service from the currently certificated retail public utility makes the development economically unfeasible does not render such cost prohibitively expensive in the absence of other relevant factors;
(3)  the certificate holder has agreed in writing to allow another retail public utility to provide service within its service area, except for an interim period, without amending its certificate; or
(4)  the certificate holder has failed to file a cease and desist action pursuant to Section 13.252 within 180 days of the date that it became aware that another retail public utility was providing service within its service area, unless the certificate holder demonstrates good cause for its failure to file such action within the 180 days.
(a-2)  A landowner is not entitled to make the election described in Subsection (a-1) or (a-5) but is entitled to contest under Subsection (a) the involuntary certification of its property in a hearing held by the commission if the landowner's property is located:
(1)  within the boundaries of any municipality or the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality with a population of more than 500,000 and the municipality or retail public utility owned by the municipality is the holder of the certificate; or
(2)  in a platted subdivision actually receiving water or sewer service.
(a-5)  As an alternative to decertification under Subsection (a) and expedited release under Subsection (a-1), the owner of a tract of land that is at least 25 acres and that is not receiving water or sewer service may petition for expedited release of the area from a certificate of public convenience and necessity and is entitled to that release if the landowner's property is located in a county with a population of at least one million, a county adjacent to a county with a population of at least one million, or a county with a population of more than 200,000 and less than 220,000.
(a-6)  The commission shall grant a petition received under Subsection (a-5) not later than the 60th day after the date the landowner files the petition. The commission may not deny a petition received under Subsection (a-5) based on the fact that a certificate holder is a borrower under a federal loan program. The commission may require an award of compensation by the petitioner to a decertified retail public utility that is the subject of a petition filed under Subsection (a-5) as otherwise provided by this section.