AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
C.S.S.B. 573 amends current law relating to certificates of public convenience and necessity for water or sewer services.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 13.254, Water Code, by amending Subsections (a) and (a-2) and adding Subsections (a-5) and (a-6), as follows:
(a) Authorizes the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), at any time after notice and hearing, rather than at any time after notice and hearing on its own motion or on receipt of a petition described by Subsection (a-1), to revoke or amend any certificate of public convenience and necessity with the written consent of the certificate holder or if it makes certain findings.
(a-2) Provides that 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 TCEQ, 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) Authorizes an owner of a tract of land that is at least 25 acres and that is not receiving water or sewer service, as an alternative to decertification under Subsection (a) and expedited release under Subsection (a-1), to 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) Requires TCEQ to grant a petition received under Subsection (a-5) not later than the 60th day after the date the landowner files the petition. Prohibits TCEQ from denying a petition received under Subsection (a-5) based on the fact that a certificate holder is a borrower under a federal loan program. Authorizes TCEQ to require an award of compensation to a decertified retail public utility that is the subject of a petition filed under Subsection (a-5) as otherwise provided by this section.
SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 2011.