By: Crownover (Senate Sponsor - Jackson) H.B. No. 2289

(In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 2011; May 3, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources; May 11, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 0; May 11, 2011, sent to printer.)

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the authority of a gas corporation to use a public right-of-way along a railroad, a railroad right-of-way, an interurban railroad, or a street railroad.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 181.005(a), Utilities Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A gas corporation has the right to lay and maintain lines over, along, under, and across a public road, [a railroad, railroad right-of-way,] an interurban railroad, a street railroad, a canal or stream, or a municipal street or alley and over, under, and across a railroad or a railroad right-of-way only if:

(1) the pipeline complies with:

(A) all safety regulations adopted by the Railroad Commission of Texas and all federal regulations relating to pipeline facilities and pipelines; and

(B) all rules adopted by the Texas Department of Transportation or the Railroad Commission of Texas and all federal regulations regarding the accommodation of utility facilities on a right-of-way, including regulations relating to the horizontal or vertical placement of the pipeline; and

(2) the owner or operator of the pipeline ensures that the public right-of-way and any associated facility are promptly restored to their former condition of usefulness after the installation or maintenance of the pipeline.

SECTION 2. 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, 2011.

* * * * *