82R25346 JXC-F

By: Geren, King of Taylor H.B. No. 3853

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3853:

By: Price C.S.H.B. No. 3853

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the authority of a gas or electric corporation to use certain land to construct or operate a transmission line.

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

SECTION 1. Section 181.007, Utilities Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 181.007. AUTHORITY TO OWN, HOLD, AND USE LAND OR OTHER PROPERTY. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a [A] gas or electric corporation has the power to own, hold, or use land, a right-of-way, an easement, a franchise, or a building or other structure as necessary for the purpose of the corporation.

(b) If a gas or electric corporation constructs a transmission line over, under, or across land that the 2007 state water plan proposed to use for constructing a reservoir and that was designated before January 1, 2011, as a site of unique value for the construction of a reservoir under Section 16.051(g) or (g-1), Water Code, the corporation is liable for costs related to removing, reconstructing, or relocating the transmission line.

(c) Subsection (b) does not apply to construction of a transmission line that begins before September 1, 2011, or construction of a transmission line that the Public Utility Commission of Texas approves before September 1, 2011.

SECTION 2. This Act applies only to a transmission line the construction of which begins on or after the effective date of this Act or that the Public Utility Commission of Texas approves before the effective date of this Act. A transmission line the construction of which began before the effective date of this Act or that the Public Utility Commission of Texas approves before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the construction began or the approval occurred, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.