BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 1973 |
By: Lucio III |
Natural Resources |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties note that certain investor-owned utilities and water supply corporations servicing cities or extraterritorial jurisdictions currently are not required to provide fire flow service to their customers. The parties contend that this poses emergency response concerns for fire departments and residents who are served by such utilities and corporations. The parties also note that recent legislation established fire flow standards for certain larger municipalities and contend that similar standards should apply to more areas. C.S.H.B. 1973 seeks to address these issues by establishing provisions relating to the provision of water by a public utility or water supply or sewer service corporation for use in fire suppression.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in SECTION 1 of this bill.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 1973 amends the Health and Safety Code to authorize the governing body of a municipality by ordinance to adopt standards set by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) requiring a utility to maintain a minimum sufficient water flow and pressure to fire hydrants in a residential area located in the municipality or the municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction. The bill requires TCEQ by rule to establish such standards and sets out provisions relating to requirements for the standards. The bill specifies that for its purposes "utility" includes a public utility and water supply or sewer service corporation and defines "residential area" and "municipal utility."
C.S.H.B. 1973 prohibits an ordinance under the bill's provisions from requiring a utility to build, retrofit, or improve infrastructure in existence at the time the ordinance is adopted. The bill requires a municipality that adopts standards under such provisions or that seeks to use a utility's water for fire suppression to enter into a written memorandum of understanding with the utility to provide for the necessary testing of fire hydrants and for other relevant issues pertaining to the use of the water and maintenance of the fire hydrants to ensure compliance with the bill's provisions. The bill authorizes a municipality to notify TCEQ of a utility's failure to comply with an adopted standard. The bill requires TCEQ on receiving such notice to require a utility in violation of an adopted standard to comply within a reasonable time established by TCEQ. The bill authorizes TCEQ to approve infrastructure improvements and make corresponding changes to the tariff or rate schedule of a utility that is a public utility as needed to permit compliance with the bill's provisions.
C.S.H.B. 1973 exempts a utility from liability for a hydrant's or metal flush valve's inability to provide adequate water supply in a fire emergency but establishes that such exemption does not waive a municipality's immunity under other law and does not create any liability on the part of a municipality under a joint enterprise theory of liability.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2013.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 1973 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and highlighted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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