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  85R8345 JRR-D
 
  By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 768
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the Texas emissions reduction plan, including the
  eligibility for grants for natural gas fueling stations under the
  Texas natural gas vehicle grant program.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 386.002, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 386.002.  EXPIRATION. This chapter expires on the last
  day of the state fiscal biennium during which the commission
  publishes in the Texas Register certification that, with respect to
  each national ambient air quality standard for ozone under 40
  C.F.R. Section 81.344, the United States Environmental Protection
  Agency has, for each designated area under that section:
               (1)  designated the area as attainment or
  unclassifiable; or
               (2)  approved a redesignation substitute making a
  finding of attainment for the area [August 31, 2019].
         SECTION 2.  Section 390.006, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 390.006.  EXPIRATION. This chapter expires on the last
  day of the state fiscal biennium during which the commission
  publishes in the Texas Register certification that, with respect to
  each national ambient air quality standard for ozone under 40
  C.F.R. Section 81.344, the United States Environmental Protection
  Agency has, for each designated area under that section:
               (1)  designated the area as attainment or
  unclassifiable; or
               (2)  approved a redesignation substitute making a
  finding of attainment for the area [August 31, 2019].
         SECTION 3.  Section 391.304, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 391.304.  EXPIRATION. This chapter expires on the last
  day of the state fiscal biennium during which the commission
  publishes in the Texas Register certification that, with respect to
  each national ambient air quality standard for ozone under 40
  C.F.R. Section 81.344, the United States Environmental Protection
  Agency has, for each designated area under that section:
               (1)  designated the area as attainment or
  unclassifiable; or
               (2)  approved a redesignation substitute making a
  finding of attainment for the area [August 31, 2019].
         SECTION 4.  Section 392.008, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 392.008.  EXPIRATION. This chapter expires on the last
  day of the state fiscal biennium during which the commission
  publishes in the Texas Register certification that, with respect to
  each national ambient air quality standard for ozone under 40
  C.F.R. Section 81.344, the United States Environmental Protection
  Agency has, for each designated area under that section:
               (1)  designated the area as attainment or
  unclassifiable; or
               (2)  approved a redesignation substitute making a
  finding of attainment for the area [August 31, 2017].
         SECTION 5.  Section 393.007, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 393.007.  EXPIRATION.  This chapter expires on the last
  day of the state fiscal biennium during which the commission
  publishes in the Texas Register certification that, with respect to
  each national ambient air quality standard for ozone under 40
  C.F.R. Section 81.344, the United States Environmental Protection
  Agency has, for each designated area under that section:
               (1)  designated the area as attainment or
  unclassifiable; or
               (2)  approved a redesignation substitute making a
  finding of attainment for the area [August 31, 2018].
         SECTION 6.  Section 394.005(c), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  As a condition of receiving a grant, the qualifying
  vehicle must be continuously owned, leased, or otherwise
  commercially financed and registered and operated in the state by
  the grant recipient until the earlier of the fourth anniversary of
  the date of reimbursement of the grant-funded expenses or until the
  date the vehicle has been in operation for 400,000 miles after the
  date of reimbursement.  Not less than 75 percent of the annual use
  of the qualifying vehicle, either mileage or fuel use as determined
  by the commission, must occur in:
               (1)  the counties any part of which are included in the
  areas [area] described by Section 394.010(a-1) [394.010(a)]; or
               (2)  counties designated as nonattainment areas within
  the meaning of Section 107(d) of the federal Clean Air Act (42
  U.S.C. Section 7407).
         SECTION 7.  The heading to Section 394.010, Health and
  Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 394.010.  CLEAN TRANSPORTATION TRIANGLES [TRIANGLE].
         SECTION 8.  Section 394.010, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by amending Subsections (a) and (d) and adding Subsections
  (a-1) and (a-2) to read as follows:
         (a)  In this section, "affected county" has the meaning
  assigned by Section 386.001.
         (a-1)  To ensure that natural gas vehicles purchased,
  leased, or otherwise commercially financed or repowered under the
  program have access to fuel, and to build the foundation for a
  self-sustaining market for natural gas vehicles in Texas, the
  commission shall award grants to support the development of a
  network of natural gas vehicle fueling stations:
               (1)  along the interstate highways connecting Houston,
  San Antonio, Dallas, and Fort Worth;
               (2)  along the interstate highways connecting San
  Antonio to Corpus Christi and Laredo and the highways connecting
  Corpus Christi and Laredo that are in the state highway system; [,]
  and
               (3)  in nonattainment areas and affected counties of
  the state.
         (a-2)  In awarding the grants, the commission shall provide
  for:
               (1)  strategically placed natural gas vehicle fueling
  stations:
                     (A)  in and between the Houston, San Antonio, and
  Dallas-Fort Worth areas to enable a natural gas vehicle to travel in
  that triangular area relying solely on natural gas fuel;
                     (B)  in and between the Corpus Christi, Laredo,
  and San Antonio areas to enable a natural gas vehicle to travel in
  that triangular area relying solely on natural gas fuel; [,] and
                     (C)  in nonattainment areas and affected counties
  of the state, to enable a natural gas vehicle to travel in those
  areas relying solely on natural gas fuel;
               (2)  the grants to be dispersed through a competitive
  bidding process to offset a portion of the cost of installation of
  the natural gas dispensing equipment;
               (3)  contracts that require the recipient stations to
  meet operational, maintenance, and reporting requirements as
  specified by the commission; and
               (4)  a listing, to be maintained by the commission and
  made available to the public online, of all natural gas vehicle
  fueling stations that have received grant funding, including
  location and hours of operation.
         (d)  Stations funded by grants under this section must be
  publicly accessible.  In awarding grants for stations under this
  section, the [The] commission shall give preference to:
               (1)  stations providing both liquefied natural gas and
  compressed natural gas at a single location;
               (2)  stations located not more than one mile from an
  interstate highway [system]; and
               (3)  stations located in the triangular areas described
  by Subsections (a-2)(1)(A) and (B) [area between the Houston, San
  Antonio, and Dallas-Fort Worth areas].
         SECTION 9.  Section 394.012, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 394.012.  EXPIRATION.  This chapter expires on the last
  day of the state fiscal biennium during which the commission
  publishes in the Texas Register certification that, with respect to
  each national ambient air quality standard for ozone under 40
  C.F.R. Section 81.344, the United States Environmental Protection
  Agency has, for each designated area under that section:
               (1)  designated the area as attainment or
  unclassifiable; or
               (2)  approved a redesignation substitute making a
  finding of attainment for the area [August 31, 2017].
         SECTION 10.  This Act takes effect August 30, 2017, but only
  if S.B. 26, or similar legislation of the 85th Legislature, Regular
  Session, 2017, that changes the expiration dates for the Texas
  emissions reduction plan and certain programs funded under that
  plan and transfers provisions governing grants for natural gas
  vehicle fueling facilities along interstate highways connecting
  Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Fort Worth and in nonattainment
  areas from the Texas natural gas vehicle grant program under
  Chapter 394, Health and Safety Code, to the Texas alternative
  fueling facility program under Chapter 393, Health and Safety Code,
  does not become law. If such a bill becomes law, this Act has no
  effect.