By: Nichols, Creighton S.B. No. 2272
 
 
 
   
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the procedure for amending or revoking certificates of
  public convenience and necessity issued to certain water utilities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  The heading to Section 13.254, Water Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 13.254.  DECERTIFICATION INITIATED BY COMMISSION OR
  UTILITY; EXPEDITED RELEASE INITIATED BY LANDOWNER [REVOCATION OR
  AMENDMENT OF CERTIFICATE].
         SECTION 2.  Sections 13.254(a-2) and (d), Water Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (a-2)  A landowner is not entitled to file a petition under
  [make the election described in] Subsection (a-1) or Section
  13.2541 [(a-5)] but is entitled to contest under Subsection (a) the
  involuntary certification of the landowner's [its] property in a
  hearing held by the utility commission if the landowner's property
  is located:
               (1)  in [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.
         (d)  A retail public utility may not in any way render retail
  water or sewer service directly or indirectly to the public in an
  area that has been decertified under this section unless just and
  adequate compensation required under Subsection (g) has been paid
  [without providing compensation for any property that the utility
  commission determines is rendered useless or valueless] to the
  decertified retail public utility [as a result of the
  decertification].
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter G, Chapter 13, Water Code, is amended
  by adding Section 13.2541 to read as follows:
         Sec. 13.2541.  STREAMLINED EXPEDITED RELEASE INITIATED BY
  LANDOWNER. (a) Sections 13.254(a-7), (c), (d), and (h) apply to a
  proceeding under this section.
         SECTION 4.  Sections 13.254(a-5) and (a-6), Water Code, are
  transferred to Section 13.2541, Water Code, as added by this Act,
  redesignated as Sections 13.2541(b), (c), (d), (e), and (f), Water
  Code, and amended to read as follows:
         (b) [(a-5)]  As an alternative to decertification or [under
  Subsection (a) and] expedited release under Section 13.254
  [Subsection (a-1)], the owner of a tract of land that is at least 25
  acres and that is not receiving water or sewer service may petition
  for expedited release of the area from a certificate of public
  convenience and necessity in the manner provided by this section
  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 that does not contain a public or private university
  that had a total enrollment in the most recent fall semester of
  40,000 or more, and not in a county that has a population of more
  than 45,500 and less than 47,500.
         (c) [(a-6)]  The utility commission shall grant the [a]
  petition [received under Subsection (a-5)] not later than the 60th
  day after the date the landowner files the petition.
         (d)  The utility commission may not deny a petition [] based
  on the fact that a certificate holder is a borrower under a federal
  loan program.
         (e)  A certificate holder that is the subject of a petition
  under this section may not borrow money under a federal loan program
  after the date the petition is filed until the utility commission
  issues a decision on the petition. A landowner that submits a
  petition under this section may pay or defease federal loans for a
  certificate holder that is a borrower under a federal loan program.
  The utility commission may issue an order to require the
  certificate holder to accept a loan payment or defeasance under
  this subsection.
         (f)  The utility commission may require an award of
  compensation by the petitioner to the certificate holder in the
  manner provided by Sections 13.254(f), (g), and (g-1) [a
  decertified retail public utility that is the subject of a petition
  filed under Subsection (a-5) as otherwise provided by this
  section]. The utility commission shall ensure that:
               (1)  the monetary amount of compensation is determined
  not later than the 90th calendar day after the date the utility
  commission approves the petition; and
               (2)  the landowner pays the compensation to the
  certificate holder not later than the 90th calendar day after the
  date the monetary amount of compensation is determined.
         SECTION 5.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  a proceeding affecting a certificate of public convenience and
  necessity that commences on or after the effective date of this Act.
  A proceeding affecting a certificate of public convenience and
  necessity that commenced before the effective date of this Act is
  governed by the law in effect on the date the proceeding is
  commenced, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.