BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3802

By: Lozano

Natural Resources

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Some owners of recreational vehicle parks that are served by nonprofit water supply or sewer service corporations note that they are charged water rates dissimilar to other related commercial businesses, such as apartment complexes, and that this practice of charging dissimilar water rates among similar users is not allowed for certain other water suppliers. It has also been suggested that greater discretion is needed on the part of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) when determining public drinking water supply system requirements for a recreational vehicle park; this could enable TCEQ to opt for a capacity requirement that is more suitable for what is actually needed for a park, which may result in lower connectivity fees and necessary water capacity. C.S.H.B. 3802 seeks to address these issues by setting out provisions relating to requirements for public drinking water supply systems and certain rates and fees charged by water supply corporations.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

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.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3802 amends the Health and Safety Code to require the water supply of a public drinking water supply system to provide a quantity of water or capacity of water sufficient to serve the number of connections served by the system. The bill requires the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), in determining the number of connections served by a public drinking water supply system that provides service through meters, by rule to establish connection equivalency values for each meter size used to serve a recreational vehicle park, as that term is defined by Water Code provisions relating to municipal water rates for certain recreational vehicle parks. The bill requires the connection equivalency values to do the following:

·       establish a standard-size residential meter as one connection; and

·       determine the equivalent number of connections for larger or smaller meters as multiples of a standard-size residential meter, based on accepted industry standards.

C.S.H.B. 3802 amends the Water Code to require a nonprofit water supply or sewer service corporation that provides nonsubmetered master metered utility service to a recreational vehicle park to determine the rates for that service on the same basis the corporation uses to determine the rates for other commercial businesses that serve transient customers and receive nonsubmetered master metered utility service from the corporation. The bill prohibits the corporation from charging a person who owns or operates a recreational vehicle park that receives nonsubmetered master metered utility service from the corporation an administrative fee for the services provided.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2021.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3802 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes provisions not included in the original that do the following:

·       require the water supply of a public drinking water supply system to provide a quantity of water or capacity of water sufficient to serve the number of connections served by the system;

·       require TCEQ, in determining the number of connections served by such a system that provides service through meters, by rule to establish certain connection equivalency values; and

·       establish certain requirements for those values.