By: Creighton  S.B. No. 865
         (In the Senate - Filed February 26, 2021; March 11, 2021,
  read first time and referred to Committee on Business & Commerce;
  April 7, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 7, 2021,
  sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 865 By:  Creighton
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to a power outage alert system and a study on a statewide
  disaster alert system.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 411, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Subchapter K-1 to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER K-1. POWER OUTAGE ALERT
         Sec. 411.301.  POWER OUTAGE ALERT. (a) With the cooperation
  of the Texas Department of Transportation, the Texas Division of
  Emergency Management, the office of the governor, and the Public
  Utility Commission of Texas, the department shall develop and
  implement an alert to be activated when the power supply in this
  state may be inadequate to meet demand.
         (b)  The Public Utility Commission of Texas by rule shall
  adopt criteria for the content and activation of the alert
  described by Subsection (a). The criteria must provide for an alert
  to be regional or statewide.
         Sec. 411.302.  ADMINISTRATION. (a) The director is the
  statewide coordinator of the power outage alert.
         (b)  The director shall adopt rules and issue directives as
  necessary to ensure proper implementation of the power outage
  alert. The rules and directives must include the procedures to be
  used by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the independent
  organization certified under Section 39.151, Utilities Code, to
  communicate with the director about the power outage alert.
         Sec. 411.303.  DEPARTMENT TO RECRUIT PARTICIPANTS. The
  department shall recruit public and commercial television and radio
  broadcasters, private commercial entities, state or local
  governmental entities, the public, and other appropriate persons to
  assist in developing and implementing the power outage alert
  system.
         Sec. 411.304.  STATE AGENCIES. (a) A state agency
  participating in the power outage alert system shall:
               (1)  cooperate with the department and assist in
  developing and implementing the alert system; and
               (2)  establish a plan for providing relevant
  information to its officers, investigators, or employees, as
  appropriate, once the power outage alert system has been activated.
         (b)  In addition to its duties as a state agency under
  Subsection (a), the Texas Department of Transportation shall
  establish a plan for providing relevant information to the public
  through an existing system of dynamic message signs located across
  this state.
         Sec. 411.305.  ACTIVATION OF POWER OUTAGE ALERT. (a) When
  the Public Utility Commission of Texas or an independent
  organization certified under Section 39.151, Utilities Code,
  notifies the department that the power supply in this state or a
  region of this state may be inadequate to meet demand, the
  department shall confirm the accuracy of the information and, if
  confirmed, immediately issue a power outage alert under this
  subchapter in accordance with department rules.
         (b)  In issuing the power outage alert, the department shall
  send the alert to designated media outlets in this state. Following
  receipt of the alert, participating radio stations and television
  stations and other participating media outlets may issue the alert
  at designated intervals.
         Sec. 411.306.  CONTENT OF POWER OUTAGE ALERT. The power
  outage alert must include a statement that electricity customers
  may experience a power outage.
         Sec. 411.307.  TERMINATION OF POWER OUTAGE ALERT. The
  director shall terminate any activation of the power outage alert
  with respect to a particular energy emergency alert not later than
  the date the department receives notice that the energy emergency
  alert has been canceled.
         Sec. 411.308.  LIMITATION ON PARTICIPATION BY TEXAS
  DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. Notwithstanding Section 411.305(b),
  the Texas Department of Transportation is not required to use any
  existing system of dynamic message signs in a statewide alert
  system created under this subchapter if that department receives
  notice from the United States Department of Transportation Federal
  Highway Administration that the use of the signs would result in the
  loss of federal highway funding or other punitive actions taken
  against this state due to noncompliance with federal laws,
  regulations, or policies.
         SECTION 2.  (a)  In this section:
               (1)  "Alert system" means the standardized statewide
  disaster alert system studied under this section.
               (2)  "Division" means the Texas Division of Emergency
  Management.
         (b)  The division shall conduct a study on the efficacy of
  existing mass notification deployments by local governmental
  entities throughout this state and the feasibility of establishing
  a statewide disaster alert system.  The study must:
               (1)  identify the costs to local governmental entities
  associated with existing local disaster alert or notification
  systems;
               (2)  examine the potential benefits to local
  governmental entities of implementing an alert system in
  coordination with this state, including:
                     (A)  improving this state's ability to coordinate
  state and local responses to disasters; and
                     (B)  eliminating barriers to successful mass
  notification and communication encountered by local governmental
  entities during disasters;
               (3)  examine the importance of a local governmental
  entity's discretion regarding the entity's level and manner of
  participation in the alert system;
               (4)  examine potential costs to local governmental
  entities or this state associated with implementing the alert
  system; and
               (5)  identify any state or local governmental entity
  actions necessary to implement a comprehensive alert system.
         (c)  Not later than March 1, 2022, the division shall prepare
  and submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the
  legislature a report on the findings of the study conducted under
  this section.
         (d)  This section expires September 1, 2023.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
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