83R6773 RWG-F
 
  By: Geren H.B. No. 1160
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the transfer of a certificate of convenience and
  necessity in certain municipalities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 552, Local Government
  Code, is amended by adding Section 552.024 to read as follows:
         Sec. 552.024.  TRANSFER OF CERTIFICATE OF CONVENIENCE AND
  NECESSITY IN CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES. (a) This section applies to a
  municipality that:
               (1)  has a population of not more than 2,500;
               (2)  is located in a county that:
                     (A)  has a population of 1.7 million or more; and
                     (B)  has two municipalities with a population of
  300,000 or more; and
               (3)  is served by a public utility that:
                     (A)  provides service to the entire municipality;
  and
                     (B)  charges rates for 5,000 gallons of water for
  residential customers that are at least 50 percent higher than the
  rates charged by a municipally owned utility that serves another
  part of the county in which the municipality is located.
         (b)  Notwithstanding any other law, on application by a
  municipality described by Subsection (a), the agency with authority
  over certificates of convenience and necessity for water and sewer
  service shall transfer a certificate of convenience and necessity
  for water and sewer service from a public utility to the
  municipality for the public utility's service area located in the
  municipality's corporate limits, if the municipality:
               (1)  is willing to provide continuous and adequate
  water and sewer service to the area; and
               (2)  has instituted a condemnation proceeding under
  Chapter 21, Property Code, to acquire the property of the public
  utility's water and sewer system in the municipality's corporate
  limits.
         (c)  The transfer is effective on the date the court in which
  the condemnation proceeding is pending issues an order that:
               (1)  transfers the property of the public utility to
  the municipality; and
               (2)  requires the municipality to ensure continuous and
  adequate water and sewer service to the citizens of the
  municipality.
         SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  a condemnation proceeding in which the petition is filed on or after
  September 1, 2011. A condemnation proceeding in which the petition
  is filed before September 1, 2011, is governed by the law in effect
  on the date the petition was filed, and that law is continued in
  effect for that purpose.
         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, 2013.