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H.B. No. 2172
AN ACT
relating to eligibility for a license or registration for an
exemption to engage in liquefied petroleum gas-related activities
and to disciplinary action against licensees and registrants.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 113.092(a), Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission shall issue the appropriate license to an
applicant who has satisfied the licensing procedures and
requirements set out in this chapter and in the rules of the
commission, except as otherwise [where a prior license has been
revoked as] provided for in [Subsection (a) of] Section 113.163 [of
this code].
SECTION 2. The heading to Subchapter F, Chapter 113,
Natural Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER F. LICENSE AND REGISTRATION FOR AN EXEMPTION:
DENIAL AND DISCIPLINARY ACTION
SECTION 3. Section 113.163, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 113.163. DENIAL, REFUSAL TO RENEW, OR REVOCATION OF
LICENSE OR REGISTRATION FOR AN EXEMPTION IN EVENT OF VIOLATION
[FINDINGS AND JUDGMENT]. (a) Except as provided by Subsections (d)
and (f), the commission may not approve an application for a license
under this chapter or approve a registration for an exemption under
Section 113.081(d) or (e) if:
(1) the applicant or registrant for an exemption has
violated a statute or commission rule, order, license, permit, or
certificate that relates to safety; or
(2) a person who holds a position of ownership or
control in the applicant or registrant for an exemption has held a
position of ownership or control in another person during the seven
years preceding the date on which the application or registration
for an exemption is filed and during that period of ownership or
control the other person violated a statute or commission rule,
order, license, permit, or certificate that relates to safety.
(b) An applicant, registrant for an exemption, or other
person has committed a violation described by Subsection (a) if:
(1) a final judgment or final administrative order
finding the violation has been entered against the applicant,
registrant for an exemption, or other person and all appeals have
been exhausted; or
(2) the commission and the applicant, registrant for
an exemption, or other person have entered into an agreed order
relating to the alleged violation.
(c) Regardless of whether the person's name appears or is
required to appear on an application or registration for an
exemption, a person holds a position of ownership or control in an
applicant, registrant for an exemption, or other person if:
(1) the person is:
(A) an officer or director of the applicant,
registrant for an exemption, or other person;
(B) a general partner of the applicant,
registrant for an exemption, or other person;
(C) the owner of a sole proprietorship applicant,
registrant for an exemption, or other person;
(D) the owner of at least 25 percent of the
beneficial interest in the applicant, registrant for an exemption,
or other person; or
(E) a trustee of the applicant, registrant for an
exemption, or other person; or
(2) the applicant, registrant for an exemption, or
other person has been determined by a final judgment or final
administrative order to have exerted actual control over the
applicant, registrant for an exemption, or other person.
(d) The commission shall approve an application for a
license under this chapter or for a registration for an exemption
under Section 113.081(d) or (e) if:
(1) the conditions that constituted the violation are
corrected or are being corrected in accordance with a schedule to
which the commission and the applicant, registrant for an
exemption, or other person have agreed;
(2) all administrative, civil, and criminal penalties
are paid or are being paid in accordance with a payment schedule to
which the commission and the applicant, registrant for an
exemption, or other person have agreed; and
(3) the application or registration for an exemption
is in compliance with all other requirements of law and commission
rules.
(e) If an application or registration for an exemption is
denied under this section, the commission shall provide the
applicant or registrant for an exemption with a written statement
explaining the reason for the denial.
(f) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the commission may
issue a license to an applicant described by Subsection (a) or
approve a registration for an exemption for a registrant for an
exemption described by that subsection for a term specified by the
commission if the license or registration for an exemption is
necessary to remedy a violation of law or commission rules.
(g) A fee tendered in connection with an application or
registration for an exemption that is denied under this section is
nonrefundable.
(h) If the commission is prohibited by Subsection (a) from
approving an application for a license or a registration for an
exemption or would be prohibited from doing so by that subsection if
the applicant, licensee, or registrant for an exemption submitted
an application or registration for an exemption, the commission,
after notice and opportunity for a hearing, by order may refuse to
renew or may revoke a license or registration for an exemption
issued to the applicant, licensee, or registrant for an exemption
under this chapter. The commission may not revoke or refuse to
renew a license or registration for an exemption under this
subsection if the commission finds that the applicant, licensee, or
registrant for an exemption has fulfilled the conditions set out in
Subsection (d).
(i) An order issued under Subsection (h) must provide the
applicant, licensee, or registrant for an exemption a reasonable
period to comply with the judgment or order finding the violation
before the order takes effect.
(j) On refusal to renew or revocation of a person's license
or registration for an exemption under Subsection (h), the person
may not perform any activities under the jurisdiction of the
commission under this chapter, except as necessary to remedy a
violation of law or commission rules and as authorized by the
commission under a license or registration for an exemption issued
under Subsection (f).
(k) In determining whether to refuse to renew or to revoke a
person's license or registration for an exemption under Subsection
(h), the commission shall consider the person's history of previous
violations, the seriousness of previous violations, any hazard to
the health or safety of the public, and the demonstrated good faith
of the person.
(l) Refusal to renew or revocation of a person's license or
registration for an exemption under Subsection (h) does not relieve
the person of any existing or future duty under law, rules, or
license or registration conditions [The commission shall revoke,
suspend, or refuse to renew a license or registration or shall
reprimand a licensee or registrant if the commission finds that the
licensee or registrant has violated or failed to comply with or is
violating or failing to comply with this chapter or a rule or
standard promulgated and adopted under this chapter].
[(b) The commission may place on probation a person whose
license or registration is suspended. If a license or registration
suspension is probated, the commission may require the person:
[(1) to report regularly to the commission on matters
that are the basis of the probation;
[(2) to limit practice to the areas prescribed by the
commission; or
[(3) to continue or review professional education
until the person attains a degree of skill satisfactory to the
commission in those areas that are the basis of the probation.]
SECTION 4. (a) The change in law made by this Act relating
to a violation that is grounds for denial of a license or
registration for an exemption or for disciplinary action applies
only to a violation that occurs on or after the effective date of
this Act. For purposes of this section, a violation occurs before
the effective date of this Act if any element of the violation
occurs before that date.
(b) A violation that occurs before the effective date of
this Act is covered by the law in effect on the date the violation
occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2172 was passed by the House on April
22, 2005, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2172 was passed by the Senate on May
24, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor