H.B. No. 1391

	AN ACT
	relating to the provision of water and utility service.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 341, Health and Safety
	Code, is amended by adding Section 341.0357 to read as follows:
	Sec. 341.0357.  PUBLIC SAFETY STANDARDS.  (a)  In this
	section:
	(1)  "Public utility" has the meaning assigned by
	Section 13.002, Water Code.
	(2)  "Regulatory authority" has the meaning assigned by
	Section 13.002, Water Code.
	(3)  "Residential area" means:
	(A)  an area designated as a residential zoning
	district by a governing ordinance or code or an area in which the
	principal land use is for private residences;
	(B)  a subdivision for which a plat is recorded in
	the real property records of the county and that contains or is
	bounded by public streets or parts of public streets that are
	abutted by residential property occupying at least 75 percent of
	the front footage along the block face; or
	(C)  a subdivision a majority of the lots of which
	are subject to deed restrictions limiting the lots to residential
	use.
	(b)  The regulatory authority for a public utility shall by
	rule or ordinance adopt standards for maintaining sufficient water
	pressure for service to fire hydrants adequate to protect public
	safety in residential areas in a municipality with a population of
	1,000,000 or more.
	(c)  The commission shall assess residential areas in a
	municipality with a population of 1,000,000 or more to ensure that:
	(1)  the regulatory authority for the area has adopted
	the standards required by this section; and
	(2)  all public utilities serving the residential area
	are complying with the standards required by this section.
	(d)  The commission shall require a municipality with a
	population of 1,000,000 or more and acting as a regulatory
	authority to make appropriate revisions to standards the commission
	considers to be inadequate within a reasonable time established by
	the commission.
	(e)  The commission shall require a public utility in
	violation of a standard required under this section and established
	by the commission or by a municipality with a population of
	1,000,000 or more and acting as a regulatory authority to comply
	with the standard within a reasonable time established by the
	commission.
	(f)  This section does not limit the authority of a
	municipality with a population of 1,000,000 or more and acting as a
	regulatory authority to prohibit a public utility in violation of a
	standard established by the municipality from recovering through
	the public utility's rates a penalty or fine incurred for a
	violation of a standard.
	SECTION 2.  Section 341.040, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 341.040.  DEFINITION.  In this subchapter,
	"commission" means the Texas [Natural Resource Conservation]
	Commission on Environmental Quality.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 1391 was passed by the House on April
	27, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 130, Nays 0, 2 present, not
	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
	No. 1391 on May 25, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 133, Nays 0,
	2 present, not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 1391 was passed by the Senate, with
	amendments, on May 22, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
	0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED: __________________
	Date
	__________________
	Governor