| Vote Recommendation | Economic Freedom | Property Rights | Personal Responsibility | Limited Government | Individual Liberty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral |
Relating to certificates of public convenience and necessity issued to water utilities inside the boundaries or extraterritorial jurisdiction of certain municipalities.
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
HB 3476 would strike language from the Water Code which allows a municipality to require, as a condition of consent for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for an extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) of the municipality, that all water and sewer facilities be designed and constructed in accordance with the municipality’s standards. The bill would require instead that for certain municipal ETJs, such facilities be designed and constructed in accordance with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality standards for water and sewer facilities.
Requiring public utilities in municipal ETJs to conform to TCEQ standards rather than the municipality's standards may provide greater efficiency in establishing utility service in an ETJ depending on what discrepancies may exist in the two entity's standards, assuming the TCEQ standards are less stringent than those of the municipality. Ultimately this is an administrative decision which does not appear to affect our liberty principles and Texas Action remains neutral on HB 3476.