Bill Text: TX HB3215 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the Texas natural gas vehicle grant program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-25 - Referred to Environmental Regulation [HB3215 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-HB3215-Introduced.html

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83R10586 JXC-D
By: Strama H.B. No. 3215

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Texas natural gas vehicle grant program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 394.001, Health and Safety Code, as
added by Chapter 892 (S.B. 385), Acts of the 82nd Legislature,
Regular Session, 2011, is amended by adding Subdivisions (10) and
(11) to read as follows:
(10) "School bus" has the meaning assigned by Section
541.201, Transportation Code.
(11) "Taxicab" means a private passenger vehicle that
provides passenger taxicab transportation services for
compensation.
SECTION 2. Section 394.002, Health and Safety Code, as
added by Chapter 892 (S.B. 385), Acts of the 82nd Legislature,
Regular Session, 2011, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 394.002. PROGRAM. The commission shall establish and
administer the Texas natural gas vehicle grant program to encourage
an entity that has a heavy-duty or medium-duty motor vehicle, a
school bus, or a taxicab to repower the vehicle with a natural gas
engine or replace the vehicle with a natural gas vehicle. Under the
program, the commission shall provide grants for eligible
heavy-duty [motor vehicles] and medium-duty motor vehicles, school
buses, and taxicabs to offset the incremental cost for the entity of
repowering or replacing the [heavy-duty or medium-duty motor]
vehicle, school bus, or taxicab.
SECTION 3. Section 394.003, Health and Safety Code, as
added by Chapter 892 (S.B. 385), Acts of the 82nd Legislature,
Regular Session, 2011, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 394.003. QUALIFYING VEHICLES. (a) A heavy-duty or
medium-duty motor vehicle is a qualifying vehicle that may be
considered for a grant under the program if during the calendar year
the entity:
(1) purchased, leased, or otherwise commercially
financed the vehicle as a new on-road heavy-duty or medium-duty
motor vehicle that:
(A) is a natural gas vehicle;
(B) is certified to current federal emissions
standards;
(C) replaces an on-road heavy-duty or
medium-duty motor vehicle of the same weight classification and
use; and
(D) is powered by an engine certified to:
(i) emit not more than 0.2 grams of nitrogen
oxides per brake horsepower hour; or
(ii) meet or exceed the United States
Environmental Protection Agency's Bin 5 standard for light-duty
engines when powering the vehicle; or
(2) repowered the on-road motor vehicle to a natural
gas vehicle powered by a natural gas engine that:
(A) is certified to current federal emissions
standards; and
(B) is:
(i) a heavy-duty engine that is certified
to emit not more than 0.2 grams of nitrogen oxides per brake
horsepower hour; or
(ii) certified to meet or exceed the United
States Environmental Protection Agency's Bin 5 standard for
light-duty engines when powering the vehicle.
(a-1) A school bus or taxicab is a qualifying vehicle that
may be considered for a grant under the program if during the
calendar year the entity:
(1) purchased, leased, or otherwise commercially
financed the vehicle as a new school bus or taxicab that:
(A) is a natural gas vehicle;
(B) is certified to current federal emissions
standards;
(C) replaces a school bus or taxicab of the same
weight classification and use; and
(D) is powered by an engine that meets emission
standards designated for the program by the commission under
Subsection (a-2); or
(2) repowered the school bus or taxicab to a natural
gas vehicle powered by a natural gas engine that meets emission
standards designated for the program by the commission under
Subsection (a-2).
(a-2) The commission by rule may establish emission
standards applicable to school buses and taxicabs that qualify a
school bus or taxicab to be considered for a grant under the
program.
(b) A heavy-duty or medium-duty motor vehicle, school bus,
or taxicab is not a qualifying vehicle if the vehicle or the natural
gas engine powering the vehicle:
(1) has been awarded a grant under this chapter or
Chapter 390 for a previous reporting period; or
(2) has received a similar grant or tax credit in
another jurisdiction if that grant or tax credit program is relied
on for credit in the state implementation plan.
SECTION 4. Section 394.004(a), Health and Safety Code, as
added by Chapter 892 (S.B. 385), Acts of the 82nd Legislature,
Regular Session, 2011, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Only an entity operating in this state that operates a
heavy-duty or medium-duty motor vehicle, school bus, or taxicab may
apply for and receive a grant under this chapter.
SECTION 5. Sections 394.005(b), (c), (f), and (g), Health
and Safety Code, as added by Chapter 892 (S.B. 385), Acts of the
82nd Legislature, Regular Session, 2011, are amended to read as
follows:
(b) To be eligible for a grant under the program:
(1) the use of the qualifying vehicle must be
projected to result in a reduction in emissions of nitrogen oxides
of at least 25 percent as compared to the motor vehicle or engine
being replaced, based on:
(A) the baseline emission level set by the
commission under Subsection (g); and
(B) the certified emission rate of the new
vehicle; and
(2) the qualifying vehicle must:
(A) replace a heavy-duty or medium-duty motor
vehicle, school bus, or taxicab that:
(i) is an on-road vehicle that has been
owned, leased, or otherwise commercially financed and registered
and operated by the applicant in Texas for at least the two years
immediately preceding the submission of a grant application;
(ii) satisfies any minimum average annual
mileage or fuel usage requirements established by the commission;
(iii) satisfies any minimum percentage of
annual usage requirements established by the commission; and
(iv) is in operating condition and has at
least two years of remaining useful life, as determined in
accordance with criteria established by the commission; or
(B) be a heavy-duty or medium-duty motor vehicle,
school bus, or taxicab repowered with a natural gas engine that:
(i) is installed in an on-road vehicle that
has been owned, leased, or otherwise commercially financed and
registered and operated by the applicant in Texas for at least the
two years immediately preceding the submission of a grant
application;
(ii) satisfies any minimum average annual
mileage or fuel usage requirements established by the commission;
(iii) satisfies any minimum percentage of
annual usage requirements established by the commission; and
(iv) is installed in an on-road vehicle
that, at the time of the vehicle's repowering, was in operating
condition and had at least two years of remaining useful life, as
determined in accordance with criteria established by the
commission.
(c) As a condition of receiving a grant, the qualifying
vehicle must be continuously owned, leased, or otherwise
commercially financed and registered and operated in the state by
the grant recipient until the earlier of the fourth anniversary of
the date of reimbursement of the grant-funded expenses or until the
date the vehicle has been in operation for 400,000 miles after the
date of reimbursement. Not less than 75 percent of the annual use
of the qualifying vehicle, either mileage or fuel use as determined
by the commission, must occur in:
(1) the counties any part of which are included in the
areas [area] described by Section 394.010(a-1) [394.010(a)]; or
(2) counties designated as nonattainment areas within
the meaning of Section 107(d) of the federal Clean Air Act (42
U.S.C. Section 7407).
(f) A heavy-duty or medium-duty motor vehicle, school bus,
or taxicab replaced under this program must be rendered permanently
inoperable by crushing the vehicle, by making a hole in the engine
block and permanently destroying the frame of the vehicle, or by
another method approved by the commission that permanently removes
the vehicle from operation in this state. The commission shall
establish criteria for ensuring the permanent destruction of the
engine or vehicle. The commission shall enforce the destruction
requirements.
(g) The commission shall establish baseline emission levels
for emissions of nitrogen oxides for on-road heavy-duty or
medium-duty motor vehicles, school buses, or taxicabs being
replaced by using the emission certification for the engine or
vehicle being replaced. The commission may consider deterioration
of the emission performance of the engine of the vehicle being
replaced in establishing the baseline emission level. The
commission may consider and establish baseline emission rates for
additional pollutants of concern, as determined by the commission
after consultation with the advisory board.
SECTION 6. Sections 394.009(a) and (e), Health and Safety
Code, as added by Chapter 892 (S.B. 385), Acts of the 82nd
Legislature, Regular Session, 2011, are amended to read as follows:
(a) In this section, "participating dealer" means a person
who:
(1) sells, leases, or otherwise commercially finances
on-road heavy-duty or medium-duty natural gas vehicles, school
buses, taxicabs, or heavy-duty or medium-duty natural gas engines;
and
(2) has satisfied all requirements established by the
commission for participation in the program as a dealer.
(e) The commission shall:
(1) maintain and make available to the public online a
list of all qualified dealers; and
(2) establish requirements for participation in the
program by sellers of on-road heavy-duty or medium-duty natural gas
vehicles, school buses, taxicabs, and heavy-duty or medium-duty
natural gas engines.
SECTION 7. The heading to Section 394.010, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 394.010. CLEAN TRANSPORTATION TRIANGLES [TRIANGLE].
SECTION 8. Section 394.010, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (d) and adding Subsections
(a-1) and (a-2) to read as follows:
(a) In this section, "state highway" means a highway in
this state included in the plan providing for a system of state
highways prepared by the executive director of the Texas Department
of Transportation under Section 201.103, Transportation Code.
(a-1) To ensure that natural gas vehicles purchased,
leased, or otherwise commercially financed or repowered under the
program have access to fuel, and to build the foundation for a
self-sustaining market for natural gas vehicles in Texas, the
commission shall award grants to support the development of a
network of natural gas vehicle fueling stations along:
(1) the interstate highways connecting Houston, San
Antonio, Dallas, and Fort Worth; and
(2) the interstate highways connecting San Antonio to
Corpus Christi and Laredo and the state highways connecting Corpus
Christi and Laredo.
(a-2) In awarding the grants, the commission shall provide
for:
(1) strategically placed natural gas vehicle fueling
stations:
(A) in and between the Houston, San Antonio, and
Dallas-Fort Worth areas to enable a natural gas vehicle to travel
along that triangular area relying solely on natural gas fuel; and
(B) in and between the Corpus Christi, Laredo,
and San Antonio areas to enable a natural gas vehicle to travel
along that triangular area relying solely on natural gas fuel;
(2) the grants for each region described by Subsection
(a-1)(1) or (2) to be dispersed through a competitive bidding
process to offset a portion of the cost of installation of the
natural gas dispensing equipment;
(3) contracts that require the recipient stations to
meet operational, maintenance, and reporting requirements as
specified by the commission; and
(4) for each region described by Subsection (a-1)(1)
or (2), a listing, to be maintained by the commission and made
available to the public online, of all natural gas vehicle fueling
stations that have received grant funding, including location and
hours of operation.
(d) Stations funded by grants under this section must be
publicly accessible and must be located, as applicable, not more
than three miles from an interstate highway described by Subsection
(a-1)(1) or not more than three miles from an interstate highway or
state highway described by Subsection (a-1)(2) [system]. The
commission shall give preference to:
(1) stations providing both liquefied natural gas and
compressed natural gas at a single location; and
(2) stations located not more than one mile from an
interstate highway [system].
SECTION 9. Chapter 393, Health and Safety Code, as added by
Chapter 589 (S.B. 20), Acts of the 82nd Legislature, Regular
Session, 2011, is repealed.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.