Bill Text: TX HB3377 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the licensing and registration of installers of on-site sewage disposal systems by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-18 - Referred to Environmental Regulation [HB3377 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB3377-Introduced.html

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82R11450 JAM-F
By: Hamilton H.B. No. 3377

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the licensing and registration of installers of on-site
sewage disposal systems by the Texas Department of Licensing and
Regulation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 366.002, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subdivision (2-a) to read as follows:
(2-a) "Department" means the Texas Department of
Licensing and Regulation.
SECTION 2. Section 366.0515(m), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(m) If a maintenance company violates an order, resolution,
or rule described by Subsection (k) three or more times, the
commission, in the manner provided by Subchapter G, Chapter 7,
Water Code, or the department, as appropriate, may revoke the
license or registration of the maintenance company or any person
employed by the maintenance company issued under:
(1) Section 26.0301, Water Code;
(2) Chapter 37, Water Code; or
(3) Section 366.071 of this code.
SECTION 3. Section 366.071, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 366.071. OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING AND REGISTRATION. (a)
A person who constructs, installs, alters, extends, services,
maintains, or repairs an on-site sewage disposal system or any part
of an on-site sewage disposal system for compensation must hold a
license or registration issued by the department [commission]
under this subchapter [Chapter 37, Water Code].
(b) A person designated by an authorized agent under Section
366.014 must hold a license issued by the department [commission]
under this subchapter [Chapter 37, Water Code].
(c) A person who conducts preconstruction site evaluations,
including visiting a site and performing a soil analysis, a site
survey, or other activities necessary to determine the suitability
of a site for an on-site sewage disposal system must hold a license
issued by the department [commission] under this subchapter
[Chapter 37, Water Code,] unless the person is licensed by the Texas
Board of Professional Engineers as an engineer.
(d) The department [commission] may implement a program
[under Chapter 37, Water Code,] to register persons who service or
maintain on-site sewage disposal systems for compensation.
SECTION 4. Subchapter E, Chapter 366, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 366.072 to read as follows:
Sec. 366.072. ISSUANCE OF LICENSE OR REGISTRATION. (a)
Notwithstanding Section 366.002, in this section, "commission"
means the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation.
(b) The department shall license and register persons who
construct, install, alter, extend, service, maintain, or repair an
on-site sewage disposal system or any part of an on-site sewage
disposal system for compensation.
(c) The commission shall adopt any rules necessary to:
(1) establish occupational licenses and registrations
under this subchapter;
(2) establish classes and terms of occupational
licenses and registrations; and
(3) administer the provisions of this subchapter.
(d) The commission may establish qualifications for each
license and registration issued under this subchapter.
(e) The department shall establish requirements and uniform
procedures for issuing licenses and registrations under this
chapter.
(f) The department shall establish requirements and uniform
procedures for renewing licenses and registrations.
(g) The department shall prescribe the content, location,
and frequency of licensing examinations.
SECTION 5. Section 1305.003(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) This chapter does not apply to:
(1) the installation of electrical equipment in a
ship, watercraft other than a floating building, railway rolling
stock, aircraft, motor vehicle, or recreational vehicle;
(2) the installation of electrical equipment
underground in a mine and in self-propelled mobile surface mining
machinery and its attendant electrical trailing cable;
(3) the installation of electrical equipment for
generation, transformation, transmission, or distribution of power
used exclusively to operate railway rolling stock or exclusively
for signaling and communications purposes;
(4) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of communications equipment provided by a
telecommunications provider;
(5) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of electrical equipment under the exclusive control of an
electric utility, power generation company as defined by Sections
31.002(1) and (10), Utilities Code, electric cooperative, or
municipally owned utility and used for communications or metering,
or for the generation, control, transformation, transmission, and
distribution of electrical energy, and located:
(A) in a building used exclusively by a utility
or power generation company for those purposes;
(B) outdoors on property owned or leased by the
utility or power generation company;
(C) on public highways, streets, roads, or other
public rights-of-way; or
(D) outdoors by established rights in vaults or
on private property;
(6) work not specifically regulated by a municipal
ordinance that is performed in or on a dwelling by a person who owns
and resides in the dwelling;
(7) work involved in the manufacture of electrical
equipment that includes the on-site and off-site manufacturing,
commissioning, testing, calibrating, coordinating,
troubleshooting, or evaluating of electrical equipment, the
repairing or retrofitting of electrical equipment with components
of the same ampacity, and the maintenance and servicing of
electrical equipment within the equipment's enclosure that is
performed by an authorized employee or authorized representative of
an electrical equipment manufacturer and limited to the type of
products manufactured by the manufacturer;
(8) electrical work if:
(A) the work is performed by a person who does not
engage in electrical work for the public;
(B) the work is performed by a person regularly
employed as a maintenance person or maintenance electrician for a
business; and
(C) the electrical work does not involve the
installation of electrical equipment during new construction as
defined by rules adopted under Chapter 151, Tax Code;
(9) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of electrical equipment or associated wiring under the
exclusive control of a gas utility and used for communications or
metering or for the control, transmission, or distribution of
natural gas;
(10) thoroughfare lighting, traffic signals,
intelligent transportation systems, and telecommunications
controlled by a governmental entity;
(11) electrical connections supplying heating,
ventilation, and cooling and refrigeration equipment, including
any required disconnect exclusively for the equipment, if the
service is performed by a licensed air conditioning and
refrigeration contractor under Chapter 1302;
(12) the design, installation, erection, repair, or
alteration of Class 1, Class 2, or Class 3 remote control,
signaling, or power-limited circuits, fire alarm circuits, optical
fiber cables, or communications circuits, including raceways, as
defined by the National Electrical Code;
(13) landscape irrigation installers, as necessary to
perform the installation and maintenance of irrigation control
systems, and landscapers, as necessary to perform the installation
and maintenance of low-voltage exterior lighting and holiday
lighting excluding any required power source;
(14) electrical work performed at a business that
operates:
(A) a chemical plant, petrochemical plant,
refinery, natural gas plant, natural gas treating plant, pipeline,
or oil and gas exploration and production operation by a person who
works solely for and is employed by that business; or
(B) a chemical plant, petrochemical plant,
refinery, natural gas plant, or natural gas treatment plant by a
person who under a contract of at least 12 months' duration performs
electrical work for that plant and:
(i) the electrical work is not performed
during new construction as defined by rules adopted under Chapter
151, Tax Code; or
(ii) the person is not working for a
contractor that has a principal place of business in another state
or territory of the United States or a foreign country;
(15) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of elevators, escalators, or related equipment, excluding
any required power source, regulated under Chapter 754, Health and
Safety Code;
(16) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of equipment or network facilities provided or utilized by a
cable operator, as that term is defined by 47 U.S.C. Section 522, as
amended;
(17) the location, design, construction, extension,
maintenance, and installation of on-site sewage disposal systems in
accordance with Chapter 366, Health and Safety Code, or an on-site
sewage facility installer licensed under Chapter 366, Health and
Safety Code [37, Water Code];
(18) electrical work performed on a building,
structure, or equipment in agricultural use as defined by Section
11.002, Water Code, other than the processing of an agricultural
commodity;
(19) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of well pumps and equipment in accordance with Chapter 1902;
(20) electrical work required for the construction and
assembly of HUD-code manufactured housing or modular housing and
building units, other than the installation of service entrance
conductors, that is performed by a licensed manufacturer or
installer under Chapter 1201 or 1202, as applicable, if work
performed is within the scope of the license as defined by
applicable statutes and administrative rules;
(21) work performed by a plumber who holds a license or
endorsement or is registered under Chapter 1301 that is necessary
to install, service, maintain, repair, or replace any type of
plumbing fixture or appliance, as described by Section 1301.002(7),
including a water heater, food disposer, garbage disposal, water
softener, dishwashing machine, and clothes washing machine on
existing electrical circuits only;
(22) the maintenance or repair of a residential
appliance by a residential appliance dealer or manufacturer or a
person authorized by a residential appliance dealer or manufacturer
using only components of the same type and ampacity as the original
components; and
(23) the maintenance, alteration, or repair of a
pool-related electrical device by, or pool-related electrical
maintenance performed by, an employee of a municipality on a pool
owned or operated by the municipality.
SECTION 6. Section 37.002, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 37.002. RULES. The commission shall adopt any rules
necessary to:
(1) establish occupational licenses and registrations
prescribed by Sections 26.0301, 26.3573, 26.452, and 26.456 of this
code, Sections 341.033, 341.034, and 361.027, [and 366.071,] Health
and Safety Code, and Section 1903.251, Occupations Code;
(2) establish classes and terms of occupational
licenses and registrations; and
(3) administer the provisions of this chapter and
other laws governing occupational licenses and registrations under
the commission's jurisdiction.
SECTION 7. Section 37.003, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 37.003. LICENSE OR REGISTRATION REQUIRED. A person
may not engage in a business, occupation, or profession described
by Section 26.0301, 26.3573, 26.452, or 26.456 of this code,
Section 341.033, 341.034, or 361.027, [366.014, or 366.071,] Health
and Safety Code, or Section 1903.251, Occupations Code, unless the
person holds the appropriate license or registration issued by the
commission.
SECTION 8. Chapter 37, Water Code, is amended by adding
Section 37.016 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.016. LICENSING OF INSTALLERS OF ON-SITE SEWAGE
DISPOSAL SYSTEMS BY TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATION.
Notwithstanding any other law:
(1) the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
and the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation, as
appropriate, shall exercise all powers and duties formerly
exercised by the commission under this chapter in relation to the
licensing or registration of a person who constructs, installs,
alters, extends, services, maintains, or repairs an on-site sewage
disposal system;
(2) a reference in this chapter to the commission in
relation to the licensing or registration of a person who
constructs, installs, alters, extends, services, maintains, or
repairs an on-site sewage disposal system means the Texas
Department of Licensing and Regulation or the Texas Commission of
Licensing and Regulation, as appropriate; and
(3) a reference in any other law to the commission in
relation to the licensing or registration of a person who
constructs, installs, alters, extends, services, maintains, or
repairs an on-site sewage disposal system under this chapter means
the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation or the Texas
Commission of Licensing and Regulation, as appropriate.
SECTION 9. (a) Not later than September 1, 2012, all
powers, duties, functions, programs, and activities related to the
licensing and registration of installers of on-site sewage disposal
systems are transferred to the Texas Department of Licensing and
Regulation and the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation, as
appropriate.
(b) On the date specified by Subsection (a) of this section
for the transfer described by that subsection:
(1) all obligations and contracts of the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality that are related to a power,
duty, function, program, or activity transferred from the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality under Subsection (a) of this
section are transferred to the Texas Department of Licensing and
Regulation and the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation, as
appropriate;
(2) all property and records in the custody of a state
agency or entity that are related to a power, duty, function,
program, or activity transferred from the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality under Subsection (a) of this section and all
funds appropriated by the legislature for the power, duty,
function, program, or activity are transferred to the Texas
Department of Licensing and Regulation and the Texas Commission of
Licensing and Regulation, as appropriate; and
(3) all complaints, investigations, or contested
cases that are pending before the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality that are related to a power, duty, function, program, or
activity transferred from the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality under Subsection (a) of this section are transferred
without change in status to the Texas Department of Licensing and
Regulation and the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation, as
appropriate.
(c) A rule or form adopted by the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality that relates to a power, duty, function,
program, or activity transferred from the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality under Subsection (a) of this section is a
rule or form of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation or
the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation, as appropriate,
and remains in effect until altered by the commission or
department.
(d) A reference in law to the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality, or to the governing body of the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality, that relates to a power, duty,
function, program, or activity transferred under Subsection (a) of
this section means the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
or the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation, as
appropriate.
(e) A license or registration in effect that was issued by
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that relates to a
power, duty, function, program, or activity transferred under
Subsection (a) of this section is continued in effect as a license
or registration of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
or the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation, as
appropriate.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.