Bill Text: TX SB565 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to repeal of authority for the establishment and operation of the Trans-Texas Corridor and to the operation of vehicles on certain Texas roadways.

Sponsorship: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-04-11 - Not again placed on intent calendar [SB565 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB565-Comm_Sub.html

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By: Hegar, Watson S.B. No. 565
(In the Senate - Filed February 8, 2011; February 17, 2011,
read first time and referred to Committee on Transportation and
Homeland Security; April 5, 2011, reported adversely, with
favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7,
Nays 0; April 5, 2011, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 565 By: Watson

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to repeal of authority for the establishment and operation
of the Trans-Texas Corridor and to the operation of vehicles on
certain Texas roadways.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (j), Section 11.11, Tax Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(j) For purposes of this section, any portion of a facility
owned by the Texas Department of Transportation that is [part of the
Trans-Texas Corridor, is] a rail facility or system[,] or is a
highway in the state highway system, and that is licensed or leased
to a private entity by that department under Chapter 91 or[,] 223,
[or 227,] Transportation Code, is public property used for a public
purpose if the rail facility or system, highway, or facility is
operated by the private entity to provide transportation or utility
services. Any part of a facility, rail facility or system, or state
highway that is licensed or leased to a private entity for a
commercial purpose is not exempt from taxation.
SECTION 2. Subsection (c), Section 25.06, Tax Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) This section does not apply to:
(1) any portion of a facility owned by the Texas
Department of Transportation that is [part of the Trans-Texas
Corridor, is] a rail facility or system[,] or is a highway in the
state highway system and that is licensed or leased to a private
entity by that department under Chapter 91 or 223 [, 227, or 361],
Transportation Code; or
(2) a leasehold or other possessory interest granted
by the Texas Department of Transportation in a facility owned by
that department that is [part of the Trans-Texas Corridor, is] a
rail facility or system[,] or is a highway in the state highway
system.
SECTION 3. Subsection (c), Section 25.07, Tax Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to:
(1) any portion of a facility owned by the Texas
Department of Transportation that is [part of the Trans-Texas
Corridor, is] a rail facility or system[,] or is a highway in the
state highway system and that is licensed or leased to a private
entity by that department under Chapter 91 or 223[, 227, or 361],
Transportation Code; or
(2) a leasehold or other possessory interest granted
by the Texas Department of Transportation in a facility owned by
that department that is [part of the Trans-Texas Corridor, is] a
rail facility or system[,] or is a highway in the state highway
system.
SECTION 4. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 201.616,
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Not later than December 1 of each year, the department
shall submit a report to the legislature that details:
(1) the expenditures made by the department in the
preceding state fiscal year in connection with:
(A) the unified transportation program of the
department;
(B) turnpike projects and toll roads of the
department; and
(C) [the Trans-Texas Corridor;
[(D)] rail facilities described in Chapter 91;
[and
[(E) non-highway facilities on the Trans-Texas
Corridor if those expenditures are subject to Section 227.062(c);]
(2) the amount of bonds or other public securities
issued for transportation projects; and
(3) the direction of money by the department to a
regional mobility authority in this state.
(b) The report must break down information under Subsection
(a)(1)(A) by program category and department district. The report
must break down information under Subsections (a)(1)(B) and[,]
(C)[, (D), and (E)] and Subsection (a)(3) by department district.
The report must break down information under Subsection (a)(2) by
department district and type of project.
SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 202.112, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission may purchase an option to acquire
property for possible use in or in connection with a transportation
facility[, including a facility as defined by Section 227.001,]
before a final decision has been made as to whether the
transportation facility will be located on that property.
SECTION 6. Subsection (e), Section 222.003, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(e) The proceeds of bonds and other public securities issued
under this section may not be used for any purpose other than any
costs related to the bonds and other public securities and the
purposes for which revenues are dedicated under Section 7-a,
Article VIII, Texas Constitution. [The proceeds of bonds and other
public securities issued under this section may not be used for the
construction of a state highway or other facility on the
Trans-Texas Corridor. For purposes of this section, the
"Trans-Texas Corridor" means the statewide system of multimodal
facilities under the jurisdiction of the department that is
designated by the commission, notwithstanding the name given to
that corridor.]
SECTION 7. Subsection (a), Section 223.201, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Subject to Section 223.202, the department may enter
into a comprehensive development agreement with a private entity to
design, develop, finance, construct, maintain, repair, operate,
extend, or expand a:
(1) toll project;
(2) [facility or a combination of facilities on the
Trans-Texas Corridor;
[(3)] state highway improvement project that includes
both tolled and nontolled lanes and may include nontolled
appurtenant facilities;
(3) [(4)] state highway improvement project in which
the private entity has an interest in the project; or
(4) [(5)] state highway improvement project financed
wholly or partly with the proceeds of private activity bonds, as
defined by Section 141(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
SECTION 8. Subsection (d), Section 223.206, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(d) The department may not enter into a comprehensive
development agreement with a private entity under this subchapter
[or Section 227.023] that provides for the lease, license, or other
use of rights-of-way or related property by the private entity for
the purpose of constructing, operating, or maintaining an ancillary
facility that is used for commercial purposes.
SECTION 9. Subsections (b), (c), (e), and (f), Section
223.208, Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) A comprehensive development agreement entered into
under this subchapter [or Section 227.023(c)] may include any
provision that the department considers appropriate, including
provisions:
(1) providing for the purchase by the department,
under terms and conditions agreed to by the parties, of the interest
of a private participant in the comprehensive development agreement
and related property, including any interest in a highway or other
facility designed, developed, financed, constructed, operated, or
maintained under the comprehensive development agreement;
(2) establishing the purchase price for the interest
of a private participant in the comprehensive development agreement
and related property, which price may be determined in accordance
with the methodology established by the parties in the
comprehensive development agreement;
(3) providing for the payment of obligations incurred
pursuant to the comprehensive development agreement, including any
obligation to pay the purchase price for the interest of a private
participant in the comprehensive development agreement, from any
lawfully available source, including securing such obligations by a
pledge of revenues of the commission or the department derived from
the applicable project, which pledge shall have such priority as
the department may establish;
(4) permitting the private participant to pledge its
rights under the comprehensive development agreement;
(5) concerning the private participant's right to
operate and collect revenue from the project; and
(6) restricting the right of the commission or the
department to terminate the private participant's right to operate
and collect revenue from the project unless and until any
applicable termination payments have been made.
(c) The department may enter into a comprehensive
development agreement under this subchapter [or under Section
227.023(c)] with a private participant only if the project is
identified in the department's unified transportation program or is
located on a transportation corridor identified in the statewide
transportation plan.
(e) Notwithstanding anything in Section 201.112 or other
law to the contrary, and subject to compliance with the dispute
resolution procedures set out in the comprehensive development
agreement, an obligation of the commission or the department under
a comprehensive development agreement entered into under this
subchapter [or Section 227.023(c)] to make or secure payments to a
person because of the termination of the agreement, including the
purchase of the interest of a private participant or other investor
in a project, may be enforced by mandamus against the commission,
the department, and the comptroller in a district court of Travis
County, and the sovereign immunity of the state is waived for that
purpose. The district courts of Travis County shall have exclusive
jurisdiction and venue over and to determine and adjudicate all
issues necessary to adjudicate any action brought under this
subsection. The remedy provided by this subsection is in addition
to any legal and equitable remedies that may be available to a party
to a comprehensive development agreement.
(f) A comprehensive development agreement entered into
under this subchapter [or Section 227.023(c)] and any obligations
incurred, issued, or owed under the agreement does not constitute a
state security under Chapter 1231, Government Code.
SECTION 10. Section 224.1541, Transportation Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The commission may authorize the operation of a vehicle
that exceeds the weight limitations of Subchapter B, Chapter 621,
or the size limitations of Subchapter C, Chapter 621, on a lane
designated as an exclusive lane under this section if supported by
an engineering and traffic study that includes an analysis of the
structural capacity of bridges and pavements, current and projected
traffic patterns and volume, and potential effects on public
safety. This subsection does not authorize the operation of a
vehicle that exceeds a maximum axle weight authorized by Chapter
621, 622, or 623. This subsection does not apply to a roadway that
is a part of the national system of interstate and defense highways.
SECTION 11. Section 545.353, Transportation Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (h-2) to read as follows:
(h-2) Notwithstanding Section 545.352(b), as amended by
Chapters 663 (H.B. 385) and 739 (H.B. 1075), Acts of the 76th
Legislature, Regular Session, 1999, the commission may establish a
speed limit not to exceed 85 miles per hour on a part of the state
highway system if:
(1) that part of the highway system is designed to
accommodate travel at that established speed or a higher speed; and
(2) the commission determines, after an engineering
and traffic investigation conducted after traffic conditions on
that part of the highway system have stabilized but not earlier than
the first anniversary of the date that part of the highway system
opens to traffic, that the established speed limit is reasonable
and safe for that part of the highway system.
SECTION 12. Subdivision (2), Section 371.001,
Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
(2) "Toll project entity" means an entity authorized
by law to acquire, design, construct, operate, and maintain a toll
project, including:
(A) the department[, including under Chapter
227];
(B) a regional tollway authority under Chapter
366;
(C) a regional mobility authority under Chapter
370; or
(D) a county under Chapter 284.
SECTION 13. Subdivision (2), Section 372.001,
Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
(2) "Toll project entity" means an entity authorized
by law to acquire, design, construct, finance, operate, and
maintain a toll project, including:
(A) the department under Chapter [227 or] 228;
(B) a regional tollway authority under Chapter
366;
(C) a regional mobility authority under Chapter
370; or
(D) a county under Chapter 284.
SECTION 14. The following provisions of the Transportation
Code are repealed:
(1) Subsection (e), Section 201.618;
(2) Chapter 227;
(3) Section 284.0032;
(4) Section 366.305;
(5) Section 370.316; and
(6) Section 545.3531.
SECTION 15. This Act takes effect immediately if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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