83R9105 JXC-F
	By: King of Taylor	H.B. No. 3168

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to wind energy facilities and the rights of owners of land
	on which wind energy facilities are located.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 402, Government Code, is
	amended by adding Section 402.0311 to read as follows:
	Sec. 402.0311.  PREPARATION OF WIND ENERGY GENERATION
	LANDOWNER BILL OF RIGHTS STATEMENT. (a) The attorney general shall
	prepare a written statement that includes a bill of rights for a
	landowner whose land is used for the generation of wind energy by a
	wind energy facility to which Chapter 212, Natural Resources Code,
	applies.
	(b)  The wind energy generation landowner bill of rights must
	list the rights of the landowner and the obligations of the owner of
	the wind energy facility to the landowner under Chapter 212,
	Natural Resources Code.
	(c)  The statement must include the title "Wind Energy
	Generation Landowner Bill of Rights."
	(d)  The office of the attorney general shall:
	(1)  write the statement in plain language designed to
	be easily understood by the average property owner; and
	(2)  make the statement available on the attorney
	general's Internet website.
	SECTION 2.  Title 11, Natural Resources Code, is amended by
	adding Chapter 212 to read as follows:
	CHAPTER 212. WIND ENERGY FACILITIES
	Sec. 212.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
	(1)  "Commencement of construction":
	(A)  means beginning excavation of wind turbine
	foundations or other actions relating to the actual erection and
	installation of a wind tower or turbine; and
	(B)  does not include erecting meteorological
	towers, conducting environmental assessments, conducting surveys,
	or conducting preliminary engineering or other activities
	associated with assessment of development of wind resources.
	(2)  "Wind energy conversion system" means a system
	that converts wind energy into electric energy through the use of a
	wind turbine generator and includes a turbine, blade, tower, base,
	and pad transformer, if any.
	(3)  "Wind energy facility" means an electric
	generating facility that consists of one or more wind energy
	conversion systems under common ownership or operating control and
	the substations, meteorological data towers, aboveground and
	underground electric transmission lines, transformers, control
	systems, and other buildings or facilities used to support the
	operation of the facility.
	Sec. 212.002.  APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to
	a wind energy conversion system or wind energy facility:
	(1)  the primary purpose of which is to supply electric
	energy to an off-site customer; and
	(2)  that is not located entirely on property held in
	fee simple by the owner of the wind energy facility.
	Sec. 212.003.  INSURANCE. (a) An owner or operator of a wind
	energy conversion system or wind energy facility consisting of one
	or more wind towers and turbines any of which has a total nameplate
	generating capacity of 500 kilowatts or more shall obtain before
	the commencement of construction of the system or facility and
	shall keep in effect:
	(1)  a commercial general liability insurance policy
	with a limit consistent with prevailing industry standards; or
	(2)  a combination of self-insurance and an excess
	liability insurance policy.
	(b)  The owner or operator shall cause the owner of the land
	where the wind energy conversion system or wind energy facility is
	located to be named as an additional insured in the policy.
	(c)  The owner or operator shall deliver to the landowner a
	certificate of insurance evidencing the policy.
	(d)  Not later than the 30th day before the date the owner or
	operator modifies, cancels, or terminates the insurance policy, the
	owner or operator shall give notice to the landowner of the
	modification, cancellation, or termination.
	Sec. 212.004.  RIGHTS OF LANDOWNER. (a) An owner or operator
	of a wind energy conversion system or wind energy facility who pays
	a landowner for the use of the landowner's property to generate
	electric energy from the conversion of wind energy based on the
	amount of electric energy produced from the conversion of wind
	energy shall:
	(1)  provide to the landowner not later than 10
	business days after each date the owner or operator pays the
	landowner a statement that includes the information reasonably
	necessary to provide the landowner an understanding of the basis
	for the payment to the landowner and a means of confirming the
	accuracy of the payment; and
	(2)  allow the landowner to inspect the records of the
	owner or operator relating to the wind energy conversion system or
	wind energy facility for the purpose of confirming the accuracy of a
	payment made to the landowner in the 24 months preceding the date of
	the inspection.
	(b)  Not more frequently than once each year, a landowner
	described by Subsection (a) may request that the owner or operator
	of a wind energy conversion system or wind energy facility on the
	landowner's property make available in this state all records
	necessary for the landowner to conduct the inspection described by
	Subsection (a)(2), including documents, data, and other
	information, or copies of the records, documents, data, or
	information. The records are subject to any confidentiality
	requirements in a lease agreement between the landowner and the
	owner or operator of the system or facility.
	(c)  The owner or operator shall comply with the landowner's
	request to make the records available within a reasonable time.
	(d)  The owner or operator shall:
	(1)  make the records available in a location and
	manner that affords the landowner reasonable access to the records
	during normal business hours; and
	(2)  allow the landowner a reasonable period of time to
	complete the inspection.
	(e)  A landowner may not cause undue disruption to the
	operations of an owner or operator during an inspection described
	by Subsection (a)(2).
	(f)  Before entering into a lease agreement with a landowner,
	an owner of a wind energy conversion system or wind energy facility
	must send to the landowner, by first class mail or otherwise, a wind
	energy generation landowner bill of rights statement prepared under
	Section 402.0311, Government Code. The statement must be printed in
	an easily readable font and type size.
	SECTION 3.  The attorney general shall prepare the wind
	energy generation landowner bill of rights statement required by
	Section 402.0311, Government Code, as added by this Act, not later
	than September 1, 2014.
	SECTION 4.  (a) The changes in law made by this Act apply to
	an owner or operator of a wind energy conversion system or a wind
	energy facility, as those terms are defined by Section 212.001,
	Natural Resources Code, as added by this Act, the construction or
	installation of which began before or begins on or after the
	effective date of this Act.
	(b)  An owner or operator of a wind energy conversion system
	or a wind energy facility as those terms are defined by Section
	212.001, Natural Resources Code, as added by this Act, the
	construction or installation of which began before the effective
	date of this Act is not required to comply with the provisions of
	Chapter 212, Natural Resources Code, as added by this Act, until
	September 1, 2018.
	(c)  An owner or operator of a wind energy conversion system
	or a wind energy facility, as those terms are defined by Section
	212.001, Natural Resources Code, as added by this Act, the
	construction or installation of which begins on or after the
	effective date of this Act is not required to comply with Section
	212.004(f), Natural Resources Code, as added by this Act, until
	October 1, 2014.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.