SECTION 24.1. Purpose and Scope of this Chapter

(a) This chapter is intended to establish a comprehensive regulatory system under Texas Water Code chapter 13 to ensure that rates, operations, and services are just and reasonable to the consumer and the retail public utilities, and to establish the rights and responsibilities of both the retail public utility and consumer. This chapter shall be given a fair and impartial construction to obtain these objectives and shall be applied uniformly regardless of race, color, religion, sex, or marital status. This chapter shall also govern the procedure for the institution, conduct and determination of all water and sewer rate causes and proceedings before the commission. These sections shall not be construed so as to enlarge, diminish, modify, or alter the jurisdiction, powers, or authority of the commission or the substantive rights of any person.

(b) A rule, form, policy, procedure, or decision of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) related to a power, duty, function, program, or activity transferred by House Bill 1600 and Senate Bill 567, 83rd Legislature, Regular Session (this Act), continues in effect as a rule, form, policy, procedure, or decision of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (commission) and remains in effect until amended or replaced by the commission. Any jurisdiction over a utility's rates, operations, and services ceded to the TCEQ continues in effect and shall be deemed to be ceded to the commission.

(c) It is the responsibility of each retail public utility to ensure that it remains in compliance with all applicable rules and requirements, including those imposed by TCEQ or other agencies. Nothing in this chapter relieves a retail public utility from the obligation to file reports or otherwise provide notice and information to TCEQ of regulated activities as required by TCEQ rules.

(d) An application received by the commission and file stamped in the commission's Central Records office shall be processed in accordance with the rules in effect on the date that the application was received by Central Records.

Source Note: The provisions of this §24.1 adopted to be effective September 1, 2014, 39 TexReg 5903; amended to be effective December 21, 2016, 41 TexReg 9895