. .
PRICE DANIEL
ATTORNEYGENERAL
July 16, 1948
Mh
cm-/ /I ‘z-3
Hon. Ernest 0. Thompson, Chairman
Railroad Commlsslon of Texas ,
Austin, Texas
Opinion No. v-638
Re: Relssuance of licenses
under the Liquefied Pe-
troleum Gas Act, Art.
6053, V.C.S., bond and
Insurance requirements
on change of business
and related questions.
Dear Sir:
By letter dated June 24, 1948, the Director
of the Gas Utllltles Division of the Rallroad Commis-
sion requested the opinion of this office upon certain
questions presented under the Liquefied Petroleum Gas
Act, Art. 6053, V.C.S., as follows:
"1. A licensed corporation changes dur-
ing the year to a partnership wherein the
stockholders of ths corporation becoms the
partners In the partnership no partners be-
ing added who were not stockholders in the
corporation. Also, the exact converse Is
often true wherein a partnership changes
over to a corporate entity.
“2. A licensed dealer, either lndl-
vldual, partnership or corporation, merely
changes the name of the concern durlng'the
year while ths ownership remains the same.
“3. A licensee changes Into a partner-
ship, corporation or back to Individual own-
ership either adding IXBWpartners or stock-
holders, or dropping aone as the case may be.
Solnetlmesthe firm name under which the ll-
censee operates Is changed, sometimes not.
. .
Hon. Ernest 0. Thompson - Page2 - v-638
"Under all of the situations enumerated
above, It has been the praotlce of this Dlvl-
slon to require an amended appllcatlon for ll-
cerise,and a new license Is issued reflecting
the changes that have occurred. The question
Is whether or not's licensee who makes an
amended application for license during the
year which reflects any of the changes set
out above, must pay a new licensd fee or wheth-
er the fee paid for the original license will
suffice for that year.
"The next question deals with Section 11
of Article 6053, as amended, Title 102, (VACS).
Can .a licensee who operates a dealership In
one town and who Is the sole owner of scat-
tered dealerships throughout the State, all
operating under different names, satisfy the
bona and Insurance requirements of Section 11
by procuring one bond that purportedly covers
all of his dealerships and one policy of ln-
surance that also purportedly covers the op-
erations of employees and trucks throughout
his dealerships? Also, In line with the ll-
tense requlremnts of Section 7. A. 6053, will
one license taken out for all of the dealer-
ships mentioned above suffice, or will a sepa-
rate license have to be obtained for each deal-
ers hip?"
Sections 7, 10, and 11, Article 6053, V. C. S.,
provide:
"Sec. 7. (1) Ho person, firm or corpo-
ration shall engage In this state In the manu-
facturing, and/or assembling, and/or repalr-
lag, and/or selling, and/or Installing of con-
tainers to be used with liquefied petroleum
gases as a fuel, nor shall such person, firm,
or corporation engage In the sale, transpor-
tation, dispensing or storage of liquefied
petroleum gases within this state, except
where stored by the ultimate consumer for
consumption only, without having first ob-
tained from the Railroad Commission of Texas
under the provisions of this Act a license so
to do. Applications for such licenses shall
be In writing and shall contain such lnforma-
tlon as the Commission shall prescribe. No
.
Hon. Ernest 0. Thompson - Page 3 - v-638
swh license shall be Issued until a hearing
Is had thereon and the C6mmlsslon has de-
termined that the applicant has made good
and sufficient proof that he can and will
meet all safety requlrenu4ntsprovided In this
Act and by the rules and regulations of the
Railroad Commission, and the Commission finds
that such applicant Is qualified and the evl-
aence adduced justifies Issuance bf such ll-
cerise. The Railroad Commlsslon shall have
the authority to promulgate rules and regu-
lations for the safety and protection of the
public."
Y5ec. 10. For the purpose of defraying
the expenses of administering this Act, each
person, firm, corporation or association en-
gaged In one or more of the pursuits named
In subsection (1) of this section, except as
otherwise provided In this subsection, shall
at the time of Issuance of such license, and
annually thereafter, on or between September
1st and September 15th of each calendar year
pay to the RRllroad Commlsslon a special fee
of Twenty-five ($25.00) Dollars; except that
each person, firm, or corporation who oper-
ates a truck or trucks in the wholesale or
retail delivery of liquefied petroleum gas,
shall at the time of Issuance of such license,
and annually thereafter, on or between Sep-
tember 1st and September 15th of each calea-
dar year, pay to the Railroad Commlsslon a
special fee of Fifty ($50.00) Dollars, and
when such fifty dollar fee Is paid, said firm
or corporation shall not be liable for the
payment of the Twenty-five ($25.00) Dollar
fee as provided herein.
"If the license here provided for Is
lssusd after the month of September of any
year, all fees shall be prorated to the re-
maining portion of the year to August 31st
following, but In no case less than oue-
fourth of the total annual fee."
"Sec. 11. No license shall be Issued pur-
swat to this section, unless such licensee
shall first file with the Commlss'ioaa surety
bond In the sum of TWO Thousand ($2,000.00)
Hon. Ernest 0. Thompson - Page4 - v-638
Dollars with a bonding company authorized to
dd business In Texas. All such bonds shall
provide that the obllgator therein will ln-
demnlfy and pay the State of Texas, to the
extent of the face amount thereof, all judg-
ments which may be recovered In the name of
the State of Texas against such licensee, dur-
log the term of such bond and proximately
caused by any violation, by sald'llcensee, of
the terms of this Act or any orders or rules
promulgated by the Railroad Commission as au-
thorized by this Act.
"In addition to the bond herein required,
such licensee shall be obligated to procure
from SOUB reliable Insurance or surety com-
pany qualified to do business In the State of
Texas, and keep same In force so long as they
shall continue In business, a policy of ln-
surance or surety bond which shall guarantee
the payment of all damages which proximately
result from any act of negligence, while en-
gaging In any of the actlvltles as herein
provided, on the part of said licensee, their
agents and employees, to both the employees
of said licensee and also to the public gen-
erally, said policy or bond to be In the sum
of not less than Ten Thousand ($lO,OOO.OO)
Dollars for personal Injury for any one ac-
cident, and not less than Five Thousand
($5,000.00) Dollars for property damage for
any one accident. Provided that this sec-
tion shall not be applicable unless and un-
til such bonds or policies of Insurance are
available for purchase and further provided
that such bonds or policies of Insurance
shall be approved by the Railroad Commission
of Texas. ”
It Is undoubtedly the Intent of the statute
to require that those IndIvIduala or business entitles
legally responsible to the public for the consequences
of engaging In such business be licensed under the Act.
For the protection of the public It Is necessary that
the records of the Gas IJtllltlesDivision accurately
reflect the current status of all licensees.
Therefore, In answer to yoti first series
Of questions, It Is our opinion that In each case of
Hon. Ernest 0. Thompson - Page 5 - v-638
change of nams under which a licensee Is operating,
an amended application must be made and an amended ll-
tense Issued. No fees should be charged unless the
business entity also changes. For example, a corpo-
ration Into a partnership, a partnership Into a cor-
porate business, or an lnalvlaual Into either. Llke-
wise, In the case of partnerships, a new license must
Issue and new fees be charged upon the,addltlon or
withdrawal of a partner. This Is trw because such
changes automatically dissolve the old partnership
and effect an entirely new entity with different legal
relations to the public. 32 Tex. Jur. p. 495.
In the case of the individual operating var-
ious dealerships In several towns under different as-
sumed names, It Is our opinion only one license Is
required, which should, however, Indicate that the
lndlvldual Is doing business at the various places un-
der the various narms.
It Is also our opinion that under Section 11
of the statute one bona or policy of Insurance Is all
that Is necessary for an Individual doing business In
more than one town under various assumed names. We
do'advlse, however, that, as In the case of the license
for suah lndlvldual, the bona or policy of Insurance
show it Is Intended to cover the lndlvldual doing busi-
ness under the various assumed names.
SUMMARY
A new license Is required and new ll-
Dense fees are payable under the Liquefied
Petroleum Gas Act, Art. 6053, V. C. S., when
an lnalvlaual licensee ceases doing business
as an lndlvldual and the business changes ln-
to a corporation or copartnershlp or when the
number of partners In a copartnership changes.
The same Is true when a business organization
ceases operating as a partnership or corpora-
tion and the business la owned and conducted
by an lndlvldual.
One license will suffice and‘only one
bond or policy of Insurance Is required under
Hon. Ernest 0. Thompson - Page 6 - v-638
Section 11 of Art. 6053, V. C. S., for an
lndlvldual doing business In several looall-
ties under various assumed na11y4s.
Yours very truly
ATTORNEYFENERAL OF TE$AS
JDS:jt
APPROVED: