. .

PRICE DANIEL ATTORNEY

GENERAL July 16, 1948 Mh

Hon. Ernest 0. Thompson, Chairman cm-/ 

### /I ‘z-3 Railroad Commlsslon of Texas Austin, Texas ,
OpinionNo. v-638

Re: Relssuance of licenses under the Liquefied PetroleumGas Act, Art. 6053,V.C.S., bond and Insurance requirements
on change of business and related questions.

Dear Sir:
By letterdated June 24, 1948, the Director of the Gas UtllltlesDivision of the Rallroad Commission requested the opinion of this office upon certain questions presented under the Liquefied PetroleumGas Act, Art. 6053, V.C.S., as follows:

"1

. A licensed corporationchanges during the year to a partnershipwherein the stockholdersof ths corporationbecoms the partners In thepartnership no partnersbeing added who were not stockholders in the corporation. Also, the exact converse Is often truewherein a partnershipchanges
over to a corporateentity.
“2

. A licenseddealer, either lndlvldual, partnership or corporation,merely changes the name of the concern durlng'the year while ths ownershipremains the same. “3

. A licenseechanges Intoa partnership, corporation or back to Individual ownership either adding IXBW partners or stockholders, or dropping aone as the case may be. Solnetlmes

the firm name underwhich the llcensee operates Is changed, sometimesnot.. .

Hon. Ernest 0. Thompson - Page2 - v-638

"Underall of the situationsenumerated above, It has been the praotlce of thisDlvlslon to requirean amended appllcatlon for llcerise,

and a new license Is issued reflecting the changes that have occurred. The question Iswhether or not's licenseewho makes an amended application for license during the year which reflectsany of the changes set out above, must pay a new licensd fee or whether the fee paid for the original licensewill suffice for that year.
"Thenextquestion deals with Section 11 of Article 6053, as amended, Title 102, (VACS). Can .alicenseewho operatesa dealership In one town and who Is the sole owner of scattereddealerships throughout the State, all operating underdifferent names, satisfy the bona and Insurance requirementsof Section 11 by procuring one bond thatpurportedly covers all of his dealerships and one policy of lnsurance that also purportedly covers the operations of employees and trucks throughout his dealerships? Also, In linewith the lltense requlremnts of Section 7. A. 6053, will
one license taken out for all of the dealershipsmentioned above suffice, or will a separate licensehave to be obtained for each dealers hip?"
Sections 7, 10, and 11,Article 6053, V. C. S., provide:

"Sec. 7. (1) Ho person, firm or corporation shall engage In this state In the manufacturing,and/or assembling, and/or repalrlag, and/or selling, and/or Installing of containers to be used with liquefiedpetroleum gases as a fuel, nor shall such person, firm,
or corporationengage In the sale, transportation, dispensing or storage of liquefied petroleum gaseswithin this state, except where stored by the ultimate consumer for consumption only,without having first obtained from the Railroad Commission of Texas under the provisions of this Act a license so
to do. Applications for such licenses shall be Inwriting and shall contain such lnformatlon 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 C6mmlsslonhas determined that the applicant hasmade good and sufficientproof that he can and will meet all safety requlrenu4nts provided In this Act and by the rules and regulations of the Railroad Commission,and the Commission finds that such applicant Is qualified and the evlaence adduced justifies Issuancebf such llcerise. The Railroad Commlsslon shall have the authority to promulgate rules and regulations for the safety and protection of the public."

Y5ec. 10. For the purpose of defraying the expenses of administeringthis Act, each person, firm,corporation or association engaged In one or more of the pursuits named In subsection (1)of this section,except as otherwiseprovided In this subsection,shall at the time of Issuanceof such license, and annually thereafter, on or between September 1st and September 15th of each calendaryear pay to theRRllroad Commlsslona special fee ofTwenty-five ($25.00)Dollars; except that each person, firm, or corporationwho operates a truck or trucks in the wholesale or retail delivery of liquefiedpetroleumgas, shall at the time of Issuance of such license, and annually thereafter, on or between September 1st and September 15th of each caleadar 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 hereprovided for Is lssusd after themonth of September of any 

### year,all fees shallbe prorated to the remaining portion of theyear toAugust 31st following,but In no case less than ouefourth ofthe total annual fee."

"Sec. 11. No license shall be Issued purswat to this section,unless such licensee shall first filewith the Commlss'ioa a 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 InTexas. All such bonds shall provide that the obllgator thereinwill lndemnlfy and pay the State of Texas, to the extent of the face amount thereof,all judgments which may be recovered In the name of the StateofTexas against such licensee,durlog the term of such bond and proximately caused by any violation,by sald'llcensee,of the terms of thisAct or any orders or rules promulgatedby the Railroad Commissionas authorized by this Act.

"Inaddition to the bond herein required, such licensee shall be obligatedto procure from SOUB reliable Insurance or surety company 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 lnsurance or suretybond which shallguarantee the payment of all damageswhich proximately result fromany act of negligence,while engaging In any of the actlvltlesas herein provided, on the part of said licensee, their agents and employees, to both the employees of said licenseeand also to the public generally, 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 accident, and not less than Five Thousand ($5,000.00)Dollars for property damage for any one accident. Provided that this section shall not be applicable unless and until such bonds or policies of Insuranceare available forpurchase and furtherprovided that suchbonds or policies of Insurance shallbe approved by theRailroad Commission of Texas. ”

It Is undoubtedlythe Intent of the statute to require that those IndIvIdualaor business entitles legally responsible to the public for the consequences of engaging In such businessbe licensedunder theAct. For the protection of the public It Is necessary that the records of the Gas IJtllltles Division 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 ofHon. Ernest 0. Thompson - Page 5 - v-638

change of nams underwhich a licensee Is operating,
an amended applicationmust be made and an amended lltense Issued. No fees should be charged unless the business entity also changes. For example, a corporation Into a partnership,a partnership Into a corporate business, or an lnalvlaual Into either. Llkewise, In the case of partnerships,a new licensemust Issue and new feesbe charged upon the,addltlon or withdrawal of a partner. This Is trw because such changes automaticallydissolve 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 individualoperatingvarious dealerships In several towns under different assumed names, It Is our opinion only one license Is required,which should, however, Indicate that the lndlvldual Is doing business at the various places under 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 Individualdoing business In more than one town undervarious 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 lndlvldualdoing business under the various assumed names.

SUMMARY

A new license Is required and new llDense fees are payable under the Liquefied PetroleumGas Act, Art. 6053, V. C. S., when
an lnalvlaual licensee ceases doing business
as an lndlvldualand the business changes lnto a corporation or copartnershlp orwhen the number of partners In a copartnershipchanges. The same Is true when a business organization
ceases operatingas a partnership or corporation and the business la owned and conducted by an lndlvldual.

One licensewill sufficeand‘only one bond or policy of InsuranceIs required underHon. Ernest 0. Thompson - Page 6 - v-638

Section 11 of Art. 6053, V. C. S., for an lndlvldualdoing business In several looallties undervarious assumed na11y4s.

Yours very truly

ATTORNEYFENERAL OF TE$AS

JDS:jt

APPROVED: