(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to construct, build or equip any water transportation line to serve the public as a common carrier of water without having first obtained from the Corporation Commission of the State of Oklahoma a certificate that the present public convenience and necessity require the operation of such business.
(b) The Commission shall not grant a certificate for the proposed water transportation line which will be in competition with or duplication of any other line serving as a common carrier of water unless it shall first determine that the existing common carrier facilities are inadequate to meet the reasonable needs of the public, or that the person operating the same in unable or refuses or neglects, after hearing on reasonable notice, to provide reasonably adequate service.
Laws 1969, c. 109, § 2, emerg. eff. April 1, 1969.