|
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to the disclosure of the composition of hydraulic |
|
fracturing fluids used in hydraulic fracturing treatments. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Chapter 91, Natural Resources Code, is amended |
|
by adding Subchapter S to read as follows: |
|
SUBCHAPTER S. DISCLOSURE OF COMPOSITION OF HYDRAULIC FRACTURING |
|
FLUIDS |
|
Sec. 91.851. DISCLOSURE OF COMPOSITION OF HYDRAULIC |
|
FRACTURING FLUIDS. (a) The commission by rule shall: |
|
(1) require an operator of a well on which a hydraulic |
|
fracturing treatment is performed to: |
|
(A) complete the form posted on the hydraulic |
|
fracturing chemical registry Internet website of the Ground Water |
|
Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact |
|
Commission with regard to the well; |
|
(B) include in the form completed under Paragraph |
|
(A): |
|
(i) the total volume of water used in the |
|
hydraulic fracturing treatment; and |
|
(ii) each chemical ingredient that is |
|
subject to the requirements of 29 C.F.R. Section 1910.1200(g)(2), |
|
as provided by a service company or chemical supplier or by the |
|
operator, if the operator provides its own chemical ingredients; |
|
(C) post the completed form described by |
|
Paragraph (A) on the website described by that paragraph or, if the |
|
website is discontinued or permanently inoperable, post the |
|
completed form on another publicly accessible Internet website |
|
specified by the commission; |
|
(D) submit the completed form described by |
|
Paragraph (A) to the commission with the well completion report for |
|
the well; and |
|
(E) in addition to the completed form specified |
|
in Paragraph (D), provide to the commission a list, to be made |
|
available on a publicly accessible website, of all other chemical |
|
ingredients not listed on the completed form that were |
|
intentionally included and used for the purpose of creating a |
|
hydraulic fracturing treatment for the well. The commission rule |
|
shall ensure that an operator, service company, or supplier is not |
|
responsible for disclosing ingredients that: |
|
(i) were not purposely added to the |
|
hydraulic fracturing treatment; |
|
(ii) occur incidentally or are otherwise |
|
unintentionally present in the treatment; or |
|
(iii) in the case of the operator, are not |
|
disclosed to the operator by a service company or supplier. The |
|
commission rule shall not require that the ingredients be |
|
identified based on the additive in which they are found or that the |
|
concentration of such ingredients be provided; |
|
(2) require a service company that performs a |
|
hydraulic fracturing treatment on a well or a supplier of an |
|
additive used in a hydraulic fracturing treatment on a well to |
|
provide the operator of the well with the information necessary for |
|
the operator to comply with Subdivision (1); |
|
(3) prescribe a process by which an entity required to |
|
comply with Subdivision (1) or (2) may withhold and declare certain |
|
information as a trade secret for purposes of Section 552.110, |
|
Government Code, including the identity and amount of the chemical |
|
ingredient used in a hydraulic fracturing treatment; |
|
(4) require a person who desires to challenge a claim |
|
of entitlement to trade secret protection under Subdivision (3) to |
|
file the challenge not later than the second anniversary of the date |
|
the relevant well completion report is filed with the commission; |
|
(5) limit the persons who may challenge a claim of |
|
entitlement to trade secret protection under Subdivision (3) to: |
|
(A) the landowner on whose property the relevant |
|
well is located; |
|
(B) a landowner who owns property adjacent to |
|
property described by Paragraph (A); or |
|
(C) a department or agency of this state with |
|
jurisdiction over a matter to which the claimed trade secret is |
|
relevant; |
|
(6) require, in the event of a trade secret challenge, |
|
that the commission promptly notify the service company performing |
|
the hydraulic fracturing treatment on the relevant well, the |
|
supplier of the additive or chemical ingredient for which the trade |
|
secret claim is made, or any other owner of the trade secret being |
|
challenged and provide the owner an opportunity to substantiate its |
|
trade secret claim; and |
|
(7) prescribe a process, consistent with 29 C.F.R. |
|
Section 1910.1200, for an entity described by Subdivision (1) or |
|
(2) to provide information, including information that is a trade |
|
secret as defined by Appendix D to 29 C.F.R. Section 1910.1200, to a |
|
health professional or emergency responder who needs the |
|
information in accordance with Subsection (i) of that section. |
|
(b) The protection and challenge of trade secrets under this |
|
section is governed by Chapter 552, Government Code. |
|
SECTION 2. Subchapter S, Chapter 91, Natural Resources |
|
Code, as added by this Act, applies only to a hydraulic fracturing |
|
treatment performed on a well for which an initial drilling permit |
|
is issued on or after the date the initial rules adopted by the |
|
Railroad Commission of Texas under that subchapter take effect. A |
|
hydraulic fracturing treatment performed on a well for which an |
|
initial drilling permit is issued before the date the initial rules |
|
take effect is governed by the law as it existed immediately before |
|
the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect |
|
for that purpose. |
|
|
|
SECTION 3. The Railroad Commission of Texas shall adopt |
|
rules under Subchapter S, Chapter 91, Natural Resources Code, as |
|
added by this Act, not later than July 1, 2012, with the exception |
|
of those rules under Paragraph (E), which are to be adopted not |
|
later than July 1, 2013. |
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
______________________________ |
|
President of the Senate |
Speaker of the House |
|
|
|
I certify that H.B. No. 3328 was passed by the House on May |
|
12, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 133, Nays 12, 2 present, not |
|
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to |
|
H.B. No. 3328 on May 27, 2011, and requested the appointment of a |
|
conference committee to consider the differences between the two |
|
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report |
|
on H.B. No. 3328 on May 29, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 137, |
|
Nays 8, 2 present, not voting. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|
|
I certify that H.B. No. 3328 was passed by the Senate, with |
|
amendments, on May 25, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays |
|
0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference |
|
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and |
|
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No. |
|
3328 on May 29, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Secretary of the Senate |
|
APPROVED: __________________ |
|
Date |
|
|
|
__________________ |
|
Governor |