Bill Text: TX SB185 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Comm Sub
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to disclosure requirements regarding certain oil or gas well accidents.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-05-16 - Referred to Energy Resources [SB185 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-SB185-Comm_Sub.html
Bill Title: Relating to disclosure requirements regarding certain oil or gas well accidents.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-05-16 - Referred to Energy Resources [SB185 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-SB185-Comm_Sub.html
By: Miles | S.B. No. 185 | |
(In the Senate - Filed November 14, 2018; February 1, 2019, | ||
read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources & | ||
Economic Development; May 6, 2019, reported adversely, with | ||
favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 11, | ||
Nays 0; May 6, 2019, sent to printer.) | ||
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 185 | By: Miles |
|
||
|
||
relating to the response to certain oil or gas well accidents by | ||
state agencies and responsible parties. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 91, Natural Resources | ||
Code, is amended by adding Sections 91.118 and 91.119 to read as | ||
follows: | ||
Sec. 91.118. NOTICE TO COMMISSION OF WELL FIRE, LEAK, | ||
SPILL, OR BREAK. (a) An operator of an oil or gas well shall: | ||
(1) give immediate notice of a fire, leak, spill, or | ||
break at the well to the appropriate commission oil and gas division | ||
district office; and | ||
(2) submit to the commission a letter giving a full | ||
description of the event, including the volume of crude oil, gas, or | ||
other well liquids or gases lost. | ||
(b) This section does not limit the authority of the | ||
commission to require other types of notice from operators. | ||
Sec. 91.119. APPLICATION FOR PERMIT FOR WELL ADJACENT TO | ||
WELL BLOWOUT SITE. (a) In the case of a conflict between this | ||
section and Section 91.114, this section controls. | ||
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (e), the commission may | ||
not approve an application for a permit to drill an oil or gas well | ||
if: | ||
(1) the organization that submitted the application | ||
violated a statute or commission rule, order, license, certificate, | ||
or permit that relates to safety or the prevention or control of | ||
pollution or is under investigation by a state or federal agency for | ||
an alleged violation of a statute or commission rule, order, | ||
license, certificate, or permit that relates to safety or the | ||
prevention or control of pollution; | ||
(2) the violation or alleged violation described by | ||
Subdivision (1) relates to an uncontrolled release from an oil or | ||
gas well of a substance that substantially endangered human health | ||
or the environment; and | ||
(3) the well that is the subject of the application is | ||
proposed to be drilled at a site adjacent to the site of the | ||
violation or alleged violation described by Subdivision (1). | ||
(c) An organization has committed a violation for purposes | ||
of Subsection (b)(1) of this section if the circumstances described | ||
by Section 91.114(b) have been met with respect to the violation. | ||
(d) The commission may adopt rules if necessary to establish | ||
criteria for determining whether a site is adjacent to another site | ||
for the purposes of this section. | ||
(e) The commission may approve the application if: | ||
(1) the conditions that constituted the violation have | ||
been corrected; | ||
(2) the organization has paid all administrative, | ||
civil, and criminal penalties and all cleanup and plugging costs | ||
incurred by the state relating to those conditions; and | ||
(3) the application is in compliance with all other | ||
requirements of law and commission rules. | ||
(f) If an application is rejected under this section, the | ||
commission shall provide the organization with a written statement | ||
explaining the reason for the rejection. | ||
(g) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), the commission may | ||
issue a permit to drill an oil or gas well to an organization | ||
described by Subsection (b) for a term specified by the commission | ||
if the permit is necessary to remedy a violation of law or | ||
commission rules. | ||
(h) A fee tendered in connection with an application that is | ||
rejected under this section is nonrefundable. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 91.119, Natural Resources Code, as added | ||
by this Act, applies only to an application for a permit to drill an | ||
oil or gas well filed with the Railroad Commission of Texas on or | ||
after the effective date of this Act. An application for a permit | ||
filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law | ||
in effect on the date of filing, and that law is continued in effect | ||
for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. | ||
* * * * * |