Bill Text: TX SB212 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Relating to the continuation, functions, and name of the Railroad Commission of Texas; providing for the imposition of fees and the elimination of a fee.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 3)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2013-05-14 - Left pending in committee [SB212 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-SB212-Engrossed.html

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By: Nichols, Huffman S.B. No. 212
Patrick

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the continuation, functions, and name of the Railroad
Commission of Texas; providing for the imposition of fees and the
elimination of a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Chapter 81, Natural Resources
Code, is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 81. TEXAS ENERGY RESOURCES [RAILROAD] COMMISSION [OF
TEXAS]
SECTION 2. Section 81.001, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 81.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Commission" means the Texas Energy Resources
[Railroad] Commission [of Texas].
(2) "Commissioner" means any member of the Texas
Energy Resources [Railroad] Commission [of Texas].
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 81, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 81.003 to read as follows:
Sec. 81.003. TEXAS ENERGY RESOURCES COMMISSION. (a) The
Railroad Commission of Texas is renamed the Texas Energy Resources
Commission.
(b) A reference in law to:
(1) the Railroad Commission of Texas means the Texas
Energy Resources Commission; and
(2) a railroad commissioner or a member of the
Railroad Commission of Texas means a member of the Texas Energy
Resources Commission.
SECTION 4. Section 81.01001, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 81.01001. SUNSET PROVISION. The Texas Energy
Resources [Railroad] Commission [of Texas] is subject to Chapter
325, Government Code (Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued in
existence as provided by that chapter, the commission is abolished
September 1, 2023 [2013].
SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 81, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Sections 81.010015, 81.010045, and
81.010046 to read as follows:
Sec. 81.010015. ELECTION AND TERMS OF COMMISSIONERS;
VACANCIES. (a) The commission is composed of three commissioners
elected at the general election for state and county officers.
(b) Commissioners serve staggered terms of six years, with
the term of one commissioner expiring December 31 of each
even-numbered year.
(c) The governor shall appoint a person to fill a vacancy on
the commission until the next general election.
Sec. 81.010045. CERTAIN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
RESTRICTED. (a) In this section, "political committee" and
"political contribution" have the meanings assigned by Section
251.001, Election Code.
(b) A commissioner may not knowingly accept a political
contribution given or offered with the intention that it be used in
connection with a campaign for or the holding of any elective
office, including the office of commissioner, except during the
period:
(1) beginning 17 months before the date of the next
general election at which the commissioner's office is filled; and
(2) ending on the 30th day after the date of that
election.
(c) A person other than a commissioner may not knowingly
accept a political contribution given or offered with the intention
that it be used in connection with a campaign for the office of
commissioner, except:
(1) during the period:
(A) beginning 17 months before the date of the
next general election at which any commissioner's office is filled;
and
(B) ending on the 30th day after the date of that
election; or
(2) during the period beginning on the date a vacancy
in the office of commissioner occurs and ending on the date that
vacancy is filled.
(d) A commissioner may not knowingly accept a political
contribution, and shall refuse a political contribution that is
received, from a party in a contested case before the commission or
a political committee affiliated with such a party during the
period:
(1) beginning on the date notice of the hearing in the
contested case is given; and
(2) ending on:
(A) the 30th day after the date the decision in
the contested case is rendered; or
(B) if a request for rehearing is filed:
(i) the date the request is denied; or
(ii) the 30th day after the date the
decision after rehearing is rendered.
(e) A commissioner shall return a political contribution
that is received and refused under Subsection (d) not later than the
30th day after the date the commissioner received the contribution.
(f) The commission shall adopt all rules necessary to
implement Subsections (d) and (e), including rules that:
(1) direct the commission to maintain a list of the
contested cases before the commission and the parties to each case
in order to aid the commissioners in complying with those
subsections; and
(2) ensure that each notice of a hearing in a contested
case that is issued by the commission or a commissioner contains
information about the political contributions prohibited under
Subsection (d).
Sec. 81.010046. AUTOMATIC RESIGNATION. If a person who is a
member of the commission announces the person's candidacy, or in
fact becomes a candidate, in any general, special, or primary
election for any elective office other than the office of
commissioner at any time when the unexpired term of the office then
held by the person exceeds 18 months, that announcement or that
candidacy constitutes an automatic resignation of the office of
commissioner.
SECTION 6. Section 81.01005, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 81.01005. NAME AND SEAL. (a) The commissioners are
known collectively as the "Texas Energy Resources [Railroad]
Commission [of Texas]."
(b) The seal of the commission contains a star of five
points with the words "Texas Energy Resources [Railroad] Commission
[of Texas]" engraved on it.
SECTION 7. The heading to Section 81.0521, Natural
Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 81.0521. FEE FOR APPLICATION FOR EXCEPTION TO
[RAILROAD] COMMISSION RULE.
SECTION 8. Subsections (c) and (d), Section 81.0531,
Natural Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) In determining the amount of the penalty, the commission
shall consider the [permittee's history of previous violations, the
seriousness of the violation, any hazard to the health or safety of
the public, and the demonstrated good faith of the person charged.
In determining the amount of the penalty for a violation of a
provision of this title or a rule, order, license, permit, or
certificate that relates to pipeline safety, the commission shall
consider the] guidelines adopted under Subsection (d).
(d) The commission [by rule] shall adopt guidelines to be
used in determining the amount of the penalty. The commission shall
provide an opportunity for public input on the guidelines [for a
violation of a provision of this title or a rule, order, license,
permit, or certificate that relates to pipeline safety]. The
guidelines must [shall] include a penalty calculation worksheet
that specifies the typical penalty for certain violations,
circumstances justifying enhancement of a penalty and the amount of
the enhancement, and circumstances justifying a reduction in a
penalty and the amount of the reduction. The guidelines must
provide for different penalties for different violations based on
the seriousness of the violation and any hazard to the health or
safety of the public resulting from the violation. The guidelines
must [shall] take into account:
(1) the permittee's history of previous violations,
including the number of previous violations;
(2) the seriousness of the violation and of any
pollution resulting from the violation;
(3) any hazard to the health or safety of the public;
(4) the degree of culpability;
(5) the demonstrated good faith of the person charged;
[and]
(6) the number of times the permittee's certificate of
compliance issued under Subchapter P, Chapter 91, has been
canceled; and
(7) any other factor the commission considers
relevant.
SECTION 9. Subchapter C, Chapter 81, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Sections 81.0645, 81.065, and 81.066 to
read as follows:
Sec. 81.0645. EX PARTE COMMUNICATIONS. The commission by
rule shall develop a policy to prohibit an ex parte communication
between a hearings examiner and a commissioner or between a
hearings examiner and a member of the technical staff of the
commission who has participated in a hearing. The policy must
prohibit a commissioner from communicating with a hearings examiner
other than in a formal public hearing.
Sec. 81.065. NEGOTIATED RULEMAKING AND ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE
RESOLUTION POLICY. (a) The commission shall develop and implement
a policy to encourage the use of:
(1) negotiated rulemaking procedures under Chapter
2008, Government Code, for the adoption of commission rules; and
(2) appropriate alternative dispute resolution
procedures under Chapter 2009, Government Code, to assist in the
resolution of internal and external disputes under the commission's
jurisdiction.
(b) The commission's procedures relating to alternative
dispute resolution must conform, to the extent possible, to any
model guidelines issued by the State Office of Administrative
Hearings for the use of alternative dispute resolution by state
agencies.
(c) The commission shall:
(1) coordinate the implementation of the policy
adopted under Subsection (a);
(2) provide training as needed to implement the
procedures for negotiated rulemaking or alternative dispute
resolution; and
(3) collect information concerning the effectiveness
of those procedures.
Sec. 81.066. ENFORCEMENT POLICY. (a) The commission shall
adopt an enforcement policy to guide the employees of the
commission in evaluating violations of the provisions of this title
that pertain to safety or the prevention or control of pollution or
the provisions of a rule, order, license, permit, or certificate
that pertains to safety or the prevention or control of pollution
and is issued under this title.
(b) The enforcement policy adopted under this section must
include:
(1) a specific process for classifying violations
based on:
(A) the seriousness of any pollution resulting
from the violation; and
(B) any hazard to the health or safety of the
public; and
(2) standards to provide guidance to commission
employees on which violations may be dismissed once the permittee
comes into compliance and which violations must be forwarded for
enforcement.
(c) The standards adopted under Subsection (b)(2) must
require a commission employee to take into account the permittee's
history of previous violations in determining whether to dismiss a
violation once the permittee comes into compliance or forward the
violation for enforcement.
SECTION 10. Subsection (b), Section 81.067, Natural
Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) The commission shall certify to the comptroller the date
on which the balance in the fund equals or exceeds $30 [$20]
million. The oil-field cleanup regulatory fees on oil and gas shall
not be collected or required to be paid on or after the first day of
the second month following the certification, except that the
comptroller shall resume collecting the fees on receipt of a
commission certification that the fund has fallen below $25 [$10]
million. The comptroller shall continue collecting the fees until
collections are again suspended in the manner provided by this
subsection.
SECTION 11. Section 81.068, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 81.068. PURPOSES [PURPOSE] OF OIL AND GAS REGULATION
AND CLEANUP FUND. Money in the oil and gas regulation and cleanup
fund may be used by the commission or its employees or agents for
any purpose related to the regulation of oil and gas development,
including oil and gas monitoring and inspections, oil and gas
remediation, and oil and gas well plugging, alternative fuels
programs under Section 81.0681, public information and services
related to those activities, and administrative costs and state
benefits for personnel involved in those activities.
SECTION 12. Subchapter C, Chapter 81, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 81.0681 to read as follows:
Sec. 81.0681. ALTERNATIVE FUELS PROGRAMS. (a) The
commission may adopt all necessary rules relating to activities
regarding the use of alternative fuels that are or have the
potential to be effective in improving the air quality, energy
security, or economy of this state.
(b) The commission may use the oil and gas regulation and
cleanup fund to pay for activities relating to the use of
alternative fuels, including direct and indirect costs relating to:
(1) researching all possible uses of liquefied
petroleum gas and natural gas as alternative fuels;
(2) researching, developing, and implementing
marketing, advertising, and informational programs relating to
alternative fuels to make alternative fuels more understandable and
readily available to consumers;
(3) developing and implementing conservation and
distribution plans to minimize the frequency and severity of
disruptions in the supply of alternative fuels;
(4) developing a public information plan that will
provide advisory services relating to alternative fuels to
consumers;
(5) developing voluntary participation plans to
promote the use of alternative fuels by federal, state, and local
agencies; and
(6) other functions the commission determines are
necessary to add a program established by the commission for the
purpose of promoting the use of liquefied petroleum gas, natural
gas, or other alternative fuels.
SECTION 13. Subsections (b) and (c), Section 81.069,
Natural Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The commission shall provide to the Legislative Budget
Board and post on the commission's Internet website quarterly
reports [to the Legislative Budget Board] that include:
(1) the following information with respect to the
period since the last report was provided as well as cumulatively:
(A) the amount of money deposited in the oil and
gas regulation and cleanup fund;
(B) the amount of money spent from the fund for
the purposes described by Subsection (a);
(C) the balance of the fund; and
(D) the commission's progress in meeting the
quarterly performance goals established under Subsection (a) and,
if the number of orphaned wells plugged with state-managed funds,
abandoned sites investigated, assessed, or cleaned up with state
funds, or surface locations remediated is at least five percent
less than the number projected in the applicable goal established
under Subsection (a), an explanation of the reason for the
variance; and
(2) any additional information or data requested in
writing by the Legislative Budget Board.
(c) The commission shall submit to the legislature and make
available to the public, including by posting on the commission's
Internet website, annually, a report that reviews the extent to
which money provided under Section 81.067 has enabled the
commission to better protect the environment through oil-field
cleanup activities. The report must include:
(1) the performance goals established under
Subsection (a) for that state fiscal year, the commission's
progress in meeting those performance goals, and, if the number of
orphaned wells plugged with state-managed funds, abandoned sites
investigated, assessed, or cleaned up with state funds, or surface
locations remediated is at least five percent less than the number
projected in the applicable goal established under Subsection (a),
an explanation of the reason for the variance;
(2) the number of orphaned wells plugged with
state-managed funds, by region;
(3) the number of wells orphaned, by region;
(4) the number of inactive wells not currently in
compliance with commission rules, by region;
(5) the status of enforcement proceedings for all
wells in violation of commission rules and the period during which
the wells have been in violation, by region in which the wells are
located;
(6) the number of surface locations remediated, by
region;
(7) a detailed accounting of expenditures of money in
the fund for oil-field cleanup activities, including expenditures
for plugging of orphaned wells, investigation, assessment, and
cleaning up of abandoned sites, and remediation of surface
locations;
(8) the method by which the commission sets priorities
by which it determines the order in which orphaned wells are
plugged;
(9) a projection of the amount of money needed for the
next biennium for plugging orphaned wells, investigating,
assessing, and cleaning up abandoned sites, and remediating surface
locations; and
(10) the number of sites successfully remediated under
the voluntary cleanup program under Subchapter O, Chapter 91, by
region.
SECTION 14. Subchapter C, Chapter 81, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 81.071 to read as follows:
Sec. 81.071. PIPELINE SAFETY AND REGULATORY FEES. (a) The
commission by rule may establish pipeline safety and regulatory
fees to be assessed for permits or registrations for pipelines
under the jurisdiction of the commission's pipeline safety and
regulatory program. The fees must be in amounts that in the
aggregate are sufficient to support all pipeline safety and
regulatory program costs, including:
(1) permitting or registration costs;
(2) administrative costs; and
(3) costs of employee salaries and benefits.
(b) The commission by rule must establish the method or
methods by which the fees will be calculated and assessed so that
fee amounts will reflect the time spent and costs incurred to
perform the regulatory work associated with permitting or
registering pipelines, the effects of required fees on operators of
all sizes, and other factors the commission determines are
important to the fair imposition of the fees. The commission may
base the fees on any factor the commission considers necessary to
efficiently and fairly recover the pipeline safety and regulatory
program's costs, including:
(1) the length of the pipeline;
(2) the number of new permits, permit renewals, or
permit amendments; or
(3) the number of pipeline systems.
(c) The commission by rule may establish a reasonable late
payment penalty for a fee charged under this section.
(d) The authority provided by this section is in addition to
the authority provided by Section 121.211, Utilities Code, and the
commission shall consider any fees assessed under that section in
establishing the fees to be assessed under this section.
SECTION 15. Subsection (e), Section 91.1135, Natural
Resources Code, is transferred to Section 81.069, Natural Resources
Code, redesignated as Subsection (d), Section 81.069, Natural
Resources Code, and amended to read as follows:
(d) [(e)] The commission shall provide to the Legislative
Budget Board and post on the commission's Internet website
quarterly reports [to the committee and the Legislative Budget
Board] that include[:
[(1)] the following information with respect to the
period since the last report was provided as well as cumulatively:
(1) [(A)] the amount of money deposited in the oil and
gas regulation and [oil-field] cleanup fund;
(2) [(B)] the amount of money spent from the fund;
(3) [(C)] the balance of the fund;
(4) [(D)] the number of wells plugged with money from
the fund;
(5) [(E)] the number of sites remediated with money
from the fund; and
(6) [(F)] the number of wells abandoned[; and
[(2) any additional information or data requested in
writing by the committee].
SECTION 16. Subchapter B, Chapter 102, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 102.0165 to read as follows:
Sec. 102.0165. LOCATION OF HEARING. (a) At the request of
an interested party and with the consent of each interested party,
the commission may hold the hearing on the application in person or
by telephone at a location in the vicinity of the proposed unit.
(b) The commission may contract with another state agency to
hold hearings on applications for pooling of interests into a unit
under the provisions of this chapter in person or by telephone at
field offices of that agency.
SECTION 17. Subsection (a), Section 117.012, Natural
Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission shall adopt rules that include:
(1) safety standards for and practices applicable to
the intrastate transportation of hazardous liquids or carbon
dioxide by pipeline and intrastate hazardous liquid or carbon
dioxide pipeline facilities; and
(2) [, including] safety standards related to the
prevention of damage to interstate and intrastate hazardous liquid
or carbon dioxide pipeline facilities [such a facility] resulting
from the movement of earth by a person in the vicinity of such a
[the] facility, other than movement by tillage that does not exceed
a depth of 16 inches.
SECTION 18. Subsection (c), Section 52.092, Election Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(c) Statewide offices of the state government shall be
listed in the following order:
(1) governor;
(2) lieutenant governor;
(3) attorney general;
(4) comptroller of public accounts;
(5) commissioner of the General Land Office;
(6) commissioner of agriculture;
(7) energy resources [railroad] commissioner;
(8) chief justice, supreme court;
(9) justice, supreme court;
(10) presiding judge, court of criminal appeals;
(11) judge, court of criminal appeals.
SECTION 19. Section 756.126, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 756.126. SAFETY STANDARDS AND BEST PRACTICES. The
Texas Energy Resources [Railroad] Commission [of Texas] shall adopt
and enforce safety standards and best practices, including those
described by 49 U.S.C. Section 6105 et seq., relating to the
prevention of damage by a person to a facility, including an
interstate or intrastate pipeline facility, under the jurisdiction
of the commission.
SECTION 20. Subsection (a), Section 121.201, Utilities
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The railroad commission may:
(1) by rule prescribe or adopt safety standards for
the transportation of gas and for gas pipeline facilities,
including safety standards related to the prevention of damage to
an interstate or intrastate gas pipeline [such a] facility
resulting from the movement of earth by a person in the vicinity of
the facility, other than movement by tillage that does not exceed a
depth of 16 inches;
(2) by rule require an operator that does not file
operator organization information under Section 91.142, Natural
Resources Code, to provide the information to the commission in the
form of an application;
(3) by rule require record maintenance and reports;
(4) inspect records and facilities to determine
compliance with safety standards prescribed or adopted under
Subdivision (1);
(5) make certifications and reports from time to time;
(6) seek designation by the United States secretary of
transportation as an agent to conduct safety inspections of
interstate gas pipeline facilities located in this state; and
(7) by rule take any other requisite action in
accordance with 49 U.S.C. Section 60101 et seq., or a succeeding
law.
SECTION 21. The following provisions of the Natural
Resources Code are repealed:
(1) the heading to Section 91.1135;
(2) Subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), (f), and (g),
Section 91.1135; and
(3) Subchapter I, Chapter 113.
SECTION 22. (a) On the effective date of this Act:
(1) the alternative fuels research and education fund
is abolished;
(2) any money remaining in the alternative fuels
research and education fund is transferred to the undedicated
portion of the general revenue fund;
(3) any claim against the alternative fuels research
and education fund is transferred to the undedicated portion of the
general revenue fund; and
(4) any amount required to be deposited to the credit
of the alternative fuels research and education fund shall be
deposited to the credit of the undedicated portion of the general
revenue fund.
(b) Any money transferred from the alternative fuels
research and education fund to the undedicated portion of the
general revenue fund that was deposited in the alternative fuels
research and education fund as a gift, grant, or other form of
assistance under former Subchapter I, Chapter 113, Natural
Resources Code, and is encumbered by the specific terms of the gift,
grant, or other form of assistance may be spent only in accordance
with the terms of the gift, grant, or other form of assistance.
Subchapter I, Chapter 113, Natural Resources Code, is continued in
effect for the limited purpose of administering this subsection.
SECTION 23. On the effective date of this Act, the name of
the Railroad Commission of Texas is changed to the Texas Energy
Resources Commission. The change of the agency's name does not
affect:
(1) the agency's powers, duties, rights, or
obligations;
(2) the agency's personnel, equipment, data,
documents, facilities, contracts, items, other property,
appropriations, rules, or decisions;
(3) a proceeding of or involving the agency under the
name of the Railroad Commission of Texas; or
(4) the terms of the chairman or other members of the
governing body of the agency.
SECTION 24. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.