88R14589 ANG-D
 
  By: Morales Shaw H.B. No. 4320
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the disclosure of certain chemicals included in
  hydraulic fracturing treatments.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 91.851(a), Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (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:
                     (A)  the information necessary for the operator to
  comply with Subdivision (1); and 
                     (B)  each chemical ingredient included in the
  hydraulic fracturing fluids provided to the operator that is
  subject to the requirements of 29 C.F.R. Section 1910.1200(g)(2);
               (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 E [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.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.