Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 3490 amends Natural Resources Code provisions relating to the Texas Experimental Research and Recovery Activity (TERRA) to remove the requirement that the railroad commission notify the comptroller on January 1 of each year of the amount of money to be transferred to the TERRA fund. The act allows notification to occur on or after January 1 of each year. The act authorizes the commission to use TERRA funds for general purposes if the fund balance exceeds a certain level and allows wells to be added to TERRA without a TERRA agreement if the wells being transferred are scheduled to be plugged with state money. While a well is in the TERRA program, the commission is required to assume all well plugging duties and pollution prevention and control responsibilities and to conduct annual inspections and appropriate tests to ensure the continued integrity of the wellbore.