By Craddick                                           H.R. No. 1281

         75R17326 JHS-F                           

                                 R E S O L U T I O N

 1-1           WHEREAS, The conference committee on House Bill 1 unanimously

 1-2     adopted a rider to Article VI regarding the disclosure of

 1-3     contractual information related to the processing, purchase, or

 1-4     transportation of natural gas; and

 1-5           WHEREAS, The rider states that none of the funds appropriated

 1-6     may be expended for the purpose of requiring natural gas gatherers,

 1-7     processors, or transmission-line operators to disclose the volumes,

 1-8     rates, receipt points, delivery points, or any other contractual

 1-9     information regarding the processing, purchase, or transportation

1-10     of natural gas unless required by the Railroad Commission of Texas

1-11     as a result of a specific complaint filed with the commission by a

1-12     producer of natural gas or as provided by the Gas Utility

1-13     Regulatory Act; and

1-14           WHEREAS, During a subsequent meeting, the members of the

1-15     committee reached agreement concerning the stipulations of the

1-16     rider and related issues; and

1-17           WHEREAS, Under terms of the agreement, the rider is removed

1-18     from House Bill 1 and (1) the Railroad Commission of Texas may

1-19     adopt its proposed Code of Conduct (C)(1)-(5) but may not require

1-20     public disclosure or reporting of natural gas gathering or

1-21     contractual information relating to the transportation of natural

1-22     gas; (2) the commission shall conduct thorough competitiveness

1-23     studies of the various commission districts to determine if

1-24     discrimination exists in any of said districts; and (3) the Senate

 2-1     Natural Resources Committee and the House Energy Resources

 2-2     Committee will study this subject during the legislative interim

 2-3     and will report their findings to the state legislature by the

 2-4     beginning of the 76th Legislative Session; now, therefore, be it

 2-5           RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 75th Texas

 2-6     Legislature hereby express its intent regarding Article VI of House

 2-7     Bill 1 and the previously mentioned rider and declare that, in

 2-8     order to allow the members of the legislature to conduct their

 2-9     interim studies and consider the findings of those studies and in

2-10     order for the Railroad Commission of Texas to conduct its regional

2-11     competitiveness studies, prior to September 1, 1999, the Railroad

2-12     Commission of Texas may not require the disclosure or reporting of

2-13     contractual information relating to natural gas gathering or

2-14     transportation issues such as volumes, rates, processing, receipt

2-15     points, delivery points, or other contractual information, except

2-16     as currently required by the commission to implement the Gas

2-17     Utility Regulatory Act, or as reasonably necessary to respond to a

2-18     specific complaint filed by a producer of natural gas, or as

2-19     reasonably necessary for pipeline safety or the collection of tax

2-20     information for the comptroller of public accounts; and, be it

2-21     further

2-22           RESOLVED, That the chief clerk of the house forward an

2-23     official copy of this resolution to each commissioner of the

2-24     Railroad Commission of Texas.