1-1 By: Brown S.B. No. 635
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 18, 1997; February 20, 1997,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
1-4 February 27, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0;
1-6 February 27, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 635 By: Brown
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the use of money in the oil-field cleanup fund to
1-11 conduct a site investigation or environmental assessment and to the
1-12 recovery of costs incurred for that purpose.
1-13 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14 SECTION 1. Sections 91.112 and 91.113, Natural Resources
1-15 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-16 Sec. 91.112. PURPOSE OF THE FUND. (a) Money in the fund
1-17 may be used by the commission or its employees or agents for:
1-18 (1) conducting a site investigation or environmental
1-19 assessment to determine:
1-20 (A) the nature and extent of contamination
1-21 caused by oil and gas wastes or other substances or materials
1-22 regulated by the commission under Section 91.101 that are causing
1-23 or are likely to cause the pollution of surface or subsurface
1-24 water; and
1-25 (B) the measures that should be taken to control
1-26 or clean up the wastes, substances, or materials described in
1-27 Paragraph (A);
1-28 (2) controlling or cleaning up oil and gas wastes or
1-29 other substances or materials regulated by the commission under
1-30 Section 91.101 [of this code] that are causing or are likely to
1-31 cause the pollution of surface or subsurface water, consistent with
1-32 Section 91.113 [of this code];
1-33 (3) [(2)] plugging abandoned wells and administering
1-34 or enforcing permits, orders, and rules relating to the
1-35 commission's authority to prevent pollution under this chapter,
1-36 Chapter 89 [of this code], or any other law administered or
1-37 enforced by the commission under Title 3 [of this code];
1-38 (4) [(3)] implementing Subchapter N [of this chapter]
1-39 and enforcing rules, orders, and permits adopted or issued under
1-40 that subchapter; and
1-41 (5) [(4)] preparing the report required under
1-42 Subsection (b) [of this section].
1-43 (b) The commission shall submit to the legislature,
1-44 annually, a report that reviews the extent to which money [the
1-45 funds] provided under Section 91.111 has [of this code have]
1-46 enabled the commission to better protect the environment and
1-47 enhance the income of the oil-field cleanup fund. The report shall
1-48 include:
1-49 (1) the number of wells plugged;
1-50 (2) the number of wells abandoned;
1-51 (3) the number of inactive wells not currently in
1-52 compliance with commission rules;
1-53 (4) the status of enforcement proceedings for all
1-54 wells in violation of commission rules and the time period during
1-55 which the wells have been in violation;
1-56 (5) the method by which the commission sets priorities
1-57 by which it determines the order in which abandoned wells are
1-58 plugged;
1-59 (6) a projection of the amount of money [oil-field
1-60 cleanup funds] needed for the next biennium for conducting site
1-61 investigations and environmental assessments, plugging [of]
1-62 abandoned wells, and remediating surface locations; and
1-63 (7) the status of implementation of the provisions of
1-64 Section 89.085 [of this code] relating to possession and sale of
2-1 equipment to recover plugging costs.
2-2 Sec. 91.113. INVESTIGATION, ASSESSMENT, OR CLEANUP BY
2-3 COMMISSION. (a) If oil and gas wastes or other substances or
2-4 materials regulated by the commission under Section 91.101 [of this
2-5 subchapter] are causing or are likely to cause the pollution of
2-6 surface or subsurface water, the commission, through its employees
2-7 or agents, may use money in the oil-field cleanup fund to conduct a
2-8 site investigation or environmental assessment or control or clean
2-9 up the oil and gas wastes or other substances or materials if:
2-10 (1) the responsible person has failed or refused to
2-11 control or clean up the oil and gas wastes or other substances or
2-12 materials after notice and opportunity for hearing;
2-13 (2) the responsible person is unknown, cannot be
2-14 found, or has no assets with which to control or clean up the oil
2-15 and gas wastes or other substances or materials; or
2-16 (3) the oil and gas wastes or other substances or
2-17 materials are causing the pollution of surface or subsurface water.
2-18 (b) For purposes of this section, "responsible person" means
2-19 any operator or other person required by law, rules adopted by the
2-20 commission, or a valid order of the commission to control or clean
2-21 up the oil and gas wastes or other substances or materials.
2-22 (c) The commission or its employees or agents, on proper
2-23 identification, may enter the land of another for the purpose of
2-24 conducting a site investigation or environmental assessment or
2-25 controlling or cleaning up oil and gas wastes or other substances
2-26 or materials under this section.
2-27 (d) The conducting of a site investigation or environmental
2-28 assessment or the control or cleanup of oil and gas wastes or other
2-29 substances or materials by the commission under this section does
2-30 not prevent the commission from seeking penalties or other relief
2-31 provided by law from any person who is required by law, rules
2-32 adopted by the commission, or a valid order of the commission to
2-33 control or clean up the oil and gas wastes or other substances or
2-34 materials.
2-35 (e) The commission and its employees are not liable for any
2-36 damages arising from an act or omission if the act or omission is
2-37 part of a good-faith effort to carry out this section.
2-38 (f) If the commission conducts a site investigation or
2-39 environmental assessment or controls or cleans up oil and gas
2-40 wastes or other substances or materials under this section, the
2-41 commission may recover all costs incurred by the commission from
2-42 any person who was required by law, rules adopted by the
2-43 commission, or a valid order of the commission to control or clean
2-44 up the oil and gas wastes or other substances or materials. The
2-45 commission may request the attorney general to file suit in any
2-46 court of competent jurisdiction in Travis County to recover these
2-47 costs. Costs recovered under this subsection shall be deposited to
2-48 the oil-field cleanup fund.
2-49 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
2-50 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-51 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-52 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-53 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-54 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-55 passage, and it is so enacted.