By Brown S.B. No. 812
76R6335 SMH-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the recovery by the Railroad Commission of Texas of
1-3 well plugging and oil field cleanup costs incurred by the
1-4 commission.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 89.043(c), Natural Resources Code, is
1-7 amended to read as follows:
1-8 (c) On or before the 30th day before the date the commission
1-9 enters into a contract to plug a delinquent inactive well, the
1-10 commission shall send a notice by certified mail to the operator of
1-11 the well at the address last reported to the commission as required
1-12 by Section 91.142 [of this code] and commission rules. The notice
1-13 shall direct the operator to plug the well and shall state that:
1-14 (1) the commission may plug the well unless the
1-15 operator requests a hearing not later than the 10th day after the
1-16 date the operator receives the notice;
1-17 (2) if the commission plugs the well, all well-site
1-18 equipment will be presumed to have been abandoned and the
1-19 commission may dispose of the equipment and hydrocarbons from the
1-20 well as provided by Section 89.085 [of this code]; [and]
1-21 (3) if the commission plugs the well, the commission
1-22 by order may require the operator to reimburse the commission for
1-23 the plugging costs; and
1-24 (4) the attorney general may file suit against the
2-1 operator to recover the plugging costs if the commission plugs the
2-2 well and the operator fails to reimburse the commission for the
2-3 plugging costs.
2-4 SECTION 2. Sections 89.083(h)-(j), Natural Resources Code,
2-5 are amended to read as follows:
2-6 (h) The commission by order may require the operator and any
2-7 nonoperator to reimburse the commission for all reasonable expenses
2-8 incurred in plugging a well.
2-9 (i) The commission shall seek reimbursement for all
2-10 reasonable expenses incurred in plugging any well through an action
2-11 instituted by the attorney general against a person who violates an
2-12 order issued under Subsection (h).
2-13 (j) [(i)] Money collected in a suit under this section shall
2-14 be deposited in the state oil-field cleanup fund.
2-15 (k) [(j)] A civil action for reimbursement under this
2-16 section may be brought in Travis County, the county in which the
2-17 plugged well is located, or the county in which any defendant
2-18 resides.
2-19 SECTION 3. Section 91.113(f), Natural Resources Code, is
2-20 amended to read as follows:
2-21 (f) If the commission conducts a site investigation or
2-22 environmental assessment or controls or cleans up oil and gas
2-23 wastes or other substances or materials under this section, the
2-24 commission may recover all costs incurred by the commission from
2-25 any person who was required by law, rules adopted by the
2-26 commission, or a valid order of the commission to control or clean
2-27 up the oil and gas wastes or other substances or materials. The
3-1 commission by order may require the person to reimburse the
3-2 commission for those costs. The commission may request the
3-3 attorney general to file suit against the person in any court of
3-4 competent jurisdiction in Travis County to recover those [these]
3-5 costs if the person violates the order. Costs recovered under this
3-6 subsection shall be deposited to the oil-field cleanup fund.
3-7 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-12 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-13 passage, and it is so enacted.