1-1     By:  Brown                                             S.B. No. 812
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 2, 1999; March 4, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
 1-4     March 11, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; March 11, 1999,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 812                    By:  Brown
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to the recovery by the Railroad Commission of Texas of
1-11     well plugging and oil field cleanup costs incurred by the
1-12     commission.
1-13           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14           SECTION 1.  Section 89.043, Natural Resources Code, is
1-15     amended by amending Subsection (c) and by adding Subsection (f) to
1-16     read as follows:
1-17           (c)  On or before the 30th day before the date the commission
1-18     enters into a contract to plug a delinquent inactive well, the
1-19     commission shall send a notice by certified mail to the operator of
1-20     the well at the address last reported to the commission as required
1-21     by Section 91.142 [of this code] and commission rules.  The notice
1-22     shall direct the operator to plug the well and shall state that:
1-23                 (1)  the commission may plug the well unless the
1-24     operator requests a hearing not later than the 10th day after the
1-25     date the operator receives the notice;
1-26                 (2)  if the commission plugs the well, all well-site
1-27     equipment will be presumed to have been abandoned and the
1-28     commission may dispose of the equipment and hydrocarbons from the
1-29     well as provided by Section 89.085 [of this code]; and
1-30                 (3)  if the commission plugs the well, the commission:
1-31                       (A)  by order may require the operator to
1-32     reimburse the commission for the plugging costs; or
1-33                       (B)  may request the attorney general to [may]
1-34     file suit against the operator to recover those [the plugging]
1-35     costs [if the commission plugs the well and the operator fails to
1-36     reimburse the commission for the plugging costs].
1-37           (f)  At the request of the commission, the attorney general
1-38     shall file suit to enforce an order issued by the commission under
1-39     Subsection (c)(3)(A).
1-40           SECTION 2.  Subsections (h), (i), and (j), Section 89.083,
1-41     Natural Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-42           (h)  The commission:
1-43                 (1)  by order may require the operator and any
1-44     nonoperator to reimburse the commission for all reasonable expenses
1-45     incurred in plugging a well; or
1-46                 (2)  may request the attorney general to file suit
1-47     against the operator and any nonoperator to recover those expenses.
1-48           (i)  At the request of the commission, the attorney general
1-49     shall file suit to enforce an order issued by the commission under
1-50     Subsection (h)(1) [shall seek reimbursement for all reasonable
1-51     expenses incurred in plugging any well through an action instituted
1-52     by the attorney general].
1-53           (j) [(i)]  Money collected in a suit under this section shall
1-54     be deposited in the state oil-field cleanup fund.
1-55           (k) [(j)]  A civil action for reimbursement under this
1-56     section may be brought in Travis County, the county in which the
1-57     plugged well is located, or the county in which any defendant
1-58     resides.
1-59           SECTION 3.  Subsection (f), Section 91.113, Natural Resources
1-60     Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-61           (f)  If the commission conducts a site investigation or
1-62     environmental assessment or controls or cleans up oil and gas
1-63     wastes or other substances or materials under this section, the
1-64     commission may recover all costs incurred by the commission from
 2-1     any person who was required by law, rules adopted by the
 2-2     commission, or a valid order of the commission to control or clean
 2-3     up the oil and gas wastes or other substances or materials.  The
 2-4     commission by order may require the person to reimburse the
 2-5     commission for those costs or [The commission] may request the
 2-6     attorney general to file suit against the person to recover those
 2-7     costs.  At the request of the commission, the attorney general
 2-8     shall file suit to enforce an order issued by the commission under
 2-9     this subsection.  A suit under this subsection may be filed in any
2-10     court of competent jurisdiction in Travis County [to recover these
2-11     costs].  Costs recovered under this subsection shall be deposited
2-12     to the oil-field cleanup fund.
2-13           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-14     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-15     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-16     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-17     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-18     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-19     passage, and it is so enacted.
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