By Brown S.B. No. 814
76R6357 SMH-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the reimbursement of the Railroad Commission of Texas
1-3 for costs incurred by the commission in relation to violations
1-4 relating to safety or the prevention or control of pollution.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 91.104(b), Natural Resources Code, is
1-7 amended to read as follows:
1-8 (b) A person required to file a bond under Section 91.103
1-9 [of this code] may choose to file:
1-10 (1) an individual bond as provided under Section
1-11 91.1041 [of this code];
1-12 (2) a blanket bond as provided under Section 91.1042
1-13 [of this code];
1-14 (3) a nonrefundable annual fee of $100, if the person
1-15 can demonstrate to the commission an acceptable record of
1-16 compliance with all commission rules, orders, licenses, permits, or
1-17 certificates that relate to safety or the prevention or control of
1-18 pollution for the previous 48 months and the person and, if a firm,
1-19 partnership, joint stock association, corporation, or other
1-20 organization, its officers, directors, general partners, or owners
1-21 of more than 25 percent ownership interest or any trustee:
1-22 (A) has no outstanding violations of such
1-23 commission rules, orders, licenses, permits, or certificates;
1-24 (B) has paid all administrative, civil, and
2-1 criminal penalties, if any, relating to any violation of such
2-2 commission rules, orders, licenses, permits, or certificates; and
2-3 (C) has paid all reimbursements of any costs and
2-4 expenses incurred [assessed] by the commission in relation to any
2-5 violation of such commission rules, orders, licenses, permits, or
2-6 certificates;
2-7 (4) a nonrefundable annual fee equal to three percent
2-8 of the bond that otherwise would be required; or
2-9 (5) to give a first lien on tangible personal property
2-10 associated with oil and gas production whose salvage value equals
2-11 the value of an individual bond under Section 91.1041 [of this
2-12 code] or the value of a blanket bond under Section 91.1042 [of this
2-13 code] that otherwise would be required.
2-14 SECTION 2. Section 91.1091, Natural Resources Code, is
2-15 amended to read as follows:
2-16 Sec. 91.1091. REFUND. The commission shall refund the
2-17 proceeds from a bond or other form of security required under this
2-18 subchapter if:
2-19 (1) the conditions that caused the proceeds to be
2-20 collected are corrected;
2-21 (2) all administrative, civil, and criminal penalties
2-22 relating to those conditions are paid; and
2-23 (3) the commission has been reimbursed for all
2-24 [reimbursements of] costs and expenses incurred [assessed] by the
2-25 commission [to be collected] in relation to those conditions [are
2-26 collected].
2-27 SECTION 3. Section 91.114(d), Natural Resources Code, is
3-1 amended to read as follows:
3-2 (d) The commission shall accept the report or application or
3-3 approve the certificate if:
3-4 (1) the conditions that constituted the violation are
3-5 corrected or are being corrected in accordance with a schedule to
3-6 which the commission and the organization have agreed;
3-7 (2) all administrative, civil, and criminal penalties
3-8 and all cleanup and plugging costs incurred by the state [and
3-9 assessed or adjudged against the organization] relating to those
3-10 conditions are paid or are being paid in accordance with a payment
3-11 schedule to which the commission and the organization have agreed;
3-12 and
3-13 (3) the report, application, or certificate is in
3-14 compliance with all other requirements of law and commission rules.
3-15 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-20 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-21 passage, and it is so enacted.