79R16073 SMH-D


By:  Hilderbran                                                   H.B. No. 2586

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2586:                                   

By:  West                                                     C.S.H.B. No. 2586



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a requirement that a common carrier or pipeline owner or 
operator report contamination.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 81, Natural Resources 
Code, is amended by adding Section 81.056 to read as follows:
	Sec. 81.056.  CONTAMINATION REPORT.  (a)  In this section:              
		(1)  "Common carrier" has the meaning assigned by 
Section 111.002.   
		(2)  "Owner of the land" or "landowner" means the first 
person who is shown on the appraisal roll of the appraisal district 
established for the county in which a tract of land is located as 
owning an interest in the surface estate of the land at the time a 
contamination report is required to be made under this section.
	(b)  If in the process of placing, repairing, replacing, or 
maintaining a pipeline a common carrier or an owner or operator of a 
pipeline observes or detects any petroleum-based contamination of 
soil or water in proximity to the pipeline, the common carrier or 
pipeline owner or operator shall report the contamination to the 
commission and the owner of the land on which the pipeline is 
located.  Petroleum-based contamination of soil or water that is 
observed or detected is required to be reported under this 
subsection if:
		(1)  hydrocarbons are present on the surface of the 
water;           
		(2)  at least five linear yards of soil have been 
affected by hydrocarbons; or
		(3)  soil affected by hydrocarbons extends beyond the 
face of the excavation in which the contamination is observed or 
detected.
	(c)  The contamination report:                                          
		(1)  must be made not later than 24 hours after the 
common carrier or pipeline owner or operator observes or detects 
the contamination;
		(2)  must include the global positioning satellite 
coordinates of the location of the contamination; and
		(3)  may be made by telephone, facsimile, or electronic 
mail.        
	(d)  Not later than the third business day after the date the 
commission receives the contamination report, a person authorized 
by the commission shall withdraw a soil sample from the 
contaminated land.  The person is entitled to enter the land for the 
purpose of withdrawing the sample.
	(e)  A common carrier or pipeline owner or operator that 
makes a contamination report under this section is released from 
all liability for the contamination or the cleanup of the 
contamination covered by the report, except for any contamination 
caused by the common carrier or pipeline owner or operator.
	(f)  The commission shall adopt rules to implement this 
section.      
	(g)  The commission may not use money in the oil-field 
cleanup fund to implement this section.
	SECTION 2.  Section 81.056(e), Natural Resources Code, as 
added by this Act, is an exercise of authority under Section 66(c), 
Article III, Texas Constitution, and takes effect only if this Act 
receives a vote of three-fifths of all the members elected to each 
house, as provided by Subsection (e) of that section.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.