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By: Shapiro S.B. No. 1382
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the reorganization of the Railroad Commission of Texas,
including changing the name of the agency to the Texas Energy
Commission and transferring powers and duties from and to the
agency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 81, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 81.002 to read as follows:
Sec. 81.002. TEXAS ENERGY COMMISSION. (a) The Railroad
Commission of Texas is renamed the Texas Energy Commission.
(b) A reference in law to the Railroad Commission of Texas
means the Texas Energy Commission.
(c) The Texas Energy Commission is the successor agency to
the Railroad Commission of Texas under Subsection (b), Section 30,
Article XVI, Texas Constitution.
SECTION 2. Subdivision (12), Section 27.002, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(12) "Extraction of minerals" means the use of an
injection well for the development or recovery of natural resources
other than resources subject to the jurisdiction of the railroad
commission, and includes solution mining of minerals[, in situ
uranium mining,] and mining of sulfur by the Frasch process, but
does not include the solution mining of salt when leaching a cavern
for the storage of hydrocarbons.
SECTION 3. The heading to Subchapter C, Chapter 27, Water
Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER C. JURISDICTION OF TEXAS ENERGY COMMISSION
[OIL AND GAS WASTE]
SECTION 4. Effective January 1, 2006, Article 6445, Revised
Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
Art. 6445. POWER AND AUTHORITY. (a) Power and authority
are hereby conferred upon the Texas Department of Transportation
[Railroad Commission of Texas] over all railroads, and suburban,
belt and terminal railroads, and over all public wharves, docks,
piers, elevators, warehouses, sheds, tracks and other property used
in connection therewith in this State, and over all persons,
associations and corporations, private or municipal, owning or
operating such railroad, wharf, dock, pier, elevator, warehouse,
shed, track or other property to fix, and it is hereby made the duty
of the said department [Commission] to adopt all necessary rates,
charges and regulations, to govern and regulate such railroads,
persons, associations and corporations, and to correct abuses and
prevent unjust discrimination in the rates, charges and tolls of
such railroads, persons, associations and corporations, and to fix
division of rates, charges and regulations between railroads and
other utilities and common carriers where a division is proper and
correct, and to prevent any and all other abuses in the conduct of
their business and to do and perform such other duties and details
in connection therewith as may be provided by law.
(b) All powers and duties of the Texas Energy Commission
that relate to railroads and the regulation of railroads are
transferred to the Texas Department of Transportation.
(c) A reference in law to the Railroad Commission of Texas
or to the Texas Energy Commission that relates to railroads and the
regulation of railroads means the Texas Department of
Transportation.
SECTION 5. (a) Effective January 1, 2006:
(1) the name of the Railroad Commission of Texas is
changed to the Texas Energy Commission, and all powers, duties,
rights, and obligations of the Railroad Commission of Texas are the
powers, duties, rights, and obligations of the Texas Energy
Commission;
(2) a member of the Railroad Commission of Texas is a
member of the Texas Energy Commission; and
(3) any appropriation to the Railroad Commission of
Texas is an appropriation to the Texas Energy Commission.
(b) Effective January 1, 2006, a reference in law to the
Railroad Commission of Texas is a reference to the Texas Energy
Commission.
(c) The Texas Energy Commission is the successor to the
Railroad Commission of Texas in all respects. All personnel,
equipment, data, documents, facilities, contracts, items, other
property, rules, decisions, and proceedings of or involving the
Railroad Commission of Texas are unaffected by the change in the
name of the agency.
(d) The Railroad Commission of Texas shall adopt a timetable
for phasing in the change of the agency's name so as to minimize the
fiscal impact of the name change. Until January 1, 2006, to allow
for phasing in the change of the agency's name and in accordance
with the timetable established as required by this section, the
agency may perform any act authorized by law for the Railroad
Commission of Texas as the Railroad Commission of Texas or as the
Texas Energy Commission. Any act of the Railroad Commission of
Texas acting as the Texas Energy Commission after the effective
date of this Act and before January 1, 2006, is an act of the
Railroad Commission of Texas.
SECTION 6. (a) On January 1, 2006:
(1) a rule, standard, or form of the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality that is related to in situ uranium mining
becomes a rule, standard, or form of the Texas Energy Commission and
remains in effect until amended or repealed by the energy
commission; and
(2) the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
shall transmit to the Texas Energy Commission any application for a
permit for an injection well to be used for in situ uranium mining
that is pending with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality,
and the energy commission shall continue the proceedings related to
each application transmitted under this subdivision.
(b) This Act does not invalidate a permit for an injection
well used for in situ uranium mining that was issued by the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality before January 1, 2006. The
Texas Energy Commission shall issue a substitute permit under the
name and authority of the energy commission to each person who on
January 1, 2006, holds a permit issued by the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality for an injection well used for in situ
uranium mining. A permit for an injection well used for in situ
uranium mining that was issued by the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality before January 1, 2006, remains in effect
until the permit holder receives a substitute permit issued by the
Texas Energy Commission.
SECTION 7. (a) Effective January 1, 2006:
(1) all powers, duties, obligations, rights,
contracts, leases, records, assets, property, funds, and
appropriations of the Texas Energy Commission that relate primarily
to railroads and the regulation of railroads are transferred to the
Texas Department of Transportation;
(2) all rules, policies, forms, procedures, and
decisions of the Texas Energy Commission that relate primarily to
railroads and the regulation of railroads are continued in effect
as rules, policies, forms, procedures, and decisions of the Texas
Department of Transportation, until superseded by a rule or other
appropriate action of the Texas Department of Transportation;
(3) all full-time employees of the Texas Energy
Commission who primarily perform functions related to railroads and
the regulation of railroads become employees of the Texas
Department of Transportation; and
(4) any investigation, complaint, action, contested
case, or other proceeding involving the Texas Energy Commission
that relates primarily to railroads and the regulation of railroads
is transferred without change in status to the Texas Department of
Transportation, and the Texas Department of Transportation
assumes, without a change in status, the position of the Texas
Energy Commission in any investigation, complaint, action,
contested case, or other proceeding that relates primarily to
railroads and the regulation of railroads involving the Texas
Energy Commission.
(b) The transfer of the powers and duties of the Texas
Energy Commission that relate primarily to railroads and the
regulation of railroads to the Texas Department of Transportation
does not affect the validity of a right, privilege, or obligation
accrued, a contract or acquisition made, any liability incurred, a
permit or license issued, a penalty, forfeiture, or punishment
assessed, a rule adopted, a proceeding, investigation, or remedy
begun, a decision made, or other action taken by or in connection
with the Texas Energy Commission.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect January 1, 2006, except
that this Act takes effect September 1, 2005, for the limited
purpose of allowing the Railroad Commission of Texas and other
state agencies affected by this Act to prepare for the changes in
law made by this Act.