By:  Shapiro                                                      S.B. No. 1382
	(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2005; March 21, 2005, read 
first time and referred to Committee on Government Organization; 
April 25, 2005, reported adversely, with favorable Committee 
Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 25, 2005, 
sent to printer.)


COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1382                                   By:  Nelson

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. Subchapter C, Chapter 27, Water Code, is amended by adding Section 27.037 to read as follows: Sec. 27.037. JURISDICTION OVER IN SITU URANIUM MINING. (a) The Texas Energy Commission has jurisdiction over in situ uranium mining and may issue permits for injection wells used for in situ uranium mining. (b) A person may not begin to drill an injection well to be used for in situ uranium mining unless that person holds a permit for the well issued by the Texas Energy Commission under this chapter. (c) The Texas Energy Commission shall adopt rules that are necessary to administer and regulate in situ uranium mining. (d) For purposes of regulation by the Texas Energy Commission, an injection well used for in situ uranium mining is designated as a Class III well under the underground injection control program administered by the Texas Energy Commission. SECTION 5. 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 6. (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 7. (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 8. (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 9. 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.
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