| TO: | Honorable Rick Hardcastle, Chair, House Committee on Energy Resources |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB3838 by Gonzalez Toureilles (Relating to regulation of injection wells used for in situ uranium mining by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.), As Introduced |
The bill would mandate that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) would have exclusive jurisdiction and regulation authority for in situ uranium mining wells used to develop areas subject to a permit to obtain required water quality information prior to mining and for associated monitoring wells. The TCEQ would also be required to adopt rules concerning construction and spacing requirements for monitoring wells and wells used to develop required pre-mining water quality information. Wells associated with in situ uranium mining would be required to register with the TCEQ, but the registration requirement would cease if the well is included in an area permit issued by the agency. An applicant would be required to share any geologic, hydrologic, and water quality data concerning wells where application is made for an area permit with the appropriate groundwater conservation district. In addition, the TCEQ would be prohibited from authorizing by rule or permit an injection or production well, defined as those used to recover uranium through in situ solution recovery, that transects or terminates in the Edwards Aquifer.
Passage of the bill is not expected to result in significant increased workload at the TCEQ.
| Source Agencies: | 455 Railroad Commission, 582 Commission on Environmental Quality
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, WK, TL
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