LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 81ST LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

April 9, 2009

TO:	Honorable Jim Keffer, Chair, House Committee on Energy Resources
FROM:	John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB472 by Hilderbran (relating to the effect and implementation of the law ragarding reporting by a common carrier or pipeline owner or operator of contamination.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted

Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB472, Committee Report 1st House, Substituted: an impact of $0 through the biennium ending August 31, 2011.

The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.

General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Year	Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2010	$0
2011	$0
2012	$0
2013	$0
2014	$0

All Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Year	Probable Savings/(Cost) from Oil-field Cleanup Acct 145
2010	($202,500)
2011	($202,500)
2012	($202,500)
2013	($202,500)
2014	($202,500)

Fiscal Analysis

The bill would make changes to the reporting requirements the Railroad Commission (RRC) is required to provide to landowners regarding contamination found by a common carrier or pipeline owner or operator during the installation or repair of a pipeline. The reporting requirements would apply only to subsurface contamination. The bill would delete the prohibition on the RRC to use money in the General Revenue-Dedicated Oil Field Cleanup Account No. 145 to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill excludes contamination from lease gathering lines from the reporting requirements.   

Methodology

The bill would impacts common carriers, which the Railroad Commission reports affects 64,216 miles of pipeline) and operators/owners of pipelines (9,552 miles of private pipeline), for a total of 73,768 miles of pipeline. The Railroad Commission expects that the bill's passage would result in the receipt of an additional 75 contamination reports annually over current levels. Assuming the agency would be required to use a third party to obtain a sample for each of the contamination incidence sites, the Railroad Commission estimates that each sample would cost $2,700. This estimate assumes that the total cost resulting from the bill's passage would thus be $202,500 per fiscal year and that these costs would be paid for out of the Oil Field Cleanup Account No. 145, since changes proposed by the bill would specifically remove restrictions for such use. 

Local Government Impact

No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.

Source Agencies:

455 Railroad Commission, 582 Commission on Environmental Quality

LBB Staff:

JOB, SZ, ZS, TL, WK, TP