LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 81ST LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
April 8, 2009

TO:
Honorable Jim Keffer, Chair, House Committee on Energy Resources
 
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB2853 by Farabee (Relating to the amount and use of certain fees imposed in connection with oil and gas activities.), As Introduced



Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB2853, As Introduced: a positive impact of $10,199,000 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.



Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2010 $4,676,000
2011 $5,523,000
2012 $6,153,000
2013 $6,822,000
2014 $7,507,000




Fiscal Year Probable Revenue Gain/(Loss) from
General Revenue Fund
1 		Probable Revenue Gain/(Loss) from
Oil-field Cleanup Acct
145
2010 $4,676,000 ($7,961,000)
2011 $5,523,000 ($8,791,000)
2012 $6,153,000 ($9,405,000)
2013 $6,822,000 ($10,057,000)
2014 $7,507,000 ($10,726,000)

Fiscal Analysis

The bill would reduce the Oil Field Cleanup Regulatory Fee deposited to the General Revenue-Dedicated Oil Field Cleanup Account No. 145 by 50 percent. The fee for oil production would drop from five-eights of a cent per barrel to five-sixteenths of a cent and the fee for natural gas production from one-fifteenth of a cent on each 1,000 cubic feet to one-thirtieth of a cent. The bill would reduce to one-half the share of drilling permit fees deposited to the Oil Field Cleanup Account No. 145. However, the bill does not specify where the remaining one-half of fee collections would be deposited.

Methodology

Without a specific provision for the deposit of one-half of drilling permit fee collections deposited to the Oil Field Cleanup Account No. 145, this estimate assumes that one-half of the fees would instead go to the General Revenue Fund. The revenue loss to the Oil Field Cleanup Account No. 145 would result from the reduction of the Oil Field Cleanup Regulatory Fee by 50 percent and the redirection of one-half of drilling permit fees to the General Revenue Fund. The gain to General Revenue would result from the redirection of one-half of drilling permit fees fee proceeds from the Oil Field Cleanup Account. The estimates presented in the table above were provided by the Comptroller of Public Accounts' Office.

Local Government Impact

No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.


Source Agencies:
304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 455 Railroad Commission
LBB Staff:
JOB, ZS, TL, SD