Amend CSSB 655 (house committee printing) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumbering the subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:

SECTION ____. Subchapter C, Chapter 85, Natural Resources Code, is amended by adding Section 85.066 to read as follows:

Sec. 85.066. PROTEST OF APPLICATION FOR EXCEPTION FROM WELL SPACING REQUIREMENT. (a) A person who may be affected by the commission granting an exception to a well spacing requirement provided by commission rule may protest the application for the exception by filing a notice of protest with the commission.

(b) If a notice of protest is filed with the commission under this section, the commission may not grant the exception unless the applicant demonstrates that the exception is necessary to prevent waste or to prevent the confiscation of property.

SECTION ____. Section 85.066, Natural Resources Code, as added by this Act, applies only to an application for an exception to a well spacing requirement adopted by the Railroad Commission of Texas or the Texas Oil and Gas Commission by rule that is filed with the Railroad Commission of Texas or the Texas Oil and Gas Commission on or after the effective date of this Act. An application filed with the Railroad Commission of Texas before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.