By: Keffer (Senate Sponsor - Fraser) H.B. No. 2571
         (In the Senate - Received from the House April 29, 2013;
  May 2, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural
  Resources; May 8, 2013, reported favorably by the following vote:  
  Yeas 10, Nays 0; May 8, 2013, sent to printer.)
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the inspection of certain information regarding the
  production, transportation, sale, and marketing of oil and gas from
  state land; imposing an administrative penalty.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 52.135, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended by adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), (a-3), (e), and (f) and
  amending Subsection (c) to read as follows:
         (a-1)  Not later than the 60th day after the date of receipt
  of a request from the commissioner, the attorney general, or the
  governor for information described by Subsection (a), a lessee
  shall produce the requested information.
         (a-2)  A lessee who is unable to produce requested
  information in the time required by Subsection (a-1) must, not
  later than the 30th day after the date of receipt of a request for
  the information, reply in writing to the requestor and state the
  reason for the inability to provide the information in the time
  required and when the information will be available. A requestor
  who receives a reply under this subsection may extend the deadline
  for the production of the requested information by written response
  to the lessee. If the requestor does not extend the deadline, the
  lessee shall produce the information not later than the later of:
               (1)  the fifth day after the date of receipt of a
  written response from the requestor rejecting the extension; or
               (2)  the 60th day after the date of receipt of the
  original request.
         (a-3)  A lessee who withholds requested information on a good
  faith legal basis must, not later than the 60th day after the date
  of receipt of a request for the information, provide the requestor
  with a detailed explanation of the basis for withholding the
  information.
         (c)  A [The] lessee shall have 30 days from the date of the
  receipt of an [such] audit billing notice under Subsection (b) or a
  notice of a penalty assessment under Subsection (e) in which to pay
  the [such] audit deficiency assessment or penalty or to request a
  hearing before the commissioner or the commissioner's [his]
  representative for redetermination of the [such] assessment or to
  challenge the assessment of the penalty. A statement of grounds
  setting out in detail the lessee's reasons for disagreement with
  the [such] assessment or penalty and the factual and legal grounds
  on which the claim is based must be submitted by a lessee with its
  request for a hearing. The [Such] hearing shall be conducted in
  accordance with the rules and procedures established by the
  commissioner.
         (e)  Except as provided by Subsection (f), the commissioner
  may assess an administrative penalty against a lessee who fails to
  produce requested information in the time required under Subsection
  (a-1) or (a-2) by intentionally withholding information to which
  the land office is legally entitled. The penalty may not exceed:
               (1)  $100 a day for each day after the deadline for
  producing the information that the lessee fails to produce the
  information until the 60th day after the deadline; and
               (2)  $1,000 a day for each day after the 60th day after
  the deadline for producing the information that the lessee fails to
  produce the information.
         (f)  The commissioner may not assess a penalty against a
  lessee who withholds information under Subsection (a-3) until the
  commissioner determines that the requestor is entitled to the
  information.
         SECTION 2.  Section 52.135, Natural Resources Code, as
  amended by this Act, applies only to a request for information made
  under that section on or after the effective date of this Act. A
  request for information made under that section before the
  effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
  date of the request, and the former law is continued in effect for
  that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
 
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