Honorable Drew Darby, Chair, House Committee on Energy Resources
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB2191 by Anchia (Relating to the posting by the Railroad Commission of Texas on its Internet website of certain enforcement information.), As Introduced
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB2191, As Introduced: a negative impact of ($99,350) through the biennium ending August 31, 2017.
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
2016
($99,350)
2017
$0
2018
$0
2019
$0
2020
$0
Fiscal Year
Probable (Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1
Probable (Cost) from Oil & Gas Regulation 5155
Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2015
2016
($99,350)
($169,650)
2.0
2017
$0
$0
0.0
2018
$0
$0
0.0
2019
$0
$0
0.0
2020
$0
$0
0.0
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend the Natural Resources Code to require the Railroad Commission to post information on its website relating to enforcement activities, including information about the number of complaints filed, number of inspections conducted, number of violations found to have occurred, and enforcement actions taken. The information is required to be organized by operator and by well, posted in a searchable format, and be capable of being downloaded in bulk. It is anticipated the Railroad Commission (RRC) would have initial implementation costs in fiscal year 2016 for the new requirements, as shown in the tables. In this analysis maintaining the new functionality in fiscal year 2017 and each year thereafter is anticipated to be a minimal cost to the agency
The bill would take effect September 1, 2015.
Methodology
This analysis assumes the RRC would need 2.0 FTEs to implement of the bill. Salaries and benefits for two Systems Analysts would total $243,513 in General Revenue and the General Revenue-Dedicated Oil and Gas Cleanup Regulation and Cleanup Account No. 5155. Other costs in fiscal year 2016 would include data center services and operating expenses and a computer server.
Technology
This analysis includes $10,000 for a high-end server.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.