BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

Senate Research Center	S.C.R. 26
	By: Estes
	Natural Resources & Economic Development
	3/24/2017
	As Filed

 

 

 

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

The Texas Legislature recognizes that this period in our nation's history represents an opportunity for Texas to work with the leadership of the federal government to transcend partisan politics and correct misuses of federal regulatory power that have threatened the Texas oil and gas industry, the jobs it creates, and the economy of the state.

Texas oil and gas fields have provided a pathway toward American energy independence from foreign powers, have afforded financial security to hundreds of thousands of individuals in Texas, and have delivered safe and reliable energy to fuel our nation's economy.

During the past eight years, the federal government has promulgated regulations that jeopardize the productivity of the oil and gas fields of Texas.

New federal regulations have been proposed and implemented despite the protests of Texas and many other oil and gas producing states, resulting in overregulation that prioritizes minor environmental gains over major productive losses.

The State of Texas has joined many other oil and gas producing states to file more than 20 lawsuits against federal overreach.

 

 

RESOLVED

 

That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby respectfully urge the executive branch and the Congress of the United States to work in conjunction with the State of Texas to identify federal regulations promulgated during the last eight years, especially those promulgated under the authority of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Department of the Interior, and the United States Department of Energy, and determine whether they should be revised, delegated to state agencies, or eliminated in order to ease the overly burdensome regulatory patchwork on the oil and gas industry in Texas.

That the Texas secretary of state forward official copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.