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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to responsibility in tort for the treatment of fluid oil |
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and gas waste for beneficial use. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 122.002, Natural Resources Code, is |
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amended to read as follows: |
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Sec. 122.002. OWNERSHIP OF FLUID OIL AND GAS WASTE |
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TRANSFERRED FOR TREATMENT AND [SUBSEQUENT] BENEFICIAL USE. Unless |
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otherwise expressly provided by an oil or gas lease, a surface use |
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agreement, a contract, a bill of sale, or another legally binding |
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document: |
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(1) when fluid oil and gas waste is produced and used |
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by or transferred to a person who takes possession of that waste for |
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the purpose of treating the waste for a [subsequent] beneficial |
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use, the waste is considered to be the property of the person who |
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takes possession of it for the purpose of treating the waste for |
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[subsequent] beneficial use until the person transfers the waste or |
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treated waste to another person for disposal or use; and |
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(2) when a person who takes possession of fluid oil and |
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gas waste for the purpose of treating the waste for a [subsequent] |
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beneficial use transfers possession of the treated product or any |
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treatment byproduct to another person for the purpose of |
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[subsequent] disposal or beneficial use, the transferred product or |
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byproduct is considered to be the property of the person to whom the |
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material is transferred. |
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SECTION 2. Section 122.003(a), Natural Resources Code, is |
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amended to read as follows: |
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(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a person who |
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produces fluid oil and gas waste and supplies that waste to a |
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treatment facility that produces from that waste a treated product |
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or who takes possession of fluid oil and gas waste and[,] produces |
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from that waste a treated product [generally considered in the oil |
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and gas industry to be suitable for use in connection with the |
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drilling for or production of oil or gas, and transfers the treated |
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product to another person with the contractual understanding that |
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the treated product will be used in connection with the drilling for |
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or production of oil or gas] is not liable in tort for a consequence |
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of the beneficial [subsequent] use of that treated product [by the |
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person to whom the treated product is transferred or by another |
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person]. |
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SECTION 3. Section 101.023, Civil Practice and Remedies |
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Code, is amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows: |
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(e) This section applies to an action brought under Section |
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122.003, Natural Resources Code. |
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SECTION 4. A cause of action that accrues before the |
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effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed |
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immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is |
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continued in effect for that purpose. |
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SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |