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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the production and ownership of brine. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Subtitle D, Title 3, Natural Resources Code, is |
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amended by adding Chapter 124 to read as follows: |
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CHAPTER 124. OWNERSHIP OF BRINE MINERALS |
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Sec. 124.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "brine |
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minerals" means the interstitial particles and solutes suspended, |
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dissolved, or otherwise contained in brine, including bromine, |
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magnesium, potassium, lithium, boron, chlorine, iodine, calcium, |
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strontium, sodium, sulfur, barium, sodium chloride, and other |
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minerals, chemical elements, compounds, or products produced with |
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or extracted from brine. |
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Sec. 124.002. OWNERSHIP OF BRINE MINERALS. Except as |
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otherwise expressly provided by a conveyance, contract, deed, |
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reservation, exception, limitation, lease, assignment, or other |
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binding obligation, the owner of the mineral estate of the land owns |
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the brine minerals below the surface of the land as real property |
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and is responsible for protecting the correlative rights of other |
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owners. |
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SECTION 2. Section 27.002, Water Code, is amended by adding |
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Subdivision (26) to read as follows: |
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(26) "Brine" means a subterranean liquid or semiliquid |
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of varying salinities and the interstitial particles and solutes |
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suspended, dissolved, or otherwise contained in the liquid or |
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semiliquid, including the brine minerals, as defined by Section |
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124.001, Natural Resources Code. The term does not include |
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groundwater, as defined by Section 36.001(5), surface water, as |
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described by Section 11.021(a), fluid oil and gas waste, as defined |
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by Section 122.001, Natural Resources Code, or oil, gas, or a |
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product of oil or gas, as defined by Section 85.001, Natural |
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Resources Code. |
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SECTION 3. Sections 27.036(a) and (d), Water Code, are |
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amended to read as follows: |
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(a) In this section: |
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(1) "Brine mining" means the production of brine, |
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including naturally occurring brine and brine extracted by the |
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solution of a subsurface salt formation, for the purpose of |
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extracting from a subsurface formation brine minerals, elements, |
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salts, interstitial particles and solutes in the liquid or produced |
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from the liquid, or other useful substances[, not including: |
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[(A) oil, gas, or any product of oil or gas as |
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defined by Section 85.001, Natural Resources Code; or |
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[(B) fluid oil and gas waste, as defined by |
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Section 122.001, Natural Resources Code]. |
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(2) "Class V brine injection well" means a well that |
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injects spent, naturally occurring brine produced by a brine mining |
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operation into the same formation from which it was withdrawn after |
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the processing and extraction of brine minerals, elements, salts, |
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interstitial particles and solutes in the liquid or produced from |
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the liquid, or other useful substances, including halogens or |
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halogen salts. |
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(d) The railroad commission shall adopt rules that are |
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necessary to administer and regulate brine mining, including rules |
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establishing reporting requirements for operators of brine |
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production wells and injection wells used for brine mining. |
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SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |