81R14686 CBE-D
By: Farabee, Gonzalez Toureilles H.C.R. No. 67
Substitute the following for H.C.R. No. 67:
By: Craddick C.S.H.C.R. No. 67
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The oil industry in Texas dates back to the late 19th
century, and the natural gas industry has been a significant part of
the state's economy since the middle of the 20th century; today,
Texas is the top combined oil and gas producer in the country;
during Fiscal Year 2008, Texas producers employed more than 200,000
people and paid more than $5 billion in taxes and fees to the
state's general revenue fund; and
WHEREAS, The regulation of oil and gas exploration and
production activities has traditionally been within the purview of
the states; the Texas Legislature passed its first regulatory
statute for oil in 1899, and the industries have since been
regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas in coordination with
the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC); and
WHEREAS, In recent years, however, the Congress has
considered legislation to augment the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act
(SDWA) and grant authority to the federal government to regulate
oil and gas drilling and production operations; in particular,
lawmakers have focused on a natural gas drilling technique called
hydraulic fracturing, which is used to extract natural gas from
deep rock much faster than would otherwise be possible; implemented
in the late 1940s, the technology has become a standard method for
improving efficiency; and
WHEREAS, Hydraulic fracturing is not covered by the SDWA, and
the Congress clarified this in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which
specifically exempts the technology from regulation under the SDWA
and preserves the state regulatory system; hydraulic fracturing has
been regulated by states for more than 50 years, and in 2002 the
IOGCC surveyed oil and gas producing states and found that there
were no known cases of groundwater contamination associated with
hydraulic fracturing; and
WHEREAS, Domestic energy development is vital to the energy
security of the United States, and the application of hydraulic
fracturing techniques is estimated to have added more than 7
billion barrels of oil and 600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to
the nation's energy needs; hydraulic fracturing in the Barnett
Shale of Texas alone has contributed to the production of more than
four trillion cubic feet of natural gas; and
WHEREAS, The current approach to regulating hydraulic
fracturing has effectively protected groundwater and drinking
water sources from impacts related to oil and gas exploration and
production activities; more restrictive regulation, which may not
increase the protection of underground drinking water, could harm
the supply of oil and natural gas at a time when the country
requires more domestic energy production than ever before; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to maintain
state regulatory coverage of hydraulic fracturing; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, the
speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the
senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the
Texas delegation to the Congress with the request that this
resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.