2009S0541-2 03/10/09
By: Hinojosa S.B. No. 1908
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to safety and financial responsibility in the operating of
oil and gas wells; providing criminal penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 89.002, Natural
Resources Code, is amended by adding Subdivision (9) to read as
follows:
(9) "Responsible party" means any person who assumed
responsibility for operating the well prior to the current
operator, as shown by forms filed at the commission.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 89, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 89.013 to read as follows:
Sec. 89.013. DUTY OF A RESPONSIBLE PARTY. If the operator
of a well fails to comply with Section 89.011 and the nonoperators
fail to comply with Section 89.012, the responsible party assumes
the duty to plug the well in accordance with Section 89.011. If
there is more than one responsible party, the responsible parties
are jointly and severally liable for their proportionate share of
the cost of plugging the well and for reimbursing the commission for
the cost of enforcing this section.
SECTION 3. Section 89.042, Natural Resources Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) If the nonoperators cannot be found, or if they lack the
assets or refuse to plug the well under Subsection (b), the
commission shall order the responsible parties to plug the well
according to the rules of the commission in effect at the time the
order is issued.
SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 91.002, Natural
Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A person who wilfully or with criminal negligence
violates Section 91.101 or 91.019 [of this code] or a rule, order,
or permit of the commission issued under either [that] section
commits an offense.
SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 91, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 91.019 to read as follows:
Sec. 91.019. ELECTRIC LINES. (a) An operator must ensure
that electric lines associated with the operator's oil or gas wells
do not present an unreasonable risk of causing a fire.
(b) An operator must ensure that all electric lines
associated with oil or gas wells are properly connected to
equipment that requires a source of power. Live electric lines
shall at no time be left in contact with the ground while unattached
to equipment that requires a source of power.
SECTION 6. Subsection (e), Section 89.011, Natural
Resources Code, is repealed.
SECTION 7. Section 89.013, Natural Resources Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to the sale or conveyance of a working
interest in or a right to operate an unplugged oil or gas well
executed on or after the effective date of this Act. A sale or
conveyance executed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on that date, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.