Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB902 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Davis, Nelson S.B. No. 902
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to restrictions on the release into the air of natural gas
7	7	and associated vapors from a gas well.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 86.185, Natural Resources Code, is
10	10	amended to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 86.185. RESTRICTIONS ON RELEASE OF [PROHIBITION
12	12	AGAINST] GAS IN AIR: GAS WELLS IN GENERAL. (a) This section does
13	13	not apply to a gas well to which Section 86.186 applies.
14	14	(b) No gas from a gas well may be permitted to escape into
15	15	the air after the expiration of 10 days from the time the gas is
16	16	encountered in the gas well, or from the time of perforating the
17	17	casing opposite a gas-bearing zone if casing is set through the
18	18	zone, whichever is later, but the commission may permit the escape
19	19	of gas into the air for an additional time if the operator of a well
20	20	or other facility presents information to show the necessity for
21	21	the escape; provided that the amount of gas which is flared under
22	22	that authority is charged to the operator's allowable production.
23	23	A necessity includes but is not limited to the following
24	24	situations:
25	25	(1) cleaning a well of sand or acid or both following
26	26	stimulation treatment of a well; and
27	27	(2) repairing or modifying a gas-gathering system.
28	28	SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 86, Natural Resources
29	29	Code, is amended by adding Section 86.186 to read as follows:
30	30	Sec. 86.186. RESTRICTIONS ON RELEASE OF GAS IN AIR: GAS
31	31	WELLS IN CERTAIN POPULOUS COUNTIES. (a) This section applies only
32	32	to a gas well located in a county that:
33	33	(1) has a population of more than 1.4 million; and
34	34	(2) is located wholly or partly above a
35	35	hydrocarbon-producing geological formation in which during 2008
36	36	the commission issued more than 1,000 drilling permits authorizing
37	37	wells to be completed.
38	38	(b) After fracturing or refracturing a gas well that the
39	39	operator anticipates completing or recompleting, the operator
40	40	shall employ appropriate processes to minimize the release into the
41	41	air of gas and associated vapors from the well.
42	42	(c) The operator of a gas well shall:
43	43	(1) deliver all salable gas to a sales line as soon as
44	44	the pressure of the gas at the wellhead is sufficient to permit the
45	45	gas to flow into the line; or
46	46	(2) shut in the well and conserve the gas.
47	47	(d) The operator of a gas well that has access to a sales
48	48	line shall employ means or methods that minimize the release into
49	49	the air of gas and associated vapors from the well when gas from the
50	50	well is permitted to flow during the completion or recompletion of
51	51	the well, except that the commission may authorize the release if
52	52	the operator of the well or of another facility presents
53	53	information to the commission showing the necessity for the
54	54	release. The amount of gas flared or vented under the commission's
55	55	authority shall be charged to the operator's allowable production.
56	56	A necessity includes the following situations:
57	57	(1) to avoid endangering the safety of persons
58	58	performing work on the well or of the public;
59	59	(2) to comply with an oil or gas lease entered into
60	60	before September 1, 2009;
61	61	(3) to repair or modify a gas-gathering system;
62	62	(4) the composition of the gas does not meet the
63	63	minimum quality standards of the gatherer of the gas;
64	64	(5) the pressure of the gas at the wellhead is
65	65	insufficient to permit the gas to flow into the sales line or
66	66	another circumstance occurs that is beyond the control of the
67	67	operator of the well; or
68	68	(6) other circumstances or conditions determined by
69	69	the commission to be relevant to the goal of preventing waste or
70	70	protecting the public interest.
71	71	(e) The commission shall adopt rules to implement this
72	72	section. Rules adopted under this subsection:
73	73	(1) must require an operator to provide a statement on
74	74	a form prescribed by the commission evidencing compliance with this
75	75	section;
76	76	(2) must prescribe a procedure for obtaining
77	77	commission authorization of the release into the air of gas and
78	78	associated vapors from a gas well; and
79	79	(3) may limit the period for which gas and associated
80	80	vapors from a gas well may be released into the air with commission
81	81	authorization.
82	82	(f) The municipality in which a gas well is located may
83	83	monitor the operator's compliance with this section. A
84	84	municipality may adopt an ordinance to implement this subsection.
85	85	SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 86.012, Natural
86	86	Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
87	87	(a) The term "waste" includes:
88	88	(1) the operation of an oil well or wells with an
89	89	inefficient gas-oil ratio;
90	90	(2) the drowning with water of a stratum or part of a
91	91	stratum capable of producing gas in paying quantities;
92	92	(3) permitting a gas well to burn wastefully;
93	93	(4) the creation of unnecessary fire hazards;
94	94	(5) physical waste or loss incident to or resulting
95	95	from so drilling, equipping, or operating a well or wells as to
96	96	reduce or tend to reduce the ultimate recovery of gas from any pool;
97	97	(6) the escape of gas from a well producing both oil
98	98	and gas into the open air in excess of the amount that is necessary
99	99	in the efficient drilling or operation of the well;
100	100	(7) the production of gas in excess of transportation
101	101	or market facilities or reasonable market demand for the type of gas
102	102	produced;
103	103	(8) the use of gas for the manufacture of carbon black
104	104	without first having extracted the natural gasoline content from
105	105	the gas, except it shall not be necessary to first extract the
106	106	natural gasoline content from the gas where it is utilized in a
107	107	plant producing an average recovery of not less than five pounds of
108	108	carbon black to each 1,000 cubic feet of gas;
109	109	(9) the use of sweet gas produced from a gas well for
110	110	the manufacture of carbon black unless it is used in a plant
111	111	producing an average recovery of not less than five pounds of carbon
112	112	black to each 1,000 cubic feet and unless the sweet gas is produced
113	113	from a well located in a common reservoir producing both sweet and
114	114	sour gas;
115	115	(10) permitting gas produced from a gas well to escape
116	116	into the air before or after the gas has been processed for its
117	117	gasoline content, unless authorized as provided in Section 86.185
118	118	or 86.186 [of this code];
119	119	(11) the production of natural gas from a well
120	120	producing oil from a stratum other than that in which the oil is
121	121	found unless the gas is produced in a separate string of casing from
122	122	that in which the oil is produced;
123	123	(12) the production of more than 100,000 cubic feet of
124	124	gas to each barrel of crude petroleum oil unless the gas is put to
125	125	one or more of the uses authorized for the type of gas so produced
126	126	under allocations made by the commission or unless authorized as
127	127	provided in Section 86.185 or 86.186 [of this code]; and
128	128	(13) underground waste or loss however caused and
129	129	whether or not defined in other subdivisions of this section.
130	130	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
131	131	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
132	132	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
133	133	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
134	134	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.