H.B. No. 3328
AN ACT
relating to the disclosure of the composition of hydraulic
fracturing fluids used in hydraulic fracturing treatments.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 91, Natural Resources Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter S to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER S. DISCLOSURE OF COMPOSITION OF HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
FLUIDS
Sec. 91.851. DISCLOSURE OF COMPOSITION OF HYDRAULIC
FRACTURING FLUIDS. (a) The commission by rule shall:
(1) require an operator of a well on which a hydraulic
fracturing treatment is performed to:
(A) complete the form posted on the hydraulic
fracturing chemical registry Internet website of the Ground Water
Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact
Commission with regard to the well;
(B) include in the form completed under Paragraph
(A):
(i) the total volume of water used in the
hydraulic fracturing treatment; and
(ii) each chemical ingredient that is
subject to the requirements of 29 C.F.R. Section 1910.1200(g)(2),
as provided by a service company or chemical supplier or by the
operator, if the operator provides its own chemical ingredients;
(C) post the completed form described by
Paragraph (A) on the website described by that paragraph or, if the
website is discontinued or permanently inoperable, post the
completed form on another publicly accessible Internet website
specified by the commission;
(D) submit the completed form described by
Paragraph (A) to the commission with the well completion report for
the well; and
(E) in addition to the completed form specified
in Paragraph (D), provide to the commission a list, to be made
available on a publicly accessible website, of all other chemical
ingredients not listed on the completed form that were
intentionally included and used for the purpose of creating a
hydraulic fracturing treatment for the well. The commission rule
shall ensure that an operator, service company, or supplier is not
responsible for disclosing ingredients that:
(i) were not purposely added to the
hydraulic fracturing treatment;
(ii) occur incidentally or are otherwise
unintentionally present in the treatment; or
(iii) in the case of the operator, are not
disclosed to the operator by a service company or supplier. The
commission rule shall not require that the ingredients be
identified based on the additive in which they are found or that the
concentration of such ingredients be provided;
(2) require a service company that performs a
hydraulic fracturing treatment on a well or a supplier of an
additive used in a hydraulic fracturing treatment on a well to
provide the operator of the well with the information necessary for
the operator to comply with Subdivision (1);
(3) prescribe a process by which an entity required to
comply with Subdivision (1) or (2) may withhold and declare certain
information as a trade secret for purposes of Section 552.110,
Government Code, including the identity and amount of the chemical
ingredient used in a hydraulic fracturing treatment;
(4) require a person who desires to challenge a claim
of entitlement to trade secret protection under Subdivision (3) to
file the challenge not later than the second anniversary of the date
the relevant well completion report is filed with the commission;
(5) limit the persons who may challenge a claim of
entitlement to trade secret protection under Subdivision (3) to:
(A) the landowner on whose property the relevant
well is located;
(B) a landowner who owns property adjacent to
property described by Paragraph (A); or
(C) a department or agency of this state with
jurisdiction over a matter to which the claimed trade secret is
relevant;
(6) require, in the event of a trade secret challenge,
that the commission promptly notify the service company performing
the hydraulic fracturing treatment on the relevant well, the
supplier of the additive or chemical ingredient for which the trade
secret claim is made, or any other owner of the trade secret being
challenged and provide the owner an opportunity to substantiate its
trade secret claim; and
(7) prescribe a process, consistent with 29 C.F.R.
Section 1910.1200, for an entity described by Subdivision (1) or
(2) to provide information, including information that is a trade
secret as defined by Appendix D to 29 C.F.R. Section 1910.1200, to a
health professional or emergency responder who needs the
information in accordance with Subsection (i) of that section.
(b) The protection and challenge of trade secrets under this
section is governed by Chapter 552, Government Code.
SECTION 2. Subchapter S, Chapter 91, Natural Resources
Code, as added by this Act, applies only to a hydraulic fracturing
treatment performed on a well for which an initial drilling permit
is issued on or after the date the initial rules adopted by the
Railroad Commission of Texas under that subchapter take effect. A
hydraulic fracturing treatment performed on a well for which an
initial drilling permit is issued before the date the initial rules
take effect is governed by the law as it existed immediately before
the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 3. The Railroad Commission of Texas shall adopt
rules under Subchapter S, Chapter 91, Natural Resources Code, as
added by this Act, not later than July 1, 2012, with the exception
of those rules under Paragraph (E), which are to be adopted not
later than July 1, 2013.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3328 was passed by the House on May
12, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 133, Nays 12, 2 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 3328 on May 27, 2011, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 3328 on May 29, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 137,
Nays 8, 2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3328 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 25, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
3328 on May 29, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor