By: Keffer (Senate Sponsor - Fraser) H.B. No. 2571
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 29, 2013;
May 2, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural
Resources; May 8, 2013, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 10, Nays 0; May 8, 2013, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the inspection of certain information regarding the
production, transportation, sale, and marketing of oil and gas from
state land; imposing an administrative penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 52.135, Natural Resources Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), (a-3), (e), and (f) and
amending Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(a-1) Not later than the 60th day after the date of receipt
of a request from the commissioner, the attorney general, or the
governor for information described by Subsection (a), a lessee
shall produce the requested information.
(a-2) A lessee who is unable to produce requested
information in the time required by Subsection (a-1) must, not
later than the 30th day after the date of receipt of a request for
the information, reply in writing to the requestor and state the
reason for the inability to provide the information in the time
required and when the information will be available. A requestor
who receives a reply under this subsection may extend the deadline
for the production of the requested information by written response
to the lessee. If the requestor does not extend the deadline, the
lessee shall produce the information not later than the later of:
(1) the fifth day after the date of receipt of a
written response from the requestor rejecting the extension; or
(2) the 60th day after the date of receipt of the
original request.
(a-3) A lessee who withholds requested information on a good
faith legal basis must, not later than the 60th day after the date
of receipt of a request for the information, provide the requestor
with a detailed explanation of the basis for withholding the
information.
(c) A [The] lessee shall have 30 days from the date of the
receipt of an [such] audit billing notice under Subsection (b) or a
notice of a penalty assessment under Subsection (e) in which to pay
the [such] audit deficiency assessment or penalty or to request a
hearing before the commissioner or the commissioner's [his]
representative for redetermination of the [such] assessment or to
challenge the assessment of the penalty. A statement of grounds
setting out in detail the lessee's reasons for disagreement with
the [such] assessment or penalty and the factual and legal grounds
on which the claim is based must be submitted by a lessee with its
request for a hearing. The [Such] hearing shall be conducted in
accordance with the rules and procedures established by the
commissioner.
(e) Except as provided by Subsection (f), the commissioner
may assess an administrative penalty against a lessee who fails to
produce requested information in the time required under Subsection
(a-1) or (a-2) by intentionally withholding information to which
the land office is legally entitled. The penalty may not exceed:
(1) $100 a day for each day after the deadline for
producing the information that the lessee fails to produce the
information until the 60th day after the deadline; and
(2) $1,000 a day for each day after the 60th day after
the deadline for producing the information that the lessee fails to
produce the information.
(f) The commissioner may not assess a penalty against a
lessee who withholds information under Subsection (a-3) until the
commissioner determines that the requestor is entitled to the
information.
SECTION 2. Section 52.135, Natural Resources Code, as
amended by this Act, applies only to a request for information made
under that section on or after the effective date of this Act. A
request for information made under that section before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date of the request, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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