84R9483 SMH-F
By: Guillen H.B. No. 3001
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the information that an operator of a well on which a
hydraulic fracturing treatment is performed is required to
disclose.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 91.851(a), Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(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) the source, volume, specific
composition, and disposition of all water associated with the well,
including the following information with respect to the water used
as a base fluid for the well:
(a) a statement of whether the water
was produced from a well, was acquired from a water supplier, or was
diverted from a surface water body; and
(b) the composition of the water,
including the total dissolved solids and a description of any major
or minor cations and anions contained in the water; and
(iii) 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.
SECTION 2. The Railroad Commission of Texas shall adopt
rules under Section 91.851(a), Natural Resources Code, as amended
by this Act, not later than December 1, 2015.
SECTION 3. Section 91.851(a), Natural Resources Code, as
amended 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 rules adopted by the Railroad
Commission of Texas under that subsection as amended by this Act
take effect. A hydraulic fracturing treatment performed on a well
for which an initial drilling permit is issued before the date the
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 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.