Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1717 Compare Versions

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1	1	85R2452 JXC-F
2	2	By: Canales H.B. No. 1717
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to wind energy conversion systems and facilities and the
8	8	rights of owners of land on which the systems and facilities are
9	9	located; providing an administrative penalty.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Title 11, Natural Resources Code, is amended by
12	12	adding Chapter 212 to read as follows:
13	13	CHAPTER 212. WIND ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEMS AND FACILITIES
14	14	Sec. 212.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
15	15	(1) "Commission" means the Railroad Commission of
16	16	Texas.
17	17	(2) "Wind energy conversion system" means a system
18	18	that converts wind energy into electric energy through the use of a
19	19	wind turbine generator and includes a turbine, blade, tower, base,
20	20	and pad transformer, if any.
21	21	(3) "Wind energy facility" means an electric
22	22	generating facility that consists of one or more wind energy
23	23	conversion systems under common ownership or operating control and
24	24	the substations, meteorological data towers, aboveground and
25	25	underground electric transmission lines, transformers, control
26	26	systems, and other buildings or facilities used to support the
27	27	operation of the facility.
28	28	(4) "Wind energy lease agreement" means an agreement
29	29	that:
30	30	(A) provides for the operation of a wind energy
31	31	conversion system or wind energy facility at least partially on the
32	32	property of a landowner who is not the owner or operator of the
33	33	system or facility; and
34	34	(B) requires the owner or operator of the system
35	35	or facility to pay the landowner for the use of the property to
36	36	generate electric energy from the conversion of wind energy based
37	37	on the amount of electric energy produced from the conversion of
38	38	wind energy.
39	39	Sec. 212.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to
40	40	a wind energy conversion system or wind energy facility:
41	41	(1) the primary purpose of which is to supply electric
42	42	energy to an off-site customer; and
43	43	(2) that is the subject of a wind energy lease
44	44	agreement.
45	45	Sec. 212.003. RULES. The commission may adopt rules to
46	46	accomplish the purposes of this chapter.
47	47	Sec. 212.004. RIGHT OF LANDOWNER TO ACCESS RECORDS. (a) An
48	48	owner or operator of a wind energy conversion system or wind energy
49	49	facility shall, on request from the landowner who entered into the
50	50	wind energy lease agreement, provide the landowner access to the
51	51	records of the owner or operator relating to the system or facility
52	52	for the purpose of confirming the accuracy of payments made to the
53	53	landowner. A landowner may not request access to the records more
54	54	frequently than once each year.
55	55	(b) An owner or operator that receives a request under
56	56	Subsection (a) shall provide the landowner access to all records
57	57	necessary for the landowner to confirm the accuracy of payments
58	58	made to the landowner, including documents, data, and other
59	59	information, or copies of the records, documents, data, or
60	60	information. The records are subject to any confidentiality
61	61	requirements in the wind energy lease agreement between the
62	62	landowner and the owner or operator.
63	63	(c) The owner or operator shall comply with the landowner's
64	64	request to access the records within a reasonable time.
65	65	(d) The owner or operator shall:
66	66	(1) provide access to the records in a reasonable
67	67	location and manner that affords the landowner reasonable access to
68	68	the records during normal business hours; and
69	69	(2) allow the landowner a reasonable period of time to
70	70	examine the records.
71	71	(e) A landowner may not cause undue disruption to the
72	72	operations of an owner or operator when examining records under
73	73	this section.
74	74	(f) Not later than the 10th day before the date an owner or
75	75	operator of a wind energy conversion system or wind energy facility
76	76	enters into a wind energy lease agreement with a landowner, the
77	77	owner or operator must send to the landowner, by first class mail or
78	78	otherwise, a written statement that the landowner will be entitled
79	79	to access the records of the owner or operator for the purpose of
80	80	confirming the accuracy of payments made to the landowner.
81	81	(g) The statement required by Subsection (f) must be made in
82	82	a document that is separate from the wind energy lease agreement.
83	83	Sec. 212.005. FINANCIAL ASSURANCE; DECOMMISSIONING. (a)
84	84	The commission by rule shall require each owner or operator of a
85	85	wind energy conversion system or wind energy facility who enters
86	86	into a wind energy lease agreement to file with the commission a
87	87	bond or other form of financial assurance to ensure decommissioning
88	88	of the system or facility. The commission may accept under this
89	89	subsection a surety bond, a collateral bond, an escrow account,
90	90	another form of financial assurance the commission determines to be
91	91	adequate, or a combination of those types of assurance. The bond or
92	92	financial assurance must be in an amount and in a form provided by
93	93	commission rules.
94	94	(b) The bond or financial assurance must be conditioned on
95	95	the owner or operator of the system or facility complying with the
96	96	commission's rules adopted under this section regarding
97	97	decommissioning. The bond or other financial assurance must be
98	98	accompanied by an agreement by which the owner of the land on which
99	99	the system or facility is installed or is to be installed grants to
100	100	the owner or operator of the system or facility, and to the
101	101	commission or its agents in case the commission undertakes
102	102	decommissioning under Subsection (g), permission to enter onto the
103	103	land to decommission the system or facility and restore the land to
104	104	the condition of the land immediately before the system or facility
105	105	was installed.
106	106	(c) The owner or operator of a system or facility at the
107	107	owner's or operator's expense shall decommission the system or
108	108	facility in accordance with commission rules not later than the
109	109	first anniversary of the end of the system's or facility's useful
110	110	life. The system's or facility's useful life is presumed to be at an
111	111	end if the system or facility has not generated electricity for a
112	112	continuous period of one year, unless the commission has approved
113	113	the owner's or operator's plan to return the system or facility to
114	114	service.
115	115	(d) The commission's rules governing decommissioning a
116	116	system or facility must provide that the owner or operator:
117	117	(1) shall remove all material related to the installed
118	118	system or facility to a depth of at least 48 inches beneath the soil
119	119	surface;
120	120	(2) shall restore the area disturbed by the
121	121	installation or removal of the system or facility to substantially
122	122	the same physical condition of the land immediately before the
123	123	system or facility was installed, including by grading and
124	124	reseeding, except as provided by rules adopted under Subdivision
125	125	(3); and
126	126	(3) is not required to restore access roads or other
127	127	features not directly related to the system or facility that the
128	128	landowner requests in writing remain unrestored.
129	129	(e) In addition to the bond or other financial assurance
130	130	required under Subsection (a), the commission may require a
131	131	performance bond to ensure that decommissioning activities are
132	132	properly conducted. The commission may accept under this
133	133	subsection a surety bond, a collateral bond, an escrow account,
134	134	another form of financial assurance the commission determines to be
135	135	adequate, or a combination of those types of assurance.
136	136	(f) The commission by rule may adopt requirements for
137	137	performance bonds described by Subsection (e). The rules may
138	138	include methods for determining the amount of a bond, for updating
139	139	estimated decommissioning costs and bond amounts over time, and for
140	140	ensuring that money will be available for a decommissioning
141	141	project. In determining the amount of a performance bond, the
142	142	commission may consider:
143	143	(1) the anticipated length of a decommissioning
144	144	project;
145	145	(2) the estimated decommissioning costs, including
146	146	restoration costs;
147	147	(3) the anticipated manner in which the
148	148	decommissioning project will be conducted; and
149	149	(4) other factors the commission determines are
150	150	relevant.
151	151	(g) If the owner or operator of a system or facility does not
152	152	complete the decommissioning of the system or facility, the
153	153	commission may take any necessary action to complete the
154	154	decommissioning, including requiring forfeiture of a bond or other
155	155	financial assurance required under this section.
156	156	(h) A wind energy lease agreement may contain provisions for
157	157	decommissioning or restoration that are more restrictive than the
158	158	provisions of this chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter.
159	159	Sec. 212.006. ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY. (a) A person who
160	160	violates a provision of this chapter or a rule or order issued by
161	161	the commission under this chapter may be assessed an administrative
162	162	penalty by the commission.
163	163	(b) The penalty may not exceed $1,000 a day for each
164	164	violation. Each day a violation continues may be considered a
165	165	separate violation for purposes of penalty assessments.
166	166	(c) In determining the amount of the penalty, the commission
167	167	shall consider the person's history of previous violations, the
168	168	seriousness of the violation, any hazard to the health or safety of
169	169	the public, and the demonstrated good faith of the person charged.
170	170	(d) The commission may impose an administrative penalty
171	171	under this section in the manner provided by Sections
172	172	81.0532-81.0534.
173	173	Sec. 212.007. ENFORCEMENT BY COMMISSION AND ATTORNEY
174	174	GENERAL. (a) If it appears that a person has been or is violating
175	175	this chapter or a rule of the commission adopted under this chapter,
176	176	the commission may institute a civil suit in a district court for
177	177	injunctive relief to restrain the person from continuing the
178	178	violation.
179	179	(b) On application for injunctive relief and a finding that
180	180	a person has violated or is violating this chapter or a rule of the
181	181	commission under this chapter, the district court shall grant the
182	182	injunctive relief that the facts warrant.
183	183	(c) At the request of the commission, the attorney general
184	184	shall institute and conduct a suit under this section in the name of
185	185	the state.
186	186	SECTION 2. (a) Sections 212.004(f) and (g) and 212.005,
187	187	Natural Resources Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a wind
188	188	energy lease agreement entered into on or after February 1, 2018. A
189	189	wind energy lease agreement entered into before February 1, 2018,
190	190	is governed by the law as it existed immediately before that date,
191	191	and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
192	192	(b) The Railroad Commission of Texas shall prioritize the
193	193	adoption of rules to implement Chapter 212, Natural Resources Code,
194	194	as added by this Act, so that the commission may begin requiring
195	195	bonds or other financial assurance under those rules not later than
196	196	January 31, 2018.
197	197	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.