By: Lozano, Guillen H.B. No. 2771
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality to issue permits for the discharge into water in this state
of produced water, hydrostatic test water, and gas plant effluent
resulting from certain oil and gas activities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 26.131, Water Code, as effective until
delegation of authority under the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.) to the
Railroad Commission of Texas, is amended by amending Subsections
(a) and (b) and adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by this section, the [The] Railroad
Commission of Texas is solely responsible for the control and
disposition of waste and the abatement and prevention of pollution
of surface and subsurface water resulting from:
(1) activities associated with the exploration,
development, and production of oil or gas or geothermal resources,
including:
(A) activities associated with the drilling of
injection water source wells which penetrate the base of useable
quality water;
(B) activities associated with the drilling of
cathodic protection holes associated with the cathodic protection
of wells and pipelines subject to the jurisdiction of the Railroad
Commission of Texas;
(C) activities associated with gasoline plants,
natural gas or natural gas liquids processing plants, pressure
maintenance plants, or repressurizing plants;
(D) activities associated with any underground
natural gas storage facility, provided the terms "natural gas" and
"storage facility" shall have the meanings set out in Section
91.173, Natural Resources Code;
(E) activities associated with any underground
hydrocarbon storage facility, provided the terms "hydrocarbons"
and "underground hydrocarbon storage facility" shall have the
meanings set out in Section 91.201, Natural Resources Code; and
(F) activities associated with the storage,
handling, reclamation, gathering, transportation, or distribution
of oil or gas prior to the refining of such oil or prior to the use
of such gas in any manufacturing process or as a residential or
industrial fuel;
(2) except to the extent the activities are regulated
by the Texas Department of Health under Chapter 401, Health and
Safety Code, activities associated with uranium exploration
consisting of the disturbance of the surface or subsurface for the
purpose of or related to determining the location, quantity, or
quality of uranium ore; and
(3) any other activities regulated by the Railroad
Commission of Texas pursuant to Section 91.101, Natural Resources
Code.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the [The] Railroad
Commission of Texas may issue permits for the discharge of waste
resulting from the [these] activities described by Subsection (a),
and the discharge of waste into water in this state resulting from
those [these] activities must [shall] meet the water quality
standards established by the commission.
(d) The commission may issue permits for the discharge into
water in this state of produced water, hydrostatic test water, and
gas plant effluent resulting from the activities described by
Subsection (a) on delegation to the commission of NPDES authority
for those discharges. The discharge of produced water, hydrostatic
test water, and gas plant effluent into water in this state under
this subsection must meet the water quality standards established
by the commission.
SECTION 2. Section 26.131, Water Code, as effective on
delegation of authority under the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) to the Railroad
Commission of Texas, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 26.131. DUTIES OF RAILROAD COMMISSION. (a) Except as
provided by this section, the [The] Railroad Commission of Texas is
solely responsible for the control and disposition of waste and the
abatement and prevention of pollution of surface and subsurface
water resulting from:
(1) activities associated with the exploration,
development, and production of oil or gas or geothermal resources,
including:
(A) activities associated with the drilling of
injection water source wells which penetrate the base of useable
quality water;
(B) activities associated with the drilling of
cathodic protection holes associated with the cathodic protection
of wells and pipelines subject to the jurisdiction of the Railroad
Commission of Texas;
(C) activities associated with gasoline plants,
natural gas or natural gas liquids processing plants, pressure
maintenance plants, or repressurizing plants;
(D) activities associated with any underground
natural gas storage facility, provided the terms "natural gas" and
"storage facility" shall have the meanings set out in Section
91.173, Natural Resources Code;
(E) activities associated with any underground
hydrocarbon storage facility, provided the terms "hydrocarbons"
and "underground hydrocarbon storage facility" shall have the
meanings set out in Section 91.201, Natural Resources Code; and
(F) activities associated with the storage,
handling, reclamation, gathering, transportation, or distribution
of oil or gas prior to the refining of such oil or prior to the use
of such gas in any manufacturing process or as a residential or
industrial fuel;
(2) except to the extent the activities are regulated
by the Texas Department of Health under Chapter 401, Health and
Safety Code, activities associated with uranium exploration
consisting of the disturbance of the surface or subsurface for the
purpose of or related to determining the location, quantity, or
quality of uranium ore; and
(3) any other activities regulated by the Railroad
Commission of Texas pursuant to Section 91.101, Natural Resources
Code.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the [The] Railroad
Commission of Texas may issue permits for the discharge of waste
resulting from the [these] activities described by Subsection (a),
and the discharge of waste into water in this state resulting from
those [these] activities must [shall] meet the water quality
standards established by the commission.
(c) The commission may issue permits for the discharge into
water in this state of produced water, hydrostatic test water, and
gas plant effluent resulting from the activities described by
Subsection (a) on delegation to the commission of NPDES authority
for those discharges. The discharge of produced water, hydrostatic
test water, and gas plant effluent into water in this state under
this subsection must meet the water quality standards established
by the commission.
SECTION 3. (a) In this section:
(1) "Commission" means the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
(2) "NPDES" means National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System.
(b) On delegation of NPDES permit authority for discharges
of produced water, hydrostatic test water, and gas plant effluent
to the commission by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency under Section 402(b) of the Federal Water Pollution Control
Act (33 U.S.C. Section 1342(b)), the following are transferred from
the Railroad Commission of Texas to the commission:
(1) the powers, duties, functions, programs, and
activities of the Railroad Commission of Texas relating to the
regulation of discharges of produced water, hydrostatic test water,
and gas plant effluent into water in this state;
(2) any obligations and contracts of the Railroad
Commission of Texas that are directly related to implementing a
power, duty, function, program, or activity transferred under this
Act; and
(3) all property and records in the custody of the
Railroad Commission of Texas that are related to a power, duty,
function, program, or activity transferred under this Act.
(c) The Railroad Commission of Texas shall continue to carry
out its duties related to the regulation of discharges of produced
water, hydrostatic test water, and gas plant effluent into water in
this state until delegation of NPDES permit authority for
discharges of produced water, hydrostatic test water, and gas plant
effluent to the commission by the United States Environmental
Protection Agency under Section 402(b) of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. Section 1342(b)).
(d) The commission may carry out activities to ensure an
orderly transfer of the powers, duties, functions, programs, and
activities transferred under this Act, including hiring additional
employees and amending the memorandum of understanding by mutual
agreement with the Railroad Commission of Texas.
(e) Not later than September 1, 2021, the commission shall
submit to the United States Environmental Protection Agency for
approval a request to supplement or amend the Texas Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System program to include delegation of NPDES
permit authority for discharges of produced water, hydrostatic test
water, and gas plant effluent.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section
26.131, Water Code, applies to an application for an authorization
to discharge produced water, hydrostatic test water, or gas plant
effluent into water in this state that is pending on or after the
effective date of delegation of National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System permit authority for discharges of produced
water, hydrostatic test water, and gas plant effluent to the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency under Section 402(b) of the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. Section 1342(b)). An
application that is granted or denied in a final decision before the
effective date of such delegation is governed by the law as it
existed immediately before the effective date of such delegation,
and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.