Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4320 Compare Versions

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1	1	88R14589 ANG-D
2	2	By: Morales Shaw H.B. No. 4320
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the disclosure of certain chemicals included in
8	8	hydraulic fracturing treatments.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 91.851(a), Natural Resources Code, is
11	11	amended to read as follows:
12	12	(a) The commission by rule shall:
13	13	(1) require an operator of a well on which a hydraulic
14	14	fracturing treatment is performed to:
15	15	(A) complete the form posted on the hydraulic
16	16	fracturing chemical registry Internet website of the Ground Water
17	17	Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact
18	18	Commission with regard to the well;
19	19	(B) include in the form completed under Paragraph
20	20	(A):
21	21	(i) the total volume of water used in the
22	22	hydraulic fracturing treatment; and
23	23	(ii) each chemical ingredient that is
24	24	subject to the requirements of 29 C.F.R. Section 1910.1200(g)(2),
25	25	as provided by a service company or chemical supplier or by the
26	26	operator, if the operator provides its own chemical ingredients;
27	27	(C) post the completed form described by
28	28	Paragraph (A) on the website described by that paragraph or, if the
29	29	website is discontinued or permanently inoperable, post the
30	30	completed form on another publicly accessible Internet website
31	31	specified by the commission;
32	32	(D) submit the completed form described by
33	33	Paragraph (A) to the commission with the well completion report for
34	34	the well; and
35	35	(E) in addition to the completed form specified
36	36	in Paragraph (D), provide to the commission a list, to be made
37	37	available on a publicly accessible website, of all other chemical
38	38	ingredients not listed on the completed form that were
39	39	intentionally included and used for the purpose of creating a
40	40	hydraulic fracturing treatment for the well. The commission rule
41	41	shall ensure that an operator, service company, or supplier is not
42	42	responsible for disclosing ingredients that:
43	43	(i) were not purposely added to the
44	44	hydraulic fracturing treatment;
45	45	(ii) occur incidentally or are otherwise
46	46	unintentionally present in the treatment; or
47	47	(iii) in the case of the operator, are not
48	48	disclosed to the operator by a service company or supplier. The
49	49	commission rule shall not require that the ingredients be
50	50	identified based on the additive in which they are found or that the
51	51	concentration of such ingredients be provided;
52	52	(2) require a service company that performs a
53	53	hydraulic fracturing treatment on a well or a supplier of an
54	54	additive used in a hydraulic fracturing treatment on a well to
55	55	provide the operator of the well with:
56	56	(A) the information necessary for the operator to
57	57	comply with Subdivision (1); and
58	58	(B) each chemical ingredient included in the
59	59	hydraulic fracturing fluids provided to the operator that is
60	60	subject to the requirements of 29 C.F.R. Section 1910.1200(g)(2);
61	61	(3) prescribe a process by which an entity required to
62	62	comply with Subdivision (1) or (2) may withhold and declare certain
63	63	information as a trade secret for purposes of Section 552.110,
64	64	Government Code, including the [identity and] amount of the
65	65	chemical ingredient used in a hydraulic fracturing treatment;
66	66	(4) require a person who desires to challenge a claim
67	67	of entitlement to trade secret protection under Subdivision (3) to
68	68	file the challenge not later than the second anniversary of the date
69	69	the relevant well completion report is filed with the commission;
70	70	(5) limit the persons who may challenge a claim of
71	71	entitlement to trade secret protection under Subdivision (3) to:
72	72	(A) the landowner on whose property the relevant
73	73	well is located;
74	74	(B) a landowner who owns property adjacent to
75	75	property described by Paragraph (A); or
76	76	(C) a department or agency of this state with
77	77	jurisdiction over a matter to which the claimed trade secret is
78	78	relevant;
79	79	(6) require, in the event of a trade secret challenge,
80	80	that the commission promptly notify the service company performing
81	81	the hydraulic fracturing treatment on the relevant well, the
82	82	supplier of the additive or chemical ingredient for which the trade
83	83	secret claim is made, or any other owner of the trade secret being
84	84	challenged and provide the owner an opportunity to substantiate its
85	85	trade secret claim; and
86	86	(7) prescribe a process, consistent with 29 C.F.R.
87	87	Section 1910.1200, for an entity described by Subdivision (1) or
88	88	(2) to provide information, including information that is a trade
89	89	secret as defined by Appendix E [D] to 29 C.F.R. Section 1910.1200,
90	90	to a health professional or emergency responder who needs the
91	91	information in accordance with Subsection (i) of that section.
92	92	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.