89R9800 JAM-D
By: Dean H.B. No. 3619
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the rights and liabilities of the owner of the surface
estate of the tract of land on which a well to be plugged or
replugged by the Railroad Commission of Texas is located.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 89.043, Natural Resources Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
(g) If the commission plugs or replugs a well under this
section, the commission shall restore the surface of the tract of
land on which the well is located to the condition in which it
existed before the plugging or replugging operations began.
SECTION 2. Section 89.044, Natural Resources Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) Except as necessary to prevent injury to the public
health, a person authorized to enter land under this section may
not take an action that would prevent the owner of the surface
estate of the land from accessing the land.
SECTION 3. Section 89.045, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 89.045. LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES. (a) The commission and
its employees and agents, the operator, and the nonoperator are not
liable for any damages that may occur as a result of acts done or
omitted to be done by them or each of them in a good-faith effort to
carry out this chapter.
(b) The owner of the surface estate of the tract of land on
which a well is located is not liable for any damages that may occur
as a result of acts done or omitted to be done in carrying out this
chapter by the commission, an employee or agent of the commission,
or any other person authorized under this chapter to enter the land.
SECTION 4. Section 89.043(g), Natural Resources Code, as
added by this Act, applies only to a well that is plugged or
replugged on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.