| 1 | 1 | | 2025S0100-1 02/13/25 |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Dean H.B. No. 5410 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 8 | 8 | | AN ACT |
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| 9 | 9 | | relating to responsibility in tort for the treatment of fluid oil |
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| 10 | 10 | | and gas waste for beneficial use. |
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| 11 | 11 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 1. Section 122.002, Natural Resources Code, is |
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| 13 | 13 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | Sec. 122.002. OWNERSHIP OF FLUID OIL AND GAS WASTE |
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| 15 | 15 | | TRANSFERRED FOR TREATMENT AND [SUBSEQUENT] BENEFICIAL USE. Unless |
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| 16 | 16 | | otherwise expressly provided by an oil or gas lease, a surface use |
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| 17 | 17 | | agreement, a contract, a bill of sale, or another legally binding |
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| 18 | 18 | | document: |
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| 19 | 19 | | (1) when fluid oil and gas waste is produced and used |
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| 20 | 20 | | by or transferred to a person who takes possession of that waste for |
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| 21 | 21 | | the purpose of treating the waste for a [subsequent] beneficial |
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| 22 | 22 | | use, the waste is considered to be the property of the person who |
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| 23 | 23 | | takes possession of it for the purpose of treating the waste for |
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| 24 | 24 | | [subsequent] beneficial use until the person transfers the waste or |
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| 25 | 25 | | treated waste to another person for disposal or use; and |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2) when a person who takes possession of fluid oil and |
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| 27 | 27 | | gas waste for the purpose of treating the waste for a [subsequent] |
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| 28 | 28 | | beneficial use transfers possession of the treated product or any |
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| 29 | 29 | | treatment byproduct to another person for the purpose of |
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| 30 | 30 | | [subsequent] disposal or beneficial use, the transferred product or |
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| 31 | 31 | | byproduct is considered to be the property of the person to whom the |
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| 32 | 32 | | material is transferred. |
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| 33 | 33 | | SECTION 2. Section 122.003(a), Natural Resources Code, is |
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| 34 | 34 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 35 | 35 | | (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a person who |
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| 36 | 36 | | produces fluid oil and gas waste and supplies that waste to a |
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| 37 | 37 | | treatment facility that produces from that waste a treated product |
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| 38 | 38 | | or who takes possession of fluid oil and gas waste and[,] produces |
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| 39 | 39 | | from that waste a treated product [generally considered in the oil |
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| 40 | 40 | | and gas industry to be suitable for use in connection with the |
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| 41 | 41 | | drilling for or production of oil or gas, and transfers the treated |
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| 42 | 42 | | product to another person with the contractual understanding that |
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| 43 | 43 | | the treated product will be used in connection with the drilling for |
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| 44 | 44 | | or production of oil or gas] is not liable in tort for a consequence |
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| 45 | 45 | | of the beneficial [subsequent] use of that treated product [by the |
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| 46 | 46 | | person to whom the treated product is transferred or by another |
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| 47 | 47 | | person]. |
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| 48 | 48 | | SECTION 3. Section 101.023, Civil Practice and Remedies |
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| 49 | 49 | | Code, is amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows: |
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| 50 | 50 | | (e) This section applies to an action brought under Section |
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| 51 | 51 | | 122.003, Natural Resources Code. |
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| 52 | 52 | | SECTION 4. A cause of action that accrues before the |
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| 53 | 53 | | effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed |
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| 54 | 54 | | immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is |
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| 55 | 55 | | continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 56 | 56 | | SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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