Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1763 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R9222 ANG-D
2	2	By: Hughes S.B. No. 1763
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the production and ownership of brine.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subtitle D, Title 3, Natural Resources Code, is
12	12	amended by adding Chapter 124 to read as follows:
13	13	CHAPTER 124. OWNERSHIP OF BRINE MINERALS
14	14	Sec. 124.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "brine
15	15	minerals" means the interstitial particles and solutes suspended,
16	16	dissolved, or otherwise contained in brine, including bromine,
17	17	magnesium, potassium, lithium, boron, chlorine, iodine, calcium,
18	18	strontium, sodium, sulfur, barium, sodium chloride, and other
19	19	minerals, chemical elements, compounds, or products produced with
20	20	or extracted from brine.
21	21	Sec. 124.002. OWNERSHIP OF BRINE MINERALS. Except as
22	22	otherwise expressly provided by a conveyance, contract, deed,
23	23	reservation, exception, limitation, lease, assignment, or other
24	24	binding obligation, the owner of the mineral estate of the land owns
25	25	the brine minerals below the surface of the land as real property
26	26	and is responsible for protecting the correlative rights of other
27	27	owners.
28	28	SECTION 2. Section 27.002, Water Code, is amended by adding
29	29	Subdivision (26) to read as follows:
30	30	(26) "Brine" means a subterranean liquid or semiliquid
31	31	of varying salinities and the interstitial particles and solutes
32	32	suspended, dissolved, or otherwise contained in the liquid or
33	33	semiliquid, including the brine minerals, as defined by Section
34	34	124.001, Natural Resources Code. The term does not include
35	35	groundwater, as defined by Section 36.001(5), surface water, as
36	36	described by Section 11.021(a), fluid oil and gas waste, as defined
37	37	by Section 122.001, Natural Resources Code, or oil, gas, or a
38	38	product of oil or gas, as defined by Section 85.001, Natural
39	39	Resources Code.
40	40	SECTION 3. Sections 27.036(a) and (d), Water Code, are
41	41	amended to read as follows:
42	42	(a) In this section:
43	43	(1) "Brine mining" means the production of brine,
44	44	including naturally occurring brine and brine extracted by the
45	45	solution of a subsurface salt formation, for the purpose of
46	46	extracting from a subsurface formation brine minerals, elements,
47	47	salts, interstitial particles and solutes in the liquid or produced
48	48	from the liquid, or other useful substances[, not including:
49	49	[(A) oil, gas, or any product of oil or gas as
50	50	defined by Section 85.001, Natural Resources Code; or
51	51	[(B) fluid oil and gas waste, as defined by
52	52	Section 122.001, Natural Resources Code].
53	53	(2) "Class V brine injection well" means a well that
54	54	injects spent, naturally occurring brine produced by a brine mining
55	55	operation into the same formation from which it was withdrawn after
56	56	the processing and extraction of brine minerals, elements, salts,
57	57	interstitial particles and solutes in the liquid or produced from
58	58	the liquid, or other useful substances, including halogens or
59	59	halogen salts.
60	60	(d) The railroad commission shall adopt rules that are
61	61	necessary to administer and regulate brine mining, including rules
62	62	establishing reporting requirements for operators of brine
63	63	production wells and injection wells used for brine mining.
64	64	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.