88(R) HB 3840 - Introduced version - Bill Text
  88R7367 ANG-D
 
  By:  Goodwin H.B.  No.  3840
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the extension of the deadline for plugging certain
  inactive wells under the jurisdiction of the Railroad Commission of
  Texas.
               BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
               SECTION  1.    Section 89.023, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1),
  (a-2), (c), (d), and (e) to read as follows:
               (a)    Subject to Subsection (c), the [The] commission may
  grant an extension of not more than five years of the deadline for
  plugging an inactive well if the operator maintains a current
  organization report with the commission as required by Section
  91.142 and if, on or before the date of renewal of the operator's
  organization report as required by that section, the operator files
  with the commission an application for an extension that includes:
                           (1)    an affirmation that complies with Section 89.029;
                           (2)    a statement that the operator has, and on request
  will provide, evidence of a good faith claim to a continuing right
  to operate the well; [and]
                           (3)    at least one of the following:
                                       (A)    documentation that since the preceding date
  that the operator's organization report was required to be renewed
  the operator has plugged, or restored to active operation as
  defined by commission rule, a number of inactive wells equal to or
  greater than 10 percent of the number of inactive wells operated by
  the operator on that date;
                                       (B)    an abeyance of plugging report on a form
  approved by the commission that:
                                                   (i)    is in the form of a certification signed
  by a person licensed by the Texas Board of Professional Engineers
  and Land Surveyors as an engineer or by the Texas Board of
  Professional Geoscientists;
                                                   (ii)    includes:
                                                               (a)    an affirmation by the licensed
  person that the well has:
                                                                           (1)    a reasonable expectation of
  economic value in excess of the cost of plugging the well for the
  duration of the period covered by the report, based on the cost
  calculation for plugging an inactive well; and
                                                                           (2)    a reasonable expectation of
  being restored to a beneficial use that will prevent waste of oil or
  gas resources that otherwise would not be produced if the well were
  plugged; and
                                                               (b)    appropriate documentation
  demonstrating the basis for the affirmation of the well's future
  utility; and
                                                   (iii)    specifies the field and the covered
  wells within that field in a format prescribed by the commission;
                                       (C)    a statement that the well is part of an
  enhanced oil recovery project;
                                       (D)    if the operator of the well is not currently
  otherwise required by commission rule or order to conduct a fluid
  level or hydraulic pressure test of the well, documentation of the
  results of a successful fluid level or hydraulic pressure test of
  the well conducted in accordance with the commission's rules in
  effect at the time the test is conducted;
                                       (E)    [a supplemental bond, letter of credit, or
  cash deposit sufficient for each well specified in the application
  that:
                                                   [(i)    complies with the requirements of
  Chapter 91; and
                                                   [(ii)    is of an amount at least equal to the
  cost calculation for plugging an inactive well for each well
  specified in the application;
 

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Natural Resources Code 89.023, Natural Resources Code 89.021, Natural Resources Code 89.028 (Natural Resources Code 89)