The bill amends the Water Code to enhance the regulation of injection wells used for the disposal of oil and gas waste by the Railroad Commission of Texas. It establishes that no person may use or drill a disposal well without first obtaining a permit from the commission. Additionally, permit holders are required to submit daily reports detailing the amount of produced water injected and the surface injection pressure data from the disposal well.

Furthermore, the bill introduces a fee structure for injection wells, imposing a charge of one cent per barrel of oil and gas waste injected if the waste is produced within the same district as the injection well, and ten cents per barrel if produced outside that district. The collected fees will be deposited into a newly created Injection and Abandoned Wells Cleanup Fund, which will be used exclusively for projects related to the reuse and treatment of produced water and the remediation of abandoned wells. The act is set to take effect on September 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Water Code 27.031 (Water Code 27)