Bills before the 2013 Texas Legislature
Week of April 14, 2013
HB 3599 by Lon Burnam requires a minimum setback of 500 feet from oil and gas wells, and other restrictions on the siting, drilling, completion, and operation of oil and gas wells in certain locations.
HB 3600 by Lon Burnam is about the rights of an owner of the surface land in connection with oil and gas exploration and production operations; it provides administrative penalties and compensation for damage to landowners' prpoperty.
A
simple bill by Representative Dawnna Dukes about promoting a
surrounding landowner’s right to information about hydraulic fracturing,
House Bill 448 will require that:
- An
operator send notice via US mail to all landowners located within 500
feet that will state that the operator has been given a permit to drill
and that the operator intends to use the hydraulic fracturing treatment.
- The notice must be mailed not later than the 15th day after the date the permit to drill is issued.
- The notice will include information that chemicals used to frack the well will be posted on FracFocus website.
SB 957 guts the contested case hearing process with narrow timelines and a restrictive process. Contested case hearings are a vital process by which citizens/municipalities, etc. can dispute or improve a permit for any dirty industry, be it a landfill, cement kiln, dirty power plant, etc. These cases are only used less than 2% of the time at our environmental agency, the TCEQ, to either kill/or improve a permit. Tell them to leave the process the way it was-- leave the current process alone-- and vote no to disallow this bill out of committee.
HB 2828 essentially strips away local municipalities, water boards, etc. authority to formulate gas drilling setbacks, and any/all regulations to protect the safety, property values, the quality of life, within a community. This would make all the hard work folks in Dallas, Southlake, Flower Mound, etc. a moot point in getting setbacks or any kind of protections for their areas. And those in the future who may also want to do so in the Haynesford and Eagleford shale. The Railroad Commission would have the final word on everything oil and gas-related superseding anything any political body outside of them would want to do on fracking, etc. Tell them that municipal local control/ordinances of officials to protect residents are important... to vote no, and not allow this bill out of Committee.
| Committee Members
Senate Natural Resources Committee - 2013
House Natural Resources Committee - 2013
House Energy Resources Committee - 2013
House Land and Resource Management Committee - 2013
House Business & Industry Committee - 2013;
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