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aomliw BEN 83 -PBnlRllD 

A-~ll#cw “RN-A,- 

September 14, 19% 

. Hon. Fmlest 0. Thcm;son, 

T 

Opinions s-140 

Railroad Ccuomission of Tex 

.~ 

Tribune BucbUng Re: ,Jurisdiotion of the RaiYxosd 

Auetin,Texas Commission of Texas to control 

.< and regulate the iu$pliers of 

natural gas when such gas is 

used to pmnp water for agricultural purposes pursuant to 

Cbfzpter 31, Acts 53r;a LegiaRear General Thompson: fatme, lst:cSS., 199. 

You have requested that this office ,. .~ 

"advise by opinion as to whether or not the Railipad Ccmrmlesion can demand that the suppliers of ~uatural 

gas, by pipe line, for agriut&ural uses, as defined in 

H.B. Ro. 6k, ehall cmaply with all of the article 6050 

td 6066 imlusiiie, ~xceptArticle'6050 which is speotiioally exaluded by H:B. Ro. 6b." i 

HOI& Bill &wasetiacted iuto law as Chapter 31,Acta 53rd - 

Legislature, fst Calledseseion, 19%. 

Fu&hUr oommmications with this office estabUsh that ~yoti 

speoif~cally wint to how thecharacter,of operations oontemV&ated by 

Chapter 31, necessary to exempt the supplier of natural gas from the 

pk-ldms of Article 6050, Vernon's CivilStatutes; if suppliers of 

natural gas for the purposes set out in Chapter 31 areex~empt from paying the gas utility taxlevied by Article 6060, V.C.S.; and whether a 

supplier exempt from the tax will be subject to the safety rules md 

regulatiousof the Railxoad Comaiasion of Texas. 

At the outset we refex you to Attorney General's~Opiaion Roe: 

S-123, written prior to the enaoivnent of Chapter 31. It was theke held~-~~ 

inter alla, that the Railroad Oonmissiou aould not iesue an order,pxovid- -- 

iug that a suppller of natural gas to a localized area for irrigation 

pmup fuel-would not be a “gas .utility." The writer thereof observed, 

however, that "irrespective of such detennina tion, the statutory definltion of a 'gas utility' prescribed by the Legislature aould clearly beg 

emended to provide a speaifio exception for the operations described In 

your request." 
Eon. Ernest 0. Thompson, page 2 (S-140) 

We belleve that Chapter 31was enacted pursuant to the above 

holdiug aud observation. 

Chapter 31provides in part: 

*Section 1. Article 605Oof the Revised Civil Statutes 

of'Texas, 1925, is hereby amended by adding thereto two uew 

sections, 4 end 4a, to road as follows: 

"'Sec. 4. provided, however, that the act or acts of 

transporting, deUveriug, selling or othenvise maldug available natural gas for fuel, either directly or indirectly, to 

the owners of irrigation wells or the sale, transportation 

or delivery of natural gas for any other direct use in agrioulturalaativitiee shall not be construed within the tams 

of this law as ooustitutiug soy person, association, corpora- 

.tion, trustee, reoeiver or partnership as a 'gas utility,' 

'public utility,' or 'utility* ae hereinabove defined so ss to 

make such person, association, corporation, truetee, receiver 

or partnership subjeot to the jurisdiction, control and regulation of the CaPmission as a gas utility. 

"'Sec.. 4a. Thq tit&al gas made available uuder the 

proviaion~ of: this Act shall be used exclusively for pumping watez for fana end other agricultural purposes ia order 

for the person, firm, association, or corporation furnishing 

such natural gas to be exempt from the provisions of said 

Article 6050 of the Revised CXvd.1 Statutee of Texas of 1925. 

The provisious of this Actshallbe oonsddered only as cmuulative of other laws and shall not have the effect of repealing 

ox emending any substantive or statutory law exoept as herein 

speoifically provided.'~ 

Section 4a deolares that the supplierof ziatuxalgas ie exempt .'~ 

from the provisions of Artlole 6050 swhan thegas supplied ie used.exclnsively "for~pumping water for fam and other'agrlculturalpurposes." 

Therefore, lf the gas is used for anypurpoee other thauthepumpiug of 

water for agriculturalpmposes, the supplier of such gas would not be 

exempt frcm the provisions of Article 6050. _ 

Article 6060, V.C.S., 3mp6ses a g&as reoeipts tax on -every 

gasutilIty.* Ae the snppller of natural gas for the.~prescribed uee is 

not a~"gas utility” under the terms of Chapter 31, -such supplier..Is-t 

subjeotto thepaymentofthis tex. Of oourse, should suah~suppliei make, 

sales of naturalgas.to be used for a purpose other thau "pmup$u~watex?J 

for farm aud other egriculturalpurposea", then the reaeipte f&mthose 

sales wouid be subject to the tax levied by Article dOo60,. aud thesupplIer 

would be a "gas utility" within the purview of Article 6050 insofar as 

those sales are conaerned. 
L - 

Eon. Ernest 0. Thompson, page 3 (s-140) : ! 

Itis further our opinion that exemption,from the ~ovfsions 

of Article 6050,~which is merely a definitionand blassification statute, &es n&t w** reamve the gqplier of gae uud~~~Xbaj&+ 3i~frum 

the jurisdiction of the Railroad Cosmiesion of Texas. :: ~:. 

It should be noted that Chapter 31 is "cumulative of other .~ 

lava and sha~nothave the effectof repealiugoramanding 

tire or statutory law" exqept as specifically provided therein. ==fsZ?Z). 

. Article kbil, B.C.S., provideat . 

"The operation-of gas pipe lines for buying, selling, ,.j 

transporting, producingorothervlse dealing innaturalgas , 

'ie a businesti which in its nature asd according to the 

establlahsdmat~ofoonduotingthsbuainaaa is amonoRoly .,. 

and shall notbe oonducted unless such gas pipe line so used 

in ccnneotionwith such business be subject to the.jurisdlotion herein conferred upon the Covmission. The Attorney 

General shall enforce this provision by injunction or.other; 

lkedy." ., '; 

'. 

The above article is not restricted in-its operation to "gas 

utilities", but affects "the operation of gas pipe lines for buying, 

se~ing,~port~,p~~ing,orothaRisedealinginnataralgae." 

. 

The operations contemplated by chapter 31 undoubtedly oonstitute a "dealing innatural'gas" even though suchoperatious arenottkse 

of a "gas utility" (by virtue of the exemption contained in Chapter 31). 

Section 2 of ArtiCle 6053; V.C.S., grsnts the Commission "full 

power and authority to prescribe such rules and ragulations as in its 

wisdcaumay be deemed necessary t0 carry out the purposee" of the Eatural 

Gas ht. As the protec.tion,~health,welfare and safetyofthepublio is 

an evidmit R&pose of the Act (Art. 6053), we conclude that the supplierof naturalgas uhdar the provisions of Chapter 31 is within~the jurisdiction'of the Railroad Commission to the extent that he-must comply with 

all valid rules and regulations of the C@ssion which are designed to 

promote the pzoteotion, health, welfare and safety of the public. 

A supplier ofnaturalgas;~~pureuant to the $rovisione 

of Chapter 31, ACk 53rd Le&ahture, latC.S, 1954, 16 . 

not a "gas utility"'within the povisionrj of Article @C,,~- 

V.C.Si, when the gas supplied is used exclusively for pumping water for agriculturalpurpcees. Rot being a "gas utility" 

under such circumstsmes, the supplier is not subject to the 
. . 

Eon. Ernest Thmpson, page 4 (S-140) 

@ose.reoeipts ti levied again& gas utilities bj'Article 

606C;B.ti.S. Such &plier'& within the jarisdiction of 

the Ririlro~'Camis&n, however, to the extent that he 

mustqomplywithallaafetyrolss andregulations of that 

bo@. 

APPROVED: 

Phil&~~bins;n 

Oil and Daa-~Division 

L P. Lbllar 

Yours very truly, 

JOI&& i3Blmih 

Attorney General of Texas 

Revviewer -~ _~ 

RI@% S. Ttitti 

FlrstAssistan~ " 

JolmBsnSheR+rd 

&to~~y General 

MS:hapJS 

) * 

Mert Stkrnes 

Assistant