JIM MATTOX 

Attorney General 

Supreme Court Building 

P. 0. BOX 12548 

Austin. TX. 78711. 2548 

51Z4752501 

Telex 9101874-1367 

Telecopier 512/475-02SS 

714 Jackson. Suite 700 

Dallas, TX. 752024506 

2141742.8944 

4824 Alberta Ave.. Suite 160 

El Paso, TX. 793052793 

91515333484 

1001 Texas. Suite 700 

Houston, TX. 77002.3111 

713(223-5886 

606 Broadway, Suite 312 

Lubbock, TX. 79401.3479 

SOS,747-5238 

4309 N. Tenth, Suite S 

McAllen, TX. 78501.1695 

51219824547 

2W Main Plaza, Suite 4M) 

San Antonio, TX. 78205-2797 

512/225-4191 

An Equal OppOrtUnitYI 

Affirmative Action Employer 

The Attorney General of Texas 

Dexmber 31, 1985 

Mrs. Betty J. Pope, 

Executive Secretary 

Texas Board of Lar.d Surveying 

1106 Clayton Lane, Suite 21OW 

Austin, Texas 7E723 

Opinion No. .TM-418 

Re: Whether plats required by 

Railroad Commission rule to accomP=Y applications for certain 

drilling permits must be prepared 

by registered public surveyor 

Dear Mrs. Pope: 

On behalf of the Texas Board of Land Surveying, you ask whether a 

"plat" which accompanies an application form filed with the Texas 

Railroad Commission most be prepared by a public surveyor registered 

under article 5282c, V.T.C.S., the Land Surveying Practices Act of 

1979. Form W-l, about which you inquire, was developed by the 

Railroad Commissicm. for operators of oil, gas, or geothermal resource 

wells to use in avljlying for permits to drill, deeper., or plug back a 

well, or in apply::ng for exceptions from the statewide spacing rules. 

See Railroad Commc:ssion Rules.codified at 16 T.A.C. 53.5 (application 

ibdrill or deep~l or plug back); 16 T.A.C. 03.37 (statewide spacing 

rule). The rule governing the application procedure states that the 

application shall be filed on a form approved by the commission. 16 

T.A.C. 93.5(a). This rule was promulgated pursuant to the commission's authority to make rules to prevent the waste of oil and gas, to 

require dry or abandoned wells to be plugged, and to provide for the 

issuance of permit!3 necessary to enforce rules on the prevention of 

waste. Nat. Res. Code §§85.201, 85.202, 86.042. 

The instructions on Form W-l state that the form must be 

accompanied by a r,eat, accurate plat of the lease or unit which shows, 

among other items, the drilling unit boundary for the proposed 

location; surfact! location of the proposed site; perpendicular 

distance to the nearest intersecting lease/unit lines and 

survey/section lines; distance to the nearest applied for, permitted, 

or completed well ,or the lease or unit, and section, block, or lot. 

In particular cas~zs. much of this information will be available from 

surveys that have already been made. See generally Nat. Res. Code 

123.054 (right to inspect county surveyor's plats, maps, and other 

records); §§34.020, 35.017, 36.016 (surveys and other records of 

leases on state l.ends filed with General Land Office). Letters 

submitted in connection with your request state that the position of a 

new well can be dl?termlned by measurement from ai existing marker and 

p. 1908 
Mrs. Betty 3. Pope - Page i ~(.JM-418) 

indicate that this location can be recorded on a map based on a prior 

survey. 

The Railroad Commissit~n submitted the following information about 

Form W-l: 

Appended to the application is a plat or sketch of 

the well area. , . . Note the instructions for 

plats on the bad: of this form. 

These document:3 are not used in the chain of 

title, but enable: Cosuuission staff to determine if 

the proposed wc!l.l location complies with the 

CommSssion's spacing rules. Once the application 

is approved, the Couanission's mapping section 

plots the proposssd well on the county maps in the 

map room. . . . 

From time to time, the exact location of a well 

may become a ptirotal issue in a contested case. 

The parties usua:L:Ly resort to a certified plat to 

settle this fact j.ssue. 

In general p:actice. however, some operators 

submit certified plats, while others submit 

hand-drawn sketches which conform to the instructions on the bacl:of Form W-l. 

Thus, the conm&ssion will xcept a hand drawn sketch as the "plat" it 

requires to be submitted w.t:h Form W-l. 

The request letter, however. expresses the opinion that the plats 

to be drawn on Form W-l arc! products of public surveying and therefore 

may be prepared only by it person registered, licensed, or exempted 

under the Land Surveying Practices Act of 1979. V.T.C.S. art. 5282c, 

93. This statute defines "public surveying" as 

the practice fez, compensation of determining the 

boundaries or the topography of real property or 

of delineating routes, spaces, or sites in real 

property for public or private use b y

relevant elements of law, research, measurement, 

analysis, comphation, mapping, and land 

description wrlt~~. Public surveying includes 

the practice for compensation of land, boundary, 

or property f,urveying or other similar 

professional practices. (Emphasis added). 

Id. %2(l). The underlinei language, in our opinion, refers to those 

elements of law, measurement, computation, tipping, etc., which are 

p. 1909 
f 

Mrs. Betty J. Pope - Page :I &W-418) 

relevant to surveying. Those elements and the term "public surveying" 

receive fuller definition by reference to the history and purpose of 

regulating surveyors, statutes governing surveys, and custom and 

practice in the field. 

The first Texas stal:utes governing surveyors were enacted to 

ensure accurate measurement of land grants and public recording of 

legal title to oatented land. Board of Examiners of State Licensed 

Laid Surveyors, 'Staff Repclrt to Sunset Advisory Commission (February 

20, 1978). In 1919 surveyzrs of unpatented land were made subject to 

licensing by the Board of Enaminers of State Land Surveyors, and they 

eventually were authorized to file field notes on all public lands. 

Id. at 3-4. By 1955 increased subdivision of land and skyrocketing 

land values made additional accuracy in surveying practices necessary 

to protect owners and purchasers of land. Texas State Board of 

Registration for Public Surveyors, Report to the Sunset Advisory 

Commission at I-l (Octobsrr 30, 1977). The Texas State Board of 

Registration for Public Surveyors was established to regulate 

surveying activities rehvant to subdividing land tracts and 

relocating property lines, boundaries, rights-of-way, easements or 

elevations. Texas State BtJard of Registration for Public Surveyors, 

Staff Report to the Suns~st Advisory Commission at 5 (February 20, 

1978). The definition in I?:he Registered Public Surveyor Act of 1955 

reflected these purposes: 

Public Surveying is the science or practice of 

land measuremen: according to established and 

recognized methods engaged in and practiced as a 

profession or tiervice available to the public 

generally for #:ompensstion, and comprises the 

determination by 'means of survey, of the location 

or relocation of land boundaries and land boundary 

corners ; the calculation of area and the 

preparation of field note description of surveyed 

land; the pre)sration of maps showing the 

boundaries and areas of the subdivision of tracts 

of land into smaller tracts; the preparation of 

official plats or maps of said land and 

subdivisions in compliance with the laws of the 

State of Texas and the political subdivisions 

thereof; and such other duties as sound surveying 

practice would di:rect. 

Acts 1955, 54th Leg., ch. 328, 92(b) (formerly codified at art. 5282a, 

52(b). The present defini;:Lon of "public surveying" was first adopted 

in 1977 to.provide a clearer definition of that term. Bill Analysis 

to S.B. No. 144, 65th Imeg., 1977, for Rouse Committee on State 

Affairs; Acts 1977, 65th Lq3.. ch. 37 at 72. 

p. 1910 

. 
Mrs. Betty J. Pope - Page 4 (JM-418) 

, 

Historically, Texas h,%:, regulated surveyors to eusure that land 

would be correctly measured and boundaries correctly determined where 

a high degree of accuracy is necessary to protect the public in laud 

transactions and to ensure the reliability of land titles. The 

definition of public surveying does not encompasti all measurements 

taken within defined boundaries or all graphic representations of 

those measurements. Cf. Reer v. Fee, 161 N.W. 545, 547 (Iowa 1917) - -- 

(distinguishes between surveying land and computing area). 

The Railroad Commission developed Form W-l for its own use in 

implementing its rule. It apparently can make permit and spacing 

decisions based on measurenents that do not reach the high degree of 

accuracy achieved by surveying. The cornmission, in the exercise of 

seasonable determination, may decide that applicants can provide it 

sufficient information wli:hout surveying the well location or 

resurveying existing boundary lines. Although Form W-l refers to a 

"plat," this term does not refer to the precise and detailed plat used 

to record property lines :.n public records. See V.T.C.S. art. 974a 

(approval and recording of subdivision plats)."Plat" also means a 

plan, map, or chart. See a'ebsters Third New International Dictionary 

(1961). The referenceto"plat" in the instructions on Form W-l must 

be taken in the latter sd?nse. The "plat" filed with the Railroad 

Commission in connection w:.t:h Form W-l is not required to be prepared 

by a public surveyor regist,ered under article 5282~. V.T.C.S. If in a 

given case, the required i:l:iormation cannot be provided without doing 

a survey, or if an app1icar.t chooses to have a survey done, these must 

be performed consistently with the requirements of article 5282c, 

V.T.C.S. 

SUMMARY 

The sketches or "plats" of proposed well 

locations requiremi to accompany applications to 

the Railroad C~xnmission for certain drilling 

permits need not be prepared by a public surveyor 

registered under article 5282c, V.T.C.S. 

JIM MATTOX 

Attorney General of Texas 

JACK HIGETOWER 

First Assistant Attorney Gt!neral 

MARY KELLER 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

p. 1911 

. 
Mrs. Betty J. Pope - Page .j (JM-418) 

ROBERT GRAY 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

RICR GILPIN 

Chairman, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by Susan L. Garrison 

Assistant Attorney General 

p. 1912