Mr. D. C. Greer 

State Highway Engineer 

Opinion No. C-476' 

Texas Highway Department Re: Whether employees of the 

Austin, Texas Highway Department are exempt from the provisions 

of Article 7621e, Vernon's 

Civil Statutes (The Water 

Well Drillers Act), under 

the stated facts and reDear Sir: lated questions. 

You have requested our opinion concerning the applicability 

of the Water Well Drillers Act to certain Highway Department 

employees who may, during the course of their employment, 

find it nec~essary to drill an occasional water well on property owned by the State. In your request you state that: 

"In the course of this Department's 

operations we drill approximately five (5) 

waterwells per year on State land with 

State equipment and State employees. 

"* * + 

II our employees are not primarily 

engaged ior compensation in the drilling of 

water wells since this is considered a minor 

activity to their regular duties inasmuch as 

these employees are primarily engaged by the 

Department for core drilling to provide samples for testing soil structure. 

II 

. . . our employees will be drilling water 

wells on our own property and none other." 

You then ask: 

II 

. . . since our employees may occasionally 

drill a water well with no separate compensation from their regular pay with these few 

wells being constructed by State employees on 

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Mr. D. C. Greer, page 2 (C-476) 

State land with State equipment, are we exempt 

from the provisions as set forth in this Act? 

"If as a State agency we are not exempt 

with the above In consideration, we would 

like to know if State employees are exempt 

from the payment of registration and renewal 

fees. 

"If our employees are not exempt from the 

provisions of this Act, would it suffice for 

us to have one supervisory employee registered 

with the responsibility of compliance with 

this Act for any wells our crews drill. 

"Do the provisions of this Act relating 

to bonding require that a State employee 

provide bond In the amount of $2,000.00?" 

The Water Well Drillers Act, Acts 59th Leg., R.S. 1965, 

Ch. 264, p. 509, codified as Article 7621e, Vernon's Civil 

Statutes, is an act designed to provide minimum standards and 

qualifications for persons who are engaged In the drilling of 

water wells for compensation in this State. Legislative lntent in passing the Act is manifested In the caption which 

provides that it is "an act designed to aid In the prevention 

of pollution of the State's underground water by providing 

minimum water well drillers qualifications and standards. 

Section 3(a) of the Act states: 

"It shall be unlawful for any person to act 

as or to offer to perform services as a water 

well driller without first obtaining a certlficate of registration in the manner rescribed 

herein and pursuant to the rules of _ Ah 

Well Drillers Board." 

27 Water 

Section 13(a) of the Act provides: 

'Any person not holding a certificate of 

registration as a registered water well driller 

who drills, bores, cores or constructs any water 

well in this State for compensation shall be 

guilty of a misdemeanor. . . ." 
Mr. D. C. Greer, page 3 (C-476) 

Section 13(a), standing alone, could be subject to a 

somewhat broader interpretation with regard to what specific 

action is unlawful. At the same t$me, reading the various 

sections of the Act together, particularly Sections 2(e) 

and 3(a), the conclusion isoinescapable that the law intends 

to regulate those who hold themselves out to the public or 

who perform the services of a water well driller for the 

public for compensation and to make these activities unlawful unless the person holds a certificate of registration 

from the Water Well Drillers Board, 

A "water well driller" is defined in Section 2(e) as: 

I, 

. . . any person (including owner, operator, 

and drilling supervisor) who engages for compensation in the drilling, boring, coring, or 

construction of any water well In this State. 

The term, however, shall not include any person 

who drills, ~bores, cores, or constructs a water 

well on his. own property for his own use or a 

person who assists In the construction of a 

water well under the direct supervision of a 

registered water well driller and Is not prlmarily responsible for the drilling operations." 

This section, as does Section 13(a), places the regulated 

activity in context of persons who are engaged In the business 

of drilling wells for the pub,lic for profit, The mere fact 

that a person who drills or engages in well drilling activities 

receives compensation is not conclusive in determining whether 

a certificate of registration is mandatory, however, because 

the definition of the regulated activity exempts both persons 

who drill on their own property for their own use and persons 

who work for or under the supervision of a registered water 

well driller. 

This office held in Attorney General's Opinion V-549, 

April 23, 1948, that Article 6243-101, Vernon's Civil Statutes, 

by exempting from the Plumbing License Law persons who perform 

plumbing on their own property, also exempts servants of the 

property owner performing plumbing under his supervision and 

control on his own property. The same analogy no doubt is 

applicable to the Water Well Drillers Act. 

From the facts stated in the request for opinion, the 

employees involved receive compensation only by virtue of 

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Mr. D. C. Greerm page 4 (c-476) 

their general employment by the State and not for the purposes 

of drilling water wells. They also do not act or offer to 

perform services as water well drillers and are engaged in 

the occasional drilling of water wells on their employer's 

--the State's--own land. Under these facts, we hold that 

the State employees concerned fall within the exemptions 

contained in the Water Well Drillers Act and are not required by the law to be registered water well drillers. 

The remaining questions become moot with this conclusion. 

SUMMARY 

Employees of the State Highway Department 

drilling or supervising the drilling of an 

occasional water well on land owned by the 

State are exempt from the Water Well Drillers 

Act, codified as Article 7621e, Vernon's 

Civil Statutes, and are not required to be 

registered water well drillers. 

Yours very truly, 

WAGGONER CARR 

Attorney General of Texas 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

Pat Bailey 

Linward Shivers 

Milton Richardson 

Robert Lemens 

APPROVED FOR THE A!ll'ORN?Tf GENERAL 

By T. B. Wright 

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