2023 Texas Statutes › Natural Resources Code › Title 3 - Oil and Gas › Subtitle A - Administration › Chapter 81 - Railroad Commission of Texas › Subchapter C. Jurisdiction, Powers, and Duties › Section 81.069. Reporting on Progress in Meeting Performance Goals for the Oil and Gas Regulation and Cleanup Fund

Sec. 81.069.  REPORTING ON PROGRESS IN MEETING PERFORMANCE GOALS FOR THE OIL AND GAS REGULATION AND CLEANUP FUND.  (a)  The commission, through the legislative appropriations request process, shall establish specific performance goals for the oil and gas regulation and cleanup fund for the next biennium, including goals for each quarter of each state fiscal year of the biennium for the number of:
(1)  orphaned wells to be plugged with state-managed funds;
(2)  abandoned sites to be investigated, assessed, or cleaned up with state funds; and
(3)  surface locations to be remediated.
(b)  The commission shall provide quarterly reports to the Legislative Budget Board that include:
(1)  the following information with respect to the period since the last report was provided as well as cumulatively:
(A)  the amount of money deposited in the oil and gas regulation and cleanup fund;
(B)  the amount of money spent from the fund for the purposes described by Subsection (a);
(C)  the balance of the fund; and
(D)  the commission's progress in meeting the quarterly performance goals established under Subsection (a) and, if the number of orphaned wells plugged with state-managed funds, abandoned sites investigated, assessed, or cleaned up with state funds, or surface locations remediated is at least five percent less than the number projected in the applicable goal established under Subsection (a), an explanation of the reason for the variance; and
(2)  any additional information or data requested in writing by the Legislative Budget Board.
(c)  The commission shall submit to the legislature and make available to the public, annually, a report that reviews the extent to which money provided under Section 81.067 has enabled the commission to better protect the environment through oil-field cleanup activities.  The report must include:
(1)  the performance goals established under Subsection (a) for that state fiscal year, the commission's progress in meeting those performance goals, and, if the number of orphaned wells plugged with state-managed funds, abandoned sites investigated, assessed, or cleaned up with state funds, or surface locations remediated is at least five percent less than the number projected in the applicable goal established under Subsection (a), an explanation of the reason for the variance;
(2)  the number of orphaned wells plugged with state-managed funds, by region;
(3)  the number of wells orphaned, by region;
(4)  the number of inactive wells not currently in compliance with commission rules, by region;
(5)  the status of enforcement proceedings for all wells in violation of commission rules and the period during which the wells have been in violation, by region in which the wells are located;
(6)  the number of surface locations remediated, by region;
(7)  a detailed accounting of expenditures of money in the fund for oil-field cleanup activities, including expenditures for plugging of orphaned wells, investigation, assessment, and cleaning up of abandoned sites, and remediation of surface locations;
(8)  the method by which the commission sets priorities by which it determines the order in which orphaned wells are plugged;
(9)  a projection of the amount of money needed for the next biennium for plugging orphaned wells, investigating, assessing, and cleaning up abandoned sites, and remediating surface locations; and
(10)  the number of sites successfully remediated under the voluntary cleanup program under Subchapter O, Chapter 91, by region.
Added by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., 1st C.S., Ch. 4 (S.B. 1), Sec. 19.02, eff. September 28, 2011.