Texas Administrative Code › Title 30 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Part 1 - TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Chapter 7 - MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING › Section 7.117 - Memorandum of Understanding between the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Need for agreement. Several statutes
				cover persons and activities where the respective jurisdictions of the RRC and
				the TCEQ may intersect. This rule is a statement of how the agencies implement
				the division of jurisdiction.
(1) Section 10
				of House Bill 1407, 67th Legislature, 1981, which appeared as a footnote to the
				Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act, Texas Civil Statutes, Article 4477-7, provides
				as follows: On or before January 1, 1982, the Texas Department of Water
				Resources, the Texas Department of Health, and the Railroad Commission of Texas
				shall execute a memorandum of understanding that specifies in detail these
				agencies' interpretation of the division of jurisdiction among the agencies
				over waste materials that result from or are related to activities associated
				with the exploration for and the development, production, and refining of oil
				or gas. The agencies shall amend the memorandum of understanding at any time
				that the agencies find it to be necessary.
(2) Texas Health and Safety Code, §
				401.414, relating to Memoranda of Understanding, requires the Railroad
				Commission of Texas and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to adopt
				a memorandum of understanding (MOU) defining the agencies' respective duties
				under Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 401, relating to radioactive
				materials and other sources of radiation. Texas Health and Safety Code, §
				401.415, relating to oil and gas naturally occurring radioactive material
				(NORM) waste, provides that the Railroad Commission of Texas shall issue rules
				on the management of oil and gas NORM waste, and in so doing shall consult with
				the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (now TCEQ) and the
				Department of Health (now Department of State Health Services) regarding
				protection of the public health and the environment.
(3) Texas Water Code, Chapters 26 and 27,
				provide that the Railroad Commission and TCEQ collaborate on matters related to
				discharges, surface water quality, groundwater protection, underground
				injection control and geologic storage of carbon dioxide. Texas Water Code,
				§
										27.049, relating to
				Memorandum of Understanding, requires the RRC and TCEQ to adopt a new MOU or
				amend the existing MOU to reflect the agencies' respective duties under Texas
				Water Code, Chapter 27, Subchapter C-1 (relating to Geologic Storage and
				Associated Injection of Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide).
(4) The original MOU between the agencies
				adopted pursuant to HB 1407 (67th Legislature, 1981) became effective January
				1, 1982. The MOU was revised effective December 1, 1987, May 31, 1998, August
				30, 2010, and again on May 1, 2012, to reflect legislative clarification of the
				Railroad Commission's jurisdiction over oil and gas wastes and the Texas
				Natural Resource Conservation Commission's (the combination of the Texas Water
				Commission, the Texas Air Control Board, and portions of the Texas Department
				of Health) jurisdiction over industrial and hazardous wastes.
(5) The agencies have determined that the
				revised MOU that became effective on May 1, 2012, should again be revised to
				further clarify jurisdictional boundaries and to reflect legislative changes in
				agency responsibility.