American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2020 - 78

pages 78-81_Layout 1 3/9/2020 10:05 AM Page 78

ConventionSection: Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners

Legislative Interim Not An Offseason
AUSTIN-Although the 87th Texas
Legislature does not convene until Jan.
12, 2021, lawmakers are undertaking a
number of oil-and-gas-related interim
studies of keen interest to the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners
Association, which also is weighing in
on federal regulatory proposals with implications for its members.
Interim work and influencing the associated legislation and regulations constitute what TIPRO Chairman Eugene
Garcia deems "blocking and tackling"
issues for the association.
"This is the meat of what TIPRO does
and our staff does an excellent job working
with association and industry partners
and public officials in Austin and Washington," affirms Garcia, president of San
Antonio-based Hurd Enterprises Ltd.
"Our staff isn't only looking into problems,
but also into how to continually improve
policy and regulation. We are looking at
how to do it better and more efficiently
while seeking an outcome that benefits
not only TIPRO or independent oil and
gas producers, but everybody involved."
As TIPRO approaches its annual convention, scheduled for March 23-24 at
the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, the association is urging lawmakers to find a permanent funding solution for upgrading
state and county roads in the Permian
Basin and other areas with significant oil
and gas activity, following additional outlays lawmakers approved in 2019, says
TIPRO President Ed Longanecker.
The House Appropriations Committee
is studying possible structural changes
to the Economic Stabilization Fund,
known informally as the Rainy Day Fund,
to maximize investments and examine
the fund's possible use for long-term infrastructure projects, he says.
TIPRO is keeping close tabs on a
House Transportation Committee interim
study that aims to pinpoint the state's
most dangerous roads and transportation
corridors in a quest to determine how to
reduce accident rates and fatalities, which
includes identifying effective funding
strategies, Longanecker says.
Early in the interim, TIPRO asked
Texas legislative committees to examine
the increased effects of intense exploration
and production on communities and the
effects on roads and other infrastructure,
safety, healthcare and education, with an
78 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

eye toward arriving at recommendations
on how to better manage those impacts,
he indicates.
The association also has urged lawmakers to consider studying federal and
state permits and existing technologies
to convert produced water-the industry's
top waste product-to beneficial use, according to Longanecker.
"We are happy to report that both of
these requests were incorporated in the
interim charges for the House Energy
Resources Committee," he says.
Energy Resources is considering recommendations for statutory and regulatory
changes to improve public safety, alleviate
truck traffic and relieve strains on local
infrastructure in affected communities,
he shares. The panel also is working to
identify labor needs in the oil and gas
exploration, production and transportation
workforce, Longanecker adds.
Further, the committee is evaluating
options for tax credits, deductions or discounts to encourage recycling, treatment
or reuse of produced water, he says, and
as part of a joint charge with the House
Ways & Means Committee will consider
recommendations on statutory or regulatory changes needed to promote recycling
and reuse strategies.
Interim Analyses
TIPRO is participating in discussions
to resolve differences over eminent domain, a matter being examined by the
House Land & Resource Management
Committee, Longanecker reports.
Last year, a substitute bill by Representative Tom Craddick, R-Midland, who
chairs the committee, failed to gain
landowner groups' approval, dooming
the legislation for the second consecutive
session. That was despite the fact that
the measure included provisions on the
key issues of standard easements, bonafide offers and stakeholder meetings, Longanecker says.
"There has been an effort during this
interim session to expand on those three
issues and address additional areas of
concern with the hope of finding some
compromise so this doesn't have to be
such a huge fight every legislative session,"
suggests Ryan Paylor, TIPRO's director
of state government affairs. "TIPRO will
continue to work on eminent domain legislation to try to identify and support a

balanced approach to the issue."
Positive dialogue among stakeholders
is crucial to finding a successful legislative
solution, Garcia considers. "TIPRO has
to make sure our members can bring
their products to market," he says. "It's
obviously of vital interest not only to our
industry but to the state and our economy
and to providing energy to the rest of the
world. We simply have to make sure it is
done properly."
The House Committee on International
Relations & Economic Development is
studying Texas' current and future workforce pipeline structure and looking into
ways to improve coordination among industry and educators to enhance career
tracks, Paylor reports. The committee
also is studying seaport infrastructure
and how ports can keep pace with oil
and gas production, and in a joint charge
with the House Transportation Committee,
is looking into the feasibility and economic
impact of dredging and widening Texas
ports to facilitate additional exports, he
says.
The House Committee on Natural Resources, meanwhile, this interim will be
studying the efforts of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the
Texas Water Development Board and the
Public Utility Commission of Texas to
incentivize, promote, and preserve regional
projects to meet water supply needs and
encourage public and private investment
in water infrastructure, Paylor says.
NPDES Jurisdiction
Also of interest to TIPRO is a House
Committee on Environmental Regulation
interim study on rule makings relating to
new TCEQ authority to lower the different
minimum percentage of vehicle miles
traveled in nonattainment areas to qualify
for a diesel emissions reduction incentive
program grant, Paylor indicates.
The committee also is examining implementation of HB 2771, which transfers
produced water oversight from the Texas
Railroad Commission to TCEQ to allow
the latter to assume jurisdiction over the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System. TIPRO is participating in TCEQ's
NPDES stakeholder meetings that provide
updates on the agency's progress in assuming oversight, he says.
By Sept. 1, 2021, TCEQ must submit
American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2020
