April 10, 2019
A proposed bill to study the use of water in Culberson County was heard by the Texas House Committee on Natural Resources on Wednesday, with some concern from oil companies….
April 10, 2019
The management of disasters such as massive flooding and hurricanes such as Harvey is targeted by two bills passed on Wednesday….
Reporter blames ‘faulty compression couplings’ in gas leaks, explosions, RRC says couplings are being replaced; Mechanical engineer calls the odor used in natural gas “very ineffective;” Mother pleads for legislation so no more families go through the death of a child as her’s did
April 8, 2019
Impassioned witnesses spoke in support of three bills aimed at increasing natural gas pipeline safety, one pleading for legislation that would prevent deaths such as that of her 12-year-old daughter, while another spoke of the ineffectiveness of the odorant used in gas,
The three bills (HB 864 on gas pipeline reporting requirements, HB 866 on replacement of pipes and HB 868 on disclosure of pipeline leaks) number among 11 filed by District 103 state Rep. Raphael Anchia in connection with gas explosions in North Texas….
This article contains a list of changes to SB 421 as a result of a floor amendment before final passage from the Senate.
April 4, 2019
After an impassioned speech by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, her amended bill intended to provide expanded protections for property owners in private-company eminent domain procedures was passed out of the Texas Senate 28-3 on Thursday.
In remarks, the senator expressed exasperation at the demands made by oil and gas-related concerns aimed at keeping their current rights under eminent domain laws, and weariness after weeks of negotiations over the bill that effectively weakened the bill’s landowner protections when compared to the bill she introduced.
Those talks included Rep. Dwayne Burns (who’s carrying a similar House bill that’s not been heard yet) and the Lt. Governor.
“Oil and Gas, They’re My Friends” But…
The bill comes at a monumental time for the pipeline business, which is booming with new construction as increasingly more crude and gas are pumped from the Permian Basin and elsewhere in Texas.
The District 18 senator said she started with a “big idea” in 2015 to fight for fair contracts and initial offers to landowners in the often difficult and complicated condemnation negotiations
Her attempts in earlier legislative sessions at passing bills to protect such landowners hadn’t gotten this far.
In her Thursday speech, Sen. Kolkhorst also expressed exasperation at the ease with which pipeline companies may draw on eminent domain laws.
The senator said “50 or 60 people organically” showed up (she put out no invitations, she said) at a committee hearing in March to talk about the bill, some telling stories about how their land was “taken from them.”
The “ability to own our own land” is a Constitutional right, she told the Senate, a precious right — but it can be taken away by companies that can, because “we have given them that power,” simply “show up at the Railroad Commission then fill out a form and check a box and they have that power” of eminent domain.
Sen. Kolkhorst spoke of landowners’ attempts during difficult negotiations to protect their land and receive fair compensation, including reasonable upfront offers.
SB 421 started out as a “really tough bill,” and if you look at most of the people who filled out “drop cards” against the bill, “most of those people you will find in an ethics report because they’re paid to be here.”
But the committee substitute is a “much skinnier bill” than the original because of give-and-take, she said, partially because Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick helped broker the demands from both sides, meeting with landowners and groups such as TXOGA in attempts to reach compromise……
April 4, 2019
A bill sponsored by Sen. Judith Zaffarini to clarify state law over the use of power storage batteries made it out of the state Senate on Thursday….
April 3, 2019
A bill to create a grid security council to protect Texas’ electricity infrastructure is on its way to the House….
April 3, 2019
With 550 oil rigs drilling in the Permian and with hundreds of them needing haircuts even though they’re out in the middle of nowhere, so Sen. Kel Seliger is pushing his haircut bill through the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce.…
April 3, 2019
The ERCOT Technical Advisory Committee has endorsed the creation of a task force to establish market rules for implementing real-time co-optimization (RTC), with its first meeting set for Thursday….
March 28, 2019
A bill calling for adjusted safety standards for pilots and vessels along the Port of Houston remains in the Senate Select Committee on Texas Ports….
March 28, 2019
The Texas House Transportation committee on Wednesday heard positions on a bill that would add an additional fee for registering electric and hybrid vehicles, since such vehicles pay less or nothing in fuel taxes but still use the same roads as gas-powered vehicles.
The money would be deposited to the state highway fund, as is a portion of gasoline taxes.
The sponsor of HB 1971, Rep. Ken King, has come up with a formula that calculates the amount of tax money spent by traditional car owners versus the amount paid by those owning electrics and hybrids.
The formula, using federal and state data, is intended to create an equitable fee for both gas engine and renewable energy cars and hybrids, to pay their “proportionate share” of highway funding, King told the committee.
The bill was left pending in committee.
Texas Automobile Dealers Association representative Robert Brazil surprisingly spoke in support of the bill.
Electric car owner Rick Bowler said the estimated extra cost for his vehicle, totaling about $200 a year, is exorbitant.
Hybrid vehicles would be $100 per year, in addition to other fees.
Bowler and Ft. Worth’s Craig Manning objected to the aspect of the bill that might tend to treat the alternative vehicles as a separate class of transportation from exclusively gas-fueled vehicles.
From among the other speakers who addressed the committee came the notion that electric and hybrid cars should indeed contribute some amount of money in lieu of paying gas taxes — the real contention is how to pay and how much.
March 25, 2019
The committee substitute bill for District 31 state Sen. Ryan Guillen‘s HB 2942 is intended to help Texas residents who find that sand mining operations are going up in their neighborhoods by repurposing the land once the mining is finished….
March 25, 2019
The Texas Senate has passed an eminent domain bill with a “two offer” requirement to be made during land condemnation proceedings that must also be entered into the Land Owners Bill of Rights from the state attorney general…
Strategies and money for coastal erosion research and oil spill response included.
March 20, 2019
The Texas Senate has passed a trio of bills aimed at clarifying preparation for future disasters and organizing future state response to disasters.
Senate Bills 6, 7 and 8 included floor amendments….
March 19, 2019
The Texas Senate has passed SB 554 bill that increases the requirement that governmental entities demonstrate progress that land taken by eminent domain is actually put to public use….
March 14, 2019
A Texas Senate vote is calendared for Monday that could have long-term effects on property rights law, eminent domain land condemnation procedures and the speed with which pipelines are built, as several lobbies hash it out
A group including the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, the Texas Farm Bureau and the Texas Wildlife Association (along with others) is speaking out in favor of an eminent domain bill that now contains substitute language from the Senate State Affairs committee.
And a group led by the Texas Oil and Gas Association (TXOGA) and the Texas Pipeline Association is speaking out against the revised SB 421 — now called CSSB 421, an amendment to the Texas Property Code — and is recommending legislators vote down the bill when it comes before the Senate, which could be as early as Monday, when it is calendared for a full Senate vote.
The intent of the bill as stated by the author is simply to increase fairness in the Texas eminent domain process.
The committee’s report was handed out to Senators on Thursday afternoon.
The committee’s changes to Sen. Lois Kolkhorst‘s introduced bill — following a lengthy public hearing — include re-defining who can attend the proposed required public meetings before land condemnation — meetings that are to be called by the government entity doing that condemnation.
This, along with changing the description of those who are to be notified of such meetings — open public meetings were changed, in the revised bill, to meetings of property owners who might be affected by the land acquisition, with notice of those meetings now limited to affected property owners rather than the general public.
The substitute bill also changed language referring to easements, and tried to narrow down some language in an attempt to avoid lawsuits.
See the bill, as amended, by clicking here.
But TXOGA and the Texas Pipeline Association (along with others) immediately said the substitute bill indeed does not use precise enough language and “allows the landowner to engage in prolific litigation due to numerous procedural gotchas.”
And they took issue with several specific portions of the amended bill, including what they call vague language including a special commissioners’ process as part of certification of land seizure “with little guidance or legal standard for the court,” allowing litigation to stifle infrastructure projects, according to a letter the TXOGA-led associations sent to Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.
Two Opposing Views Of SB 421
On one point the two groups take opposing interpretations of the revised bill’s language.
One of the concerns raised by many were the required “public meetings” to be called by the government entity overseeing the condemnation of property, which could be an open invitation to special-interest groups to turn the meetings into protests or standoffs…..
March 12, 2019
One of two bills aimed at penalizing companies that low balling landowners during eminent domain negotiations has made it out of committee….
March 7, 2019
With the deadline for submitting bills for the 86th state legislature almost here, expect our customary rundown of the bills we’re watching for you to appear this weekend.
Among them are bills calling for:
February 27, 2019
Three state lawmakers are trying to bring high-speed Internet services to more areas of rural Texas…
February 25, 2019
Two West Texas lawmakers have new bills aimed at funneling state money to local governments that have energy-related activities for making much-needed repairs and expansions on roads along with increasing educational opportunities and increasing public safety…
February 20, 2019
The Texas Senate Select Committee on Texas Ports is being convened again, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said on Wednesday…
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