Photo courtesy of Justin Sullivan and Getty Images
A new bill could require fracking companies to mail a list of the ingredients in their fracking fluid to residents living near a proposed well.
Under legislation considered at the Capitol this week, hydraulic fracturing companies in Texas could soon be mailing a list of “fracking” fluid ingredients to residents near oil and gas wells.
House Bill 448, authored by Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, would require drilling companies to mail a list of the ingredients they plan to use in the fracking fluid to residents living within 500 feet of the proposed well.
The Lucas Derrick, named after Anthony F. Lucas, stands atop Spindletop Hill in Beaumont, Texas. Beaumont was the sight of Texas's first oil gusher January 10, 1901.
The House Energy Resources Committee heard hours of testimony on Wednesday on House Bill 100, also known as the ‘unitization bill.’
What exactly does that mean, and why is it garnering such a heated reaction?
It means that the Railroad Commission of Texas would be able to designate areas for drilling in which the holders of a majority of mineral rights in the area can extract oil and gas, even if a minority of the holders does not want to. That designation would be made at the request of property owners or companies that hold the leases to the mineral rights.
In Taylor’s bill, the number is split 70/30. That means if holders of 70 percent of the mineral rights in an area agree, drillers can move forward with “operations intended to increase the ultimate recovery of oil, gas or oil and gas from a common source of supply,” according to the bill, even if the other 30 percent are opposed.
Photo from Nan Palmero via Flikr http://www.flickr.com/photos/nanpalmero
Lawmakers are trying to figure out how to find money for a water plan that some say is not enough.
Bills aimed at funding the State Water Plan rolled into two subcommittees today in the State House and Senate. Lawmakers discussed taking $2 billion from the rainy day fund and giving it to the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to fund local water projects. They also heard support for the plan from diverse groups from around the state.
Testimonies supporting both bills came from environmental activists and business leaders. Kyle Mayor Lucy Johnson spoke in favor of the bill to the House Appropriations subcommittee on Budget Transparency and Reform.
Johnson says her city paired with Buda and San Marcos in a local water plan to ensure that the cities would have enough water. She says the plan would provide insurance for her growing community.
Shark fins for sale in Texas (like the ones in the this photo from China) would be banned under proposed legislation.
We all know there are sharks in the Gulf of Mexico. But why would Texas lawmakers care? AÂ bill that went before the Senate Natural Resources Committee Tuesday says they should.
State Senator Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, whose district includes Galveston, filed Senate Bill 572, which would outlaw the buying and selling of shark fins. Shark fins are a sought-after ingredient for shark fin soup and foods considered a delicacy in some Asian dishes. They can sell for up to $700 dollars a pound.
“What they are doing is bringing in the largest sharks that they can and clipping their fins off,” Pickett told the committee. “And, well, that just ain’t fair.”
While the process known as “finning” is banned by federal law, the sale and trade of shark fins isn’t. Only five states have enacted bans like the one Texas is considering. So why do it here? Continue Reading →
A fisherman cuts the fins off of a shark at the fish market in Abobodoume, a popular quarter of Abidjan, on April 12, 2008. A new bill being considered by the Texas legislature would make the market for shark fins illegal.
Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston introduced HB 1863 to increase maxmim penalties from the Railroad Commission.
Freshman State Representative Gene Wu, D-Houston, introduced a bill this week that would substantially increase many penalties oil and gas companies would have to pay for violating state rules.
HB1863 would increase the maximum fines The Railroad Commission of Texas, the agency that oversees the state’s oil and gas industry, could impose on rule-breaking drillers and pipeline operators.
“There are bad actors out there that are violating state law and Railroad Commission policy,” Wu says. “The Railroad Commission fines them, and they say, ’You know, business is so good that were going to take these fines as a cost of business, and keep doing what were doing.’ These bad actors are giving the rest of the industry a black eye.” Continue Reading →
Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway
Rosemont 6th Grade School students help employees from Texas Motor Speedway work to refurbish an educational garden and plant trees at Rosemont 6th Grade School on December 14, 2010 in Fort Worth, Texas. (
A good garden is much about keeping the right things in as it is keeping the wrong things out. In: rich soil, tended rows and the right amounts of sunlight and water. Out: weeds, deer, Bunnicula. And for one state lawmaker, add to that list of noxious intruders something unexpected: lawsuits.
A bill recently introduced by Rep. Borris L. Miles, D-Houston, would protect landowners of community gardens from liability against accidents on the garden.
HB 1652Â would limit the legal responsibility landowners have over what happens on their property, if it is used as a community garden.
The bill would not protect the landowners against negligence, but instead against gardening incidents. Continue Reading →
The bill would require many beverage containers to be refundable, for five or 10 cents each. The money refunded would come from a deposit paid for when the beverages are purchased. A similar “bottle bill” was introduced to the legislature in 2011, but didn’t pass.
The Texas League of Conservation Voters (TLCV) commissioned a report on how the deposit-recycling program could affect the state economy. It says that if the program is implemented, the state could gain 2,300 jobs and reduce beverage container litter by 80 percent.
A new bill by several Republican state lawmakers would make it easier to buy and sell raw milk in Texas.
If a group of Texas lawmakers gets their way, buying and selling raw milk in the Lone Star Stare could become easier to digest.
A bill introduced by Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Canton, would allow raw milk producers to sell in farmers markets or fairs. The bill also permits the delivery of raw milk directly to the consumer.
Movements toward natural, organic and locally-produced foods led to the recent increase in popularity of raw milk. Raw milk is not pasteurized, not homogenized and currently not available for sale anywhere except on the farms that produce it.
Flynn proposed HB 46 because he recognized the difficulty of traveling to dairy farms to purchase milk, especially in a rural areas such as his District 2, according to his office. Seven of the bill’s eight authors and co-authors are Republican.
Texas State Climatologist Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon.
As record drought and heat in Texas have garnered more and more attention over the last few years, so did Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, State Climatologist.
Nielsen-Gammon says his position is part researcher, part adviser. “Basically, the job is to make sure the state makes the best use of weather and climate information,” he tells StateImpact Texas.
Nielsen-Gammon is also a professor of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University, so he has additional duties teaching and researching for the school.
A&M is now requesting $284,000 from the state legislature to fully fund and expand the operations of the Office of the State Climatologist. Until now, the majority of the office’s funding came from the university and various research grants. Continue Reading →
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