{"id":40284,"date":"2015-07-02T08:58:50","date_gmt":"2015-07-02T13:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=40284"},"modified":"2015-07-02T09:00:31","modified_gmt":"2015-07-02T14:00:31","slug":"after-hb-40-whats-next-for-local-drilling-bans-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2015\/07\/02\/after-hb-40-whats-next-for-local-drilling-bans-in-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"After HB 40, What&#8217;s Next for Local Drilling Rules in Texas?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_40286\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-40286\" alt=\"A signed announced the resumption of fracking in Denton last May, after lawmakers passed HB40.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2015\/07\/fracking-sign-300x224.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2015\/07\/fracking-sign-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2015\/07\/fracking-sign-620x463.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2015\/07\/fracking-sign.jpg 1091w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Mose Buchele<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A signed announced the resumption of fracking in Denton last May, after lawmakers passed HB40.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>This year state lawmakers severely restricted the ability of Texas towns to regulate local oil and gas drilling.<\/p>\n<p>A law known as House Bill 40 was a reaction to a fracking ban passed by voters in the North Texas city of Denton.<\/p>\n<p>Denton has come to represent local fracking bans and clashes between local governments and the oil and gas industry. But while Denton was the first city in Texas to ban fracking, it wasn&#8217;t the first city to ban drilling within city limits.<\/p>\n<p>That practice goes back years, according to a survey by the Texas Municipal League.<\/p>\n<p>The Texas Municipal League&#8217;s survey shows that about 30 Texas towns have more general bans on drilling.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/212802555&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false\"><\/iframe>Bastrop City Manager Mike Talbot says some of those date back decades. Bastrop&#8217;s has been on the books since 2007.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It\u2019s just not something you want in a residential neighborhood,&#8221; he says. \u201cThey&#8217;re bringing those big rigs in, and it could [be] dangerous or cause a problem, so that\u2019s why a lot of cities have that ordinance.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_40289\"  class=\"wp-caption module image left\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-40289\" alt=\"Bennett Sandlin is the head of the Texas Municipal League.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2015\/07\/bennett-300x224.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2015\/07\/bennett-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2015\/07\/bennett-620x463.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2015\/07\/bennett.jpg 1091w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Mose Buchele<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bennett Sandlin is the head of the Texas Municipal League.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Before the Denton controversy, no one seemed to notice these local bans. But HB 40 appears to render them unenforceable.<\/p>\n<p>The bill, known as the \u201cban on bans,&#8221; ends drilling and fracking prohibitions outright, and it allows other regulations only if they are \u201ccommercially reasonable.\u201d That\u2019s throwing hundreds of other local rules, like setbacks and noise ordinances, into question.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It\u2019s the standard based from the industry\u2019s perspective. Not from a surface interest\u2019s perspective, a neighborhood&#8217;s perspective, a community\u2019s perspective,&#8221; says Denton Mayor Chris Watts.<\/p>\n<p>Denton repealed its fracking ban after the new state law was passed \u2014 a measure that sought to avoid lengthy legal battles from the energy industry. He says battling the industry in courts over the definition of \u201ccommercially reasonable\u201d is an expensive proposition \u2014 not something most towns would want to take on.<\/p>\n<p>Some fracking opponents, however, are looking forward to the prospect. They\u2019d like a test case to define the limits of the new state law.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_40291\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-40291\" alt=\"A gas drilling operation in Denton last year.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2015\/07\/Gas-drilling-in-Denton-300x200.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2015\/07\/Gas-drilling-in-Denton-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2015\/07\/Gas-drilling-in-Denton-620x413.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Mose Buchele<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A gas drilling operation in Denton last year.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Deborah Goldberg, managing attorney of Earthjustice, helped defend Denton when its fracking ban was on the books.<\/p>\n<p>Now she\u2019s waiting for another town to wind up in court over drilling rules, in order to challenge the legality of HB 40. She says Denton did not make a good test case because its ban was just too severe. A better test case, she says, would be a ban that&#8217;s less pointed than Denton&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p>On the other side, you have the oil and gas industry.<\/p>\n<p>Todd Staples is the head of the Texas Oil and Gas Association, the main industry group in Texas, which lobbied hard for HB 40.<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"related-content alignleft\"><h4 class=\"related-header\">Related<\/h4><div class=\"links\"><h5>Posts<\/h5><ul><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2015\/02\/12\/how-texas-challenges-the-power-of-cities-and-their-citizens\/\">How Texas Challenges The Power Of Cities And Their Citizens<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2014\/11\/06\/denton-voted-to-ban-fracking-so-now-what\/\">Denton Voted To Ban Fracking. So Now What?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2015\/04\/13\/scientists-are-flying-over-texas-oil-and-gas-fields-to-measure-air-pollution\/\">Scientists Are Flying Over Texas Oil and Gas Fields To Measure Air Pollution<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2014\/09\/26\/perry-more-american-energy-to-counter-russian-aggression\/\">Perry: More American Energy to Counter Russian Aggression<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"topics\"><h5>Topics<\/h5><p class=\"topic\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2011\/07\/Hydraulic-FrackingBarnettShaleDrilling-60x60.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/topic\/hydraulic-fracturing-2\/\">How Does Hydraulic Fracturing (&#8220;Fracking&#8221;) Work?<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>He points out that lawsuits challenging drilling bans were already happening before the law was passed, but he says there&#8217;s likely to be fewer lawsuits now that the law&#8217;s on the books.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe think that this should minimize it. Will there be some? There could be. We hope that there\u2019s not. We hope that reasonable minds will sit down and try to establish what that is,&#8221; he says. &#8220;And, again, let\u2019s don\u2019t forget that in Texas, the communities and the industry did that very well for a hundred years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But what about those dozens of towns, like Bastrop, that have their own bans?<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Bastrop City Manager Mike Talbot said he\u2019s not sure what his town will do now that HB 40 is the law of the land. He attended a legislative update hosted by the Texas Municipal League last week to hear about the bills his office was following, including HB 40. The event featured about 240 mayors, city council members and city managers like Talbot.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;City officials are very interested in what that does to their city\u2019s regulations,&#8221; said Municipal League President Bennett Sandlin at the event.<\/p>\n<p>He said a lot of the towns with bans on drilling aren\u2019t anywhere near oil and gas activity. His message to those towns: Don\u2019t do anything.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf there\u2019s absolutely no desire to drill there and there never has been, then a ban is probably commercially reasonable,&#8221; Sandlin said.<\/p>\n<p>But, he also said that if a company shows up and a landowner wants to let it drill, the town will probably have to let them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This year state lawmakers severely restricted the ability of Texas towns to regulate local oil and gas drilling. A law known as House Bill 40 was a reaction to a fracking ban passed by voters in the North Texas city of Denton. Denton has come to represent local fracking bans and clashes between local governments [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60],"tags":[375,15],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40284"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40284"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40295,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40284\/revisions\/40295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}