The much anticipated interim charges have been released by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and Speaker Dustin Burrows. You can read the complete charges for the Senate and House at their respective links. I have copied the charges of interest to TLMA members below. Feel free to email [email protected] with any questions or comments. 

• Managing the Impacts of 765-kv Transmission Lines on Private Property Rights: Review the proposed 765-kv transmission line route plans to determine their impact on homes, businesses, and communities. Assess whether the current regulatory processes and timelines are sufficient in protecting landowner rights, including allowing for proper consideration of the effect of high voltage transmission lines on long-term land use, property values, and environmental factors. Recommend ways to improve transmission planning, permitting, and siting decisions for the infrastructure necessary to serve growth in the state.   
• Managing Data Center Growth: Study the adequacy of current statutory, regulatory, and infrastructure frameworks to meet the rapidly increasing demand from large electric loads, such as data centers. Recommend ways to balance economic development benefits of this growth against the impacts on landowners, private property rights, water infrastructure, and community integrity.  

• Protecting Texas from Wildfires: Study the state’s wildfire prevention and mitigation strategies. Evaluate the effectiveness of fuel management practices, including prescribed burns and mechanical thinning, to reduce fuel loading on public and private lands. Assess the vulnerability of utility infrastructure in highrisk areas and the adequacy of early warning systems. Make recommendations to enhance state and local coordination and improve the long-term resiliency of Texas communities against catastrophic wildfires.
• Ensuring Responsible Renewable Energy Decommissioning: Study the lifecycle and decommissioning of wind and solar facilities. Evaluate the adequacy of current financial assurance requirements to ensure site remediation and protect landowners from decommissioning costs. Examine the environmental impacts of disposal and recycling for wind turbine blades and solar modules, specifically addressing concerns regarding landfilling, hazardous material leaching, and component toxicity. Make recommendations to strengthen state oversight, ensuring responsible land restoration and the proper management of decommissioned materials. 
• Monitoring: Monitor the implementation of legislation addressed by the Senate Committee on Natural Resources passed by the 89th Legislature, as well as relevant agencies and programs under the committee's jurisdiction. Specifically, make recommendations for any legislation needed to improve, enhance, or complete implementation of the following:  o Senate Bill 494 (89th Legislature), relating to the establishment of a theft of petroleum products task force;  o Senate Bill 1145 (89th Legislature), relating to the authority of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to issue permits for the land application of water produced from certain mining and oil and gas extraction operations;  o Senate Bill 1806 (89th Legislature), relating to the inspection, purchase, sale, possession, storage, transportation, and disposal of petroleum products, oil and gas equipment, and oil and gas waste; creating criminal offenses and increasing the punishment for an existing criminal offense;  o House Bills 48 (89th Legislature), relating to the creation of an organized oilfield theft prevention unit within the Department of Public Safety; and  o House Bill 49 (89th Legislature), relating to the treatment and beneficial use of fluid oil and gas waste and related material, including a limitation on liability for that treatment or use.  

Senate Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee:

• Assessing the Water Demands of Energy-Intensive Technologies: Examine the current water consumption rates for high-consumption cooling technologies, including data centers. Make recommendations to improve transparency for local water providers and ensure industrial growth does not compromise the affordability of water for Texas residents and agricultural producers.  

 

• Monitoring: Monitor the implementation and associated rulemaking of all legislation passed by the Committee and enacted by the 89th Legislature to ensure that legislative purposes are properly implemented, including the following: • HB 48, relating to the creation of an organized oilfield theft prevention unit within the Texas Department of Public Safety; and • HB 2663, relating to the affirmation required to be made by an operator as part of an application to the Railroad Commission of Texas for an extension of the deadline for plugging an inactive well.
• Produced Water: Review the utilization of produced water in Texas. Examine efforts to develop mechanisms for beneficial reuse, barriers to deployment, and other financial impediments limiting the use of produced water. Evaluate the effectiveness of recently passed legislation to address liability concerns and streamline permitting. Make recommendations to encourage greater utilization of this resource.
• Hydrogen: Survey the state of the hydrogen industry in Texas. Review the Railroad Commission of Texas’ Hydrogen Production Policy Council recommendations and determine whether statutory changes are necessary to improve the production, transmission, and utilization of hydrogen.
• Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage: Evaluate the continued viability of commercial carbon capture, utilization, and storage in Texas. Analyze the effect of carbon capture projects on energy development and security. Evaluate relevant case law and statutes related to the ownership of pore space, operator liability, and environmental protections. Review how the recent attainment of Class VI primacy may impact the future development of carbon capture projects.
• Severed Well Operations: Review the procedures and administrative rules related to severed wells and the process for an operator to resume operations after a well has been severed. Make recommendations to address any relevant safety and regulatory compliance concerns regarding severed well operations.
• Seismic Activity and Injection Wells: Study the Railroad Commission of Texas’ regulation of disposal and injection wells and determine whether additional measures are needed to protect public safety and critical infrastructure. Review the efficacy of current statutes, rules, and industry practices intended to mitigate seismic activity related to injection and disposal wells. 
• P-13 Water Wells Overview: Study the impact of environmental hazards caused by P-13 water wells. Determine the appropriate state agency best positioned to have primary regulatory authority over environmental hazards caused by discharges from P-13 water wells associated with oil and gas and mineral production. Review current and projected costs associated with managing these hazards and identify potential funding mechanisms necessary to plug such wells.
• Preventing Orphaned Wells: Monitor the implementation of SB 1150 and review the administrative processes and safeguards in place to ensure inactive wells are adequately and timely plugged. Identify strategies and policy recommendations to reduce the number of inactive wells that become orphaned.   
• Global Energy Overview: Assess the impact of increased geopolitical uncertainty on Texas’ oil and gas industry. Consider the effects of regime changes in the Middle East, the importation of Venezuelan oil, tanker traffic risks in the Strait of Hormuz, and disruptions to the international liquefied natural gas market.   
• Agency Oversight: Pursuant to the broad oversight responsibilities granted to the Committee under Section 301.014, Government Code, and the House Rules of Procedure, monitor the agencies under the Committee’s jurisdiction, including for fraud, waste, and abuse, where applicable. The jurisdiction of the Energy Resources Committee includes the following agencies:  • The Railroad Commission of Texas;  • The Texas representative for the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission;  • The Office of Interstate Mining Compact Commissioner for Texas;  • The State Energy Conservation Office; and   • The Office of Southern States Energy Board Member for Texas.  

House Natural Resources

• Groundwater Management: Study groundwater regulation and make recommendations to ensure groundwater management is adequately focused on protecting the long-term viability of the state’s aquifers. Specifically address: • If desired future conditions provide sufficient protection of groundwater resources, and whether impediments to achieving desired future conditions exist; • The adequacy of groundwater conservation districts’ authority to address impacts from large-scale groundwater production projects, including export projects;  • The need for increased investment in groundwater data and modeling tools to support advanced planning, decision-making, and management; and  • How groundwater production in unregulated portions of the state impacts the aquifer management efforts of existing groundwater conservation districts. 
• Data Center Water Use and Conservation: Examine the total water usage of data center operations in Texas, including direct and indirect uses. Evaluate regulatory, permitting, and infrastructure considerations for water-efficient data center development, particularly in water-stressed regions. Consider policy options to optimize water resources and enhance water stewardship in the data center sector. 

House State Affairs

• Monitoring: HB 143, relating to the authority of the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Public Utility Commission of Texas to address a failure by an operator to maintain an electrical power line serving a well site or certain surface facilities in accordance with the National Electrical Code;