Texas
Related: About this forumPlano Lawmaker Authors Bill to Strip Cities of Right To Regulate Oil and Gas Drilling
State Representative Van Taylor, a real-estate investment banker from Plano, has introduced legislation that would settle, once and for all, who gets the last word on drilling under private property: That would be the Railroad Commission of Texas.
The bill, filed Tuesday, would strip from Texas municipalities the ability to regulate drilling within their borders in any meaningful way. It's the latest iteration of an idea that's cropped up in the Texas House before, at the top of an industry wishlist. As fracking pushed the natural gas boom out of the pastures and into the 'burbs, producers often found themselves running afoul of local ordinances that diluted the density with which they could drill up leased acreage. In Southlake, XTO simply moved on. In Dallas, well, it's complicated.
So, what would become of Southlake's code-mandated 1,000-foot buffers between a house and a well pad? If it has the effect of preventing someone from drilling, it gets trumped. Only rules pertaining to "visual aesthetics," "noise abatement" and "hours of operation" would be left to municipal discretion. This legislation won't help Trinity East because the city of Dallas owns the floodplain the company intends to frack.
The campaign war chest of Taylor, the bill's author, has been the primary beneficiary of Denbury Resources, an oil and gas company that lately has been tapping mature oil fields. He has received more donations from the company than any other state rep. Sworn into office in 2010, he's a relative neophyte, but there are also worse horses for an oil company to hitch its wagons to.
More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/02/plano_lawmaker_authors_bill_to.php .
mbperrin
(7,672 posts)Just imagine for a moment, a member of the Texas Lege, just one, who was actually interested in the real live people they were elected to represent?
Sigh.....
Okay, back to work herding unicorns - that's a job, no use looking for the imaginary critter in Austin who cares.
msongs
(67,465 posts)white cloud
(2,567 posts)That Southlake shut down 2drilling permits and NG pipeline in their city after they found out that the pipe line and drilling was going to be in their backyard (Timmaron Developement in Southlake is Own by diversication division of Exxon Mobile and the EM CEO live there) The pipeline never got started and the drilling permits were pulled.
NIMBY said EM CEO
tanyev
(42,644 posts)DhhD
(4,695 posts)of holding tanks to pump from. We cannot water our lawn but they can do any damn thing they want to with our resources. We are in a DROUGHT. We have to drink water. Have the voters in this state allowed a bunch of loonies to be in a lawmaking position.
Another great 2014 and 2916 Campaign Issue!
Is a bush running for a railroad commissioner position?