Current through Reg. 49, No. 12; March 22, 2024
(a) Forms. Forms
required to be filed at the Commission shall be those prescribed by the
Commission. A complete set of all Commission forms required to be filed at the
Commission shall be kept by the Commission secretary and posted on the
Commission's web site. Notice of any new or amended forms shall be issued by
the Commission. For any required or discretionary filing, an organization may
either file the prescribed form on paper or use any electronic filing process
in accordance with subsections (e) or (f) of this section, as applicable. The
Commission may at its discretion accept an earlier version of a prescribed
form, provided that it contains all required information and meets the
requirements of subsection (e)(3) of this section.
(b) Definitions. The following words and
terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1)
Commission--The Railroad Commission of Texas.
(2) Electronic filing process--An electronic
transmission to the Commission in a prescribed form and/or format authorized by
the Commission and completed in accordance with Commission
instructions.
(3) Form--A printed
or typed paper document or electronic submission, including any necessary
instructions, with blank spaces for insertion of required or requested specific
information.
(4) Organization--Any
person, firm, partnership, joint stock association, corporation, or other
organization, domestic or foreign, operating wholly or partially within this
state, acting as principal or agent for another, for the purpose of performing
operations within the jurisdiction of the Commission.
(5) Position of ownership or control--A
person holds a position of ownership or control in an organization if the
person is:
(A) an officer or director of the
organization;
(B) a general partner
of the organization;
(C) the owner
of an organization which is a sole proprietorship;
(D) the owner of more than a 25 percent
ownership interest in the organization; or
(E) the designated trustee of the
organization.
(6)
Violation--Non-compliance with a statute, Commission rule, order, license,
permit, or certificate relating to safety or the prevention or control of
pollution.
(c)
Organization eligibility. The Commission may not accept an organization report
or an application for a permit, or approve a certificate of compliance if:
(1) the organization that submitted the
report, application, or certificate violated a statute or Commission rule,
order, license, certificate, or permit that relates to safety or the prevention
or control of pollution; or
(2) any
person who holds a position of ownership or control in the organization has,
within the seven years preceding the date on which the report, application, or
certificate is filed, held a position of ownership or control in another
organization, and during that period of ownership or control the other
organization violated a statute or Commission rule, order, license, permit, or
certificate that relates to safety or the prevention or control of
pollution.
(d)
Violations. An organization has committed a violation if there is either a
Commission order against an organization finding that the organization has
committed a violation and all appeals have been exhausted or an agreed order
entered into by the Commission and an organization relating to an alleged
violation, and:
(1) the conditions that
constituted the violation or alleged violation have not been
corrected;
(2) all administrative,
civil and criminal penalties, if any, relating to the violation or agreed
settlement relating to an alleged violation have not been paid; or
(3) all reimbursements of costs and expenses,
if any, assessed by the Commission relating to the violation or to the alleged
violation have not been collected.
(e) Authorization and standards for
electronic filing.
(1) An organization may
file electronically any form for which the Commission has provided an
electronic version, provided that the organization pays all required filing
fees and complies with all requirements, including but not limited to security
procedures, for electronic filing.
(2) The Commission deems an organization that
files electronically or on whose behalf is filed electronically any form, as of
the time of filing, to have knowledge of and to be responsible for the
information filed on the form, pursuant to the statutory requirements,
restrictions, and standards found in and pertaining to:
(A) Texas Natural Resources Code, Title 3
(oil and gas well drilling, production, and plugging);
(B) Texas Natural Resources Code, Title 5
(geothermal resources);
(C) Texas
Natural Resources Code, Title 11 (hazardous liquids storage);
(D) Texas Utilities Code, Chapter 121,
Subchapter I (sour gas pipeline facilities);
(E) Texas Water Code, § 26.131
(discharge permits);
(F) Texas
Water Code, Chapter 27 (class II injection and disposal wells and class III
brine mining wells);
(G) Texas
Water Code, Chapter 29 (oil and gas waste haulers);
(H) Texas Health and Safety Code, §
401.415 (oil and gas naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) waste);
and
(I) Texas Administrative Code,
Title 16, Chapter 3 (Oil and Gas Division) and Chapter 4 (Environmental
Protection).
(3) All
forms that an organization submits or that are submitted on behalf of an
organization shall be transmitted in the manner prescribed by the Commission
that is compatible with its software, equipment, and facilities.
(4) The Commission may provide notice
electronically to an organization of, and may provide an organization the
ability to confirm electronically, the Commission's receipt of a form submitted
electronically by or on behalf of that organization.
(5) The Commission deems that the signature
of an organization's authorized representative appears on each form submitted
electronically by or on behalf of the organization, as if this signature
actually appears, as of the time the form is submitted electronically to the
Commission.
(6) The Commission
holds each organization responsible, under the penalties prescribed in Texas
Natural Resources Code, § 91.143, for all forms, information, or data that
an organization files or that are filed on its behalf. The Commission charges
each organization with the obligation to review and correct, if necessary, all
forms or data that an organization files or that are filed on its
behalf.
(f) Other
electronic transmissions. The Commission may at its discretion accept other
documents or data electronically transmitted.