Texas Administrative Code
Title 31 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION
Part 10 - TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD
Chapter 354 - MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING
Section 354.7 - Letter of Agreement Between the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Texas Water Development Board

Universal Citation: 31 TX Admin Code ยง 354.7

Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024

(a) This Letter of Agreement ("LOA") is made effective as of the date below and is made by and between the Railroad Commission of Texas ("RRC"), an agency of the State of Texas, and the Texas Water Development Board ("TWDB"), an agency of the State of Texas.

(b) WHEREAS, the RRC owns linen maps used by the RRC Groundwater Advisory Unit ("GAU") to record oil and gas related groundwater regulatory determinations, geophysical log locations, geologic cross-section locations, and other geologic information;

(c) WHEREAS, the linen maps were purchased in the 1950s and 1960s from various vendors and/or mapping companies, which may or may not still be in existence;

(d) WHEREAS, House Bill 30, 84th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, tasked the TWDB with identifying, designating, and reporting on regional brackish groundwater production zones;

(e) WHEREAS, the RRC desires to share the linen maps with TWDB for purposes of fulfilling the legislature's above-referenced mandate.

(f) NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing, the RRC and the TWDB express their understanding and agreement as follows:

(1) The RRC will load copies of all GAU linen maps onto an external hard drive provided by the TWDB. The TWDB will then move the GAU linen map files to a limited-access folder on the TWDB server.

(2) The TWDB acknowledges that the linen maps were created by entities/persons other than the RRC and may be copyrighted material.

(3) The TWDB agrees to use the images of the linen maps as "read only," for inspection and research purposes in line with the legislature's mandate.

(4) The TWDB agrees that printing, photocopying, taking pictures, or using any other method of copying the images of the linen maps may constitute copyright infringement.

(5) The TWDB agrees that disseminating the external hard drive, copies of the external hard drive, or copies of the images of the linen maps on the external hard drive to any other entity, agency, or person outside of the TWDB is prohibited.

(6) The TWDB agrees that it will inform any third-party contractors working on the project that the linen maps may be copyrighted material and that printing, photocopying, taking pictures, or using any other method of copying images of the linen maps and/or disseminating the external hard drive or copies of the external hard drive to any other entity, agency, or person outside of the TWDB is prohibited.

(7) The TWDB acknowledges that noncompliance with any terms and conditions of this LOA, either by the TWDB or by any third-party contractor hired by the TWDB, may result in copyright infringement.

(g) In witness whereof, the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Texas Water Development Board have approved this LOA on the 25th day of February 2016, as evidenced by the signatures below.

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