The Wise Report

12 Feb, 2021

The Wise Report

The Texas Legislature is now in session and bills are being filed and worked on. New information are shown in bold.

HB 632, by Darby, Relating to the establishment of an advisory committee for the TexNet seismic monitoring program. Filed 11/23/2020. For more information go to: https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=87R&Bill=HB632

HB 666, by Harris, Companion bills HB 668 (Duplicate) and SB 152 (Identical), Relating to the regulation of groundwater conservation districts. A person with groundwater ownership and rights may petition the district to adopt modify a rule. This bill lists what the petition must contain. Filed 11/30/2020. For more information go to: https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=87R&Bill=HB666

05 Dec, 2020

By AIPG-TX News

The Wise Report

The US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) has approved the bipartisan Bill that includes a yearly program for a national strategic uranium reserve. EPW Senate committee chairperson Senator John Barrasso stated on Thursday that the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act would promote US international leadership, preserve America’s nuclear fuel supply chain, prevent more carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere, and protect economic, energy and national security.

“The bipartisan Nuclear Infrastructure Act is broad reaching legislation, important for supporting the US nuclear fuel industry, national security and clean energy. The legislation will provide a clear path for implementation of the US uranium reserve and provide a strong platform to revitalize the US uranium industry,” commented uranium exploration and developer Uranium Energy Corp (UEC) CEO and president Amir Adnani.

15 Nov, 2020

By AIPG-TX News

The Wise Report

The Texas Legislature will be back in session January 12, 2021 through May 31, 2021. On November 9, 2020 bills began to be filed. I’m currently checking these bills and have not found any of general interest to geologists in Texas. As usual, I’ll be filing updates as new bills come in.

25 Apr, 2020

By AIPG-TX News

The Wise Report

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is providing an opportunity for public comment and a notice and comment hearing on the draft Oil and Gas General Operating Permit (GOP) Numbers 511, 512, 513, & 514. The draft GOPs contain revisions based on recent federal and state rule changes, which include updates to the requirements tables; the addition of new requirements tables; and updates to the terms. The renewal also corrects typographical errors and updates language for administrative preferences. For more information go to: https://www.tceq.texas.gov/permitting/air/nav/titlev/news.html

08 Mar, 2020

By AIPG-TX News

The Wise Report

The TCEQ discovered and fixed several errors found in the soil TPH calculator (columns E and I of the excel sheets) for the >C₁₂-C₁₆ Aliphatic, >C₁₆ – C₂₁ Aliphatic, and the >C₂₁-C₃₅ Aliphatic carbon ranges. The errors were caused by the incorrect referencing of cells within the PCL calculation equation for the listed aliphatic carbon ranges. Instances of the errors occurred in the ^TotSoil_Comb, ^GWSoil_Ing, ^GWSoil_Class3, and ^AirSoil_Inh-V TPH excel sheets.

The soil TPH calculator has been updated and posted on the TCEQ external webpage: https://www.tceq.texas.gov/remediation/trrp/trrppcls.html. The revised version (V 3.0 – 02/2020) should be used moving forward.

18 Nov, 2019

By AIPG-TX News

The Wise Report

The TCEQ has updated the Texas Risk Reduction Program (TRRP) Tier 1 Protective Concentration Levels (PCLs). You can access these tables at: https://www.tceq.texas.gov/remediation/trrp/trrppcls.html

10 Nov, 2019

By AIPG-TX News

The Wise Report

The Railroad Commission of Texas proposes amendments to §3.40, relating to Assignment of Acreage to Pooled Development and Proration Units. The amendments are proposed to allow the same surface acreage to be assigned to more than one well in an unconventional fracture treated (UFT) field when mineral ownership is severed at different depths below the surface.

27 Oct, 2019

By AIPG-TX News

The Wise Report

The Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists (TBPG) adopts amendments to 22 TAC §§851.20, 851.22, 851.23, 851.40, and 851.41, concerning the licensure and regulation of Professional Geoscientists in Texas, and also adopts the repeal of 22 TAC §851.24, concerning references. The amendments and repeal are adopted to comply with statutory changes to Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 1002, the Texas Geoscience Practice Act (the Act). These amended rules and the repeal are adopted without changes to the proposed text as published in the July 12, 2019, issue of the Texas Register (44 TexReg 3516), and will not be republished. These changes remove the requirements for references for various applications and waivers, relying on work experience instead.

For more information go to: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/texreg/archive/October252019/Adopted%20Rules/22.EXAMINING%20BOARDS.html#180

– Henry M. Wise, P.G.

09 Sep, 2019

By AIPG-TX News

The Wise Report

The TCEQ’s Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) Program has released updates for two important resources. These resources should be used, as appropriate, for Texas Risk Reduction Program (TRRP) submittals with an ecological component.

Aquatic Life Surface Water Benchmark Tables

The aquatic life surface water benchmark tables have been updated and are available on the TCEQ website. These tables can be found at any of the following links:

18 Aug, 2019

By AIPG-TX News

The Wise Report

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) adopts amended §7.119 without changes to the proposed text as published in the April 12, 2019, issue of the Texas Register (44 TexReg 1813). This rule-making will adopt by reference updates to the commission’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) regarding TCEQ environmental reviews of TxDOT highway (transportation) projects. The updates are required to implement the following statutes and legislation:

Texas Transportation Code, §201.607(a) requires TxDOT and each state agency that is responsible for the protection of the natural environment, which includes the TCEQ, to revise their MOU that relates to the review of the potential environmental effect of a highway project. Texas Transportation Code, §201.607(b) requires TxDOT and the TCEQ to adopt, by rule, all revisions to the MOU. TxDOT and the TCEQ have negotiated updated MOU language. TxDOT adopted the updated MOU in 43 TAC Chapter 2, Subchapter I on February 28, 2019, the rules became effective on March 20, 2019. This rulemaking adopts by reference 43 TAC §§2.301 – 2.308. For more information go to: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/texreg/archive/August162019/Adopted%20Rules/30.ENVIRONMENTAL%20QUALITY.html#80

– Henry M. Wise, P.G.