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S.B. No. 1130
AN ACT
relating to a requirement that a common carrier or pipeline owner or
operator report contamination.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 81, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 81.056 to read as follows:
Sec. 81.056. CONTAMINATION REPORT. (a) In this section:
(1) "Common carrier" has the meaning assigned by
Section 111.002.
(2) "Owner of the land" or "landowner" means the first
person who is shown on the appraisal roll of the appraisal district
established for the county in which a tract of land is located as
owning an interest in the surface estate of the land at the time a
contamination report is required to be made under this section.
(b) If in the process of placing, repairing, replacing, or
maintaining a pipeline a common carrier or an owner or operator of a
pipeline observes or detects any petroleum-based contamination of
soil or water in proximity to the pipeline, the common carrier or
pipeline owner or operator shall report the contamination to the
commission and the owner of the land on which the pipeline is
located. Petroleum-based contamination of soil or water that is
observed or detected is required to be reported under this
subsection if:
(1) hydrocarbons are present on the surface of the
water;
(2) at least five linear yards of soil have been
affected by hydrocarbons; or
(3) soil affected by hydrocarbons extends beyond the
face of the excavation in which the contamination is observed or
detected.
(c) The contamination report:
(1) must be made not later than 24 hours after the
common carrier or pipeline owner or operator observes or detects
the contamination;
(2) must include the global positioning satellite
coordinates of the location of the contamination; and
(3) may be made by telephone, facsimile, or electronic
mail.
(d) Not later than the third business day after the date the
commission receives the contamination report, a person authorized
by the commission shall withdraw a soil sample from the
contaminated land. The person is entitled to enter the land for the
purpose of withdrawing the sample.
(e) A common carrier or pipeline owner or operator that
makes a contamination report under this section is released from
all liability for the contamination or the cleanup of the
contamination covered by the report, except for any contamination
caused by the common carrier or pipeline owner or operator.
(f) The commission shall adopt rules to implement this
section.
(g) The commission may not use money in the oil-field
cleanup fund to implement this section.
SECTION 2. Subsection (e), Section 81.056, Natural
Resources Code, as added by this Act, is an exercise of authority
under Subsection (c), Section 66, Article III, Texas Constitution,
and takes effect only if this Act receives a vote of three-fifths of
all the members elected to each house, as provided by Subsection (e)
of that section.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1130 passed the Senate on
April 26, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 27, 2005, by the
following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1130 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 25, 2005, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor