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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, The oil industry in Texas dates back to the late 19th |
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century, and the natural gas industry has been a significant part of |
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the state's economy since the middle of the 20th century; today, |
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Texas is the second-highest oil producing state in the country and |
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the leading producer of natural gas; during Fiscal Year 2008, Texas |
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producers employed more than 200,000 people and paid more than $5 |
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billion in taxes and fees to the state's general revenue fund; and |
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WHEREAS, The regulation of oil and gas exploration and |
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production activities has traditionally been within the purview of |
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the states; the Texas Legislature passed its first regulatory |
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statute for oil in 1899, and the industries have since been |
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regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas in coordination with |
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the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC); and |
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WHEREAS, In recent years, however, the congress has |
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considered legislation to augment the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act |
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(SDWA) and grant authority to the federal government to regulate |
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oil and gas drilling and production operations; in particular, |
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lawmakers have focused on a natural gas drilling technique called |
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hydraulic fracturing, which is used to extract natural gas from |
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deep rock much faster than would otherwise be possible; implemented |
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in the late 1940s, the technology has become a standard method for |
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improving efficiency; and |
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WHEREAS, Hydraulic fracturing is not covered by the SDWA, and |
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the congress clarified this in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which |
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specifically exempts the technology from regulation under the SDWA |
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and preserves the state regulatory system; hydraulic fracturing has |
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been regulated by states for more than 50 years, and in 2002 the |
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IOGCC surveyed oil and gas producing states and found that there |
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were no known cases of groundwater contamination associated with |
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hydraulic fracturing; and |
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WHEREAS, Domestic energy development is vital to the energy |
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security of the United States, and the application of hydraulic |
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fracturing techniques is estimated to have added more than 7 |
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billion barrels of oil and 600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to |
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the nation's energy needs; hydraulic fracturing in the Barnett |
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Shale of Texas alone has contributed to the production of more than |
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four trillion cubic feet of natural gas; and |
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WHEREAS, The current approach to regulating hydraulic |
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fracturing has effectively protected groundwater and drinking |
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water sources from impacts related to oil and gas exploration and |
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production activities; more restrictive regulation, which may not |
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increase the protection of underground drinking water, could harm |
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the supply of oil and natural gas at a time when the country |
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requires more domestic energy production than ever before; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to maintain |
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state regulatory coverage of hydraulic fracturing; and, be it |
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further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, the |
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speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the |
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senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the |
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Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this |
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resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |