American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2017 - 129

ConventionCoverage: Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners
president ratifies them, she explained.
At the time of TIPRO's convention,
Murray said President Trump had frozen
the effective date of about 30 regulations
until the end of March, and the administration was reviewing whether some could

be subject to CRA challenges or whether
interpretations of the regulations could
be changed, which the president has the
authority to do.
A CRA resolution has been introduced
on the Risk Management Plan rule under

the Clean Water Act, she said. But outside
the CRA process are Subpart OOOO
New Source Performance Standards and
amendments that regulate emissions of
volatile organic compounds on private
land, Murray mentioned.
r

TIPRO Stresses Importance Of The RRC
AUSTIN, TX.-With the future of the
Texas Railroad Commission clouded by
questions over reauthorization and budgetary constraints, members of the Texas
Independent Producers & Royalty Owners
Association have one message for state
lawmakers: A fully funded, sustained regulatory agency is imperative for operators
prying themselves back from the oil price
downturn.
TIPRO officers, RRC commissioners,
and a key state lawmaker urged members
during the association's annual meeting,
held Feb. 27-March 1 in Austin, to continue
to push legislators to reauthorize the
agency for 12 more years, and to lobby
for additional RRC funding to help the
commission overcome an employee shortfall and substandard pay compared with
other state agencies.
Members then fanned out across the
Texas Capitol as part of TIPRO's biennial
capitol call-up to lobby lawmakers to
assist the RRC and to consider passing
another bill to help curb theft of oil field
equipment and commodities.
Speaking the morning of Feb. 27,
Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne
Christian cautioned TIPRO that an underfunded RRC would impede industry
growth and slow processing of drilling
permit applications, which surged to more
than 1,000 in January.
"We need to make sure you have the
permits you need, and to make sure we
have inspectors and others working with
you in the oil and gas offices across the
state," he stressed.
Christian, a former GOP state representative who served on the House Energy
Resources Committee, said commissioners
had been lobbying state senators and representatives for $48 million-$24 million
annually-to be diverted from a gas pipeline
safety tax the RRC collects, but passes
along to the state's general fund.
Attrition, including the loss of veteran
regulators who transferred to other state
agencies, is contributing to an employee
shortage at the RRC, he said. The agency

already returns $51.20 to state coffers for
every $1.00 allocated to it, he pointed out.
"Make sure you contact your senators
and representatives, and emphasize that
we need to fully fund the Texas Railroad
Commission because we need those dollars
to make sure you can create those dollars,"
Christian said.
The commissioners also continue to
push for a bill reauthorizing the agency
and back the measure from Representative
Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock, who
chairs the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, Christian said.
Christian said he had spoken with the
offices of the governor, lieutenant governor,
and other state leaders about funding
issues and removing language in the
sunset bill that gave groundwater conservation districts more say in the permitting process.
Lobbying Lawmakers
In brief remarks during lunch before
the association's legislative call-up meetings, RRC Chairwoman Christi Craddick
told TIPRO that sunset legislation would
pass because "they don't want to get rid
of us." Nevertheless, she said TIPRO still
should talk up the importance of the industry's contribution to the state to ensure
all legislators got the message.
TIPRO members should warn lawmakers that without the commission, drilling

permits will not get approved in a timely
fashion to enable operators to extract oil
and gas, and generate corresponding state
revenues that benefit other state agencies
and programs, she said. Given the oil price
slide, the state cannot afford to spare any
opportunity to bring in additional revenue,
Craddick emphasized.
"(Lawmakers) need to get the concept
that we are an important agency," she asserted.
Craddick said TIPRO members also
should stress the importance of passing a
simple sunset bill reauthorizing the agency,
but excluding unnecessary provisions.
"We would like to get this sunset bill
through the process and passed, and not
have junk added to it," she said.
The RRC's revenue is down 23 percent,
Craddick reported, and its employee count
is down 100 from just six months ago, a
shortfall she said was exacerbated by pay
disparities that contributed to a net exodus
of employees. The agency also has postponed purchasing needed trucks because
of the revenue shortage, Craddick noted.
While the RRC has bolstered information technology systems as part of a
first phase of improvements, more funding
is needed to finish an IT upgrade that
will further streamline agency operations
and save operators valuable time in the
permitting process, Craddick said.
The pipeline safety fees the commission

Former Texas Independent Producer
& Royalty Owners Association Chairman and current Director David Martineau pauses with Texas Railroad
Commission Chairwoman Christi Craddick prior to the association's legislative call-up meetings, conducted during
TIPRO's annual meeting, Feb. 27-March
1 in Austin, Tx. Craddick encouraged
TIPRO members to emphasize to lawmakers the importance of the RRC.

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