Texas House Bill 40 (2015)
| Texas House Bill 40 | |
 | |
| Legislature: | Texas State Legislature |
| Text: | HB 40 |
| Sponsor(s): | 79 sponsors |
| Legislative history | |
| Introduced: | March 10, 2015 |
| State house: | April 20, 2015 |
| State senate: | May 4, 2015 |
| Governor: | Gov. Greg Abbott (R) |
| Signed: | May 18, 2015 |
| Legal environment | |
| State law: | Local ballot measures |
| Code: | Natural Resources Code |
| Section: | Section 81.0523 |
Texas House Bill 40 was designed to prohibit local ordinances governing the oil and gas industry, including activities such as fracking. It was introduced on March 10, 2015. It was approved largely along party lines in the Texas House of Representatives on April 20, 2015, and in the state senate on May 4, 2015. In the House, only one Republican voted against the bill. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed it into law on May 18, 2015.
The bill was, in part, a response to an anti-fracking citizen-initiative approved in the city of Denton on November 4, 2014.
The house voted 125-20 in favor of House Bill 40.[1]
The senate voted 24-7 in favor of House Bill 40.[2]
Provisions
- See also: Fracking in Texas
The bill gave exclusive jurisdiction over the oil and gas industry to the state government, prohibiting local oil and gas-related ordinances, initiatives and regulations, including anti-fracking initiatives like the one approved in Denton on November 4, 2014. It allowed exceptions for "commercially reasonable" regulations on oil and gas companies concerning issues such as above-ground operations, emergency response procedures, traffic and noise.[3]
| Voting on Fracking | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Policy | ||
| Fracking policy | ||
| Ballot Measures | ||
| By state | ||
| By year | ||
Not on ballot
|
Background
On November 4, 2014, Denton voters approved an initiative prohibiting the practice of fracking within city limits. In the following legislative session, multiple bills were introduced in response. Many of them targeted the local initiative process. House Bill 40, the bill that was ultimately approved, focused on local authority more generally, however, removing the authority to govern the oil and gas industry from local jurisdictions and granting it solely to the state.[3]
Aftermath
On June 17, 2015, the Denton City Council voted 7-1 to repeal the anti-fracking initiative in light of House Bill 40, which seemingly made it illegal. Council Member Kathleen Wazny said, “While we would like to drive the bus ... right now House Bill 40 is the law of the land."[3][4]
Denton resident Jim McKinney, however, told the council at an open meeting earlier in June 2015 that it should have enforced the citizen initiative and forced the state to bring the city to court over House Bill 40.[3]
Adam Briggle, president of the Denton Drilling Awareness Group (DAG) and an associate professor at the University of North Texas, said the city's inability to enforce the voter-approved initiative “is disheartening and confusing.” He admitted, however, that the DAG's own lawyers did not think that a good legal situation would result from trying to defend the initiative in court. Briggle was arrested on June 1, 2015, for blocking the entrance to an active drilling site in the city.[3]
Support
In response to the passage of House Bill 40 in the Texas State Senate, Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association, authorized the following press release:
| “ |
The Texas Senate passed House Bill 40 today, which is important legislation to keep Texas communities safe and our economy strong. With overwhelming bipartisan support and leadership from Chairman Troy Fraser and Chairman Drew Darby, House Bill 40 represents balanced legislation to continue the 100-year history of cooperation between Texans, their communities and oil and natural gas operators. HB 40 enjoys widespread support because the legislation provides cities with authority to reasonably regulate surface level oil and gas activities, while affirming that regulation of oil and gas operations like fracking and production is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the state. HB 40 is a fair bill that balances local control and property rights. Smart oil and natural gas policy is essential for safety, for jobs, for Texas. In addition to its long track record for safe and responsible production, the oil and natural gas industry pays billions of dollars in annual state and local taxes that directly fund our schools, roads and essential services. With 40 percent of the Texas economy and 2 million jobs supported by the oil and natural gas industry, striking the right balance with carefully constructed policy has never been more important. We agree with mayors, city council members, chambers of commerce, business owners, and residents from across the state who support HB 40 because it’s good policy for Texas. We look forward to Governor Abbott signing House Bill 40 into law.[5] |
” |
| —Todd Staples[6] | ||
Opposition
Opponents of House Bill 40 argued that it was the result of lobbying and monetary contributions from the oil and gas industry—especially Dan and Farris Wilks, who owned a company called Frac Tech until 2011—to Texan politicians.[7]
Jesse Coleman, Greenpeace USA researcher, said, “Here you have the crux of democracy in Denton, Texas, where people got together and voted on what they wanted. And now the same industry that is saying that the federal government can’t regulate them, is saying that, no, even on the local level, they can’t regulate them because they don’t want any regulation at all.”[7]
Referring to efforts to prevent local restrictions on oil and gas extraction by the oil and gas industry in other states, Coleman also said, "The [fracking] industry’s strategy is to silence criticism on a local level and to prevent recourse for local people. This is something they’re pursuing in all of the states where drilling is a big deal. They’re pursuing the strategy of taking away the rights of citizens of small towns from determining whether they want fracking.”[7]
Related measures
City of Denton Fracking Ban Initiative (November 2014)
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Open States, "Texas House Bill 40 (2015)," accessed June 16, 2015
- ↑ Star Telegram, "Denton fracking bill sails through Texas Senate," May 4, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Barnett Shale, "Denton council considers repealing anti-fracking ordinance," June 2, 2015
- ↑ The Dallas Morning News, "Denton city council repeals voter-approved ban on fracking," June 17, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Texas Oil and Gas Association, "TEXAS SENATE PASSES HOUSE BILL 40 TO KEEP TEXAS SAFE AND STRONG," May 4, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 RH Reality Check, "Local Control? Texas Fracking Billionaires Say ‘Not So Fast,’" June 2, 2015
