March 24, 2015 12:12 PM

In Texas Energy Report: Urban drilling, Day 2, Sen. Fraser wants to vote out bill

Cities opposed to bill hold out hope for compromise

Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, said this morning that he would like to vote out his SB 1165 – which attempts to spell out powers of the state versus local governments when regulating urban drilling – after taking testimony this afternoon from another 25 witnesses.

Despite apparently putting the controversial bill on a legislative fast track, Fraser, chairman of the Senate Natural Resources & Economic Development Committee, indicated he is willing to sit down with opponents of the bill to try to work out a compromise.

His committee heard from oil and gas operators and royalty owners groups this morning who support the bill, saying it would add more business certainty and protect mineral property rights. The bill essentially says the state has the preemptive right to regulate oil and gas activity beneath the surface while cities could regulate such things as noise, light, traffic patterns and well sites – provided municipal ordinances meet the test of being “commercially reasonable” in the eyes of a prudent operator.

The full story from Polly Ross Hughes is in Texas Energy Report.

By Polly Ross Hughes