This section gives tax exemptions for certain offshore drilling units and qualifying personal property tied to offshore spill response containment systems, subject to location and use restrictions.
Sec. 11.271. OFFSHORE DRILLING EQUIPMENT NOT IN USE. (a) In this section: (1) "Environmental protection agency of the United States" includes: (A) the United States Department of the Interior and any agency, bureau, or other entity established in that department, including the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement; and (B) any other department, agency, bureau, or entity of the United States that prescribes rules or regulations described by Subdivision (2)(A). (2) "Offshore spill response containment system" means a marine or mobile containment system that: (A) is designed and used or intended to be used solely to implement a response plan that meets or exceeds rules or regulations adopted by any environmental protection agency of the United States, this state, or a political subdivision of this state for the control, reduction, or monitoring of air, water, or land pollution in the event of a blowout or loss of control of an offshore well drilled or used for the exploration for or production of oil or gas; (B) has a design capability to respond to a blowout or loss of control of an offshore well drilled or used for the exploration for or production of oil or gas that is drilled in more than 5,000 feet of water; (C) is used or intended to be used solely to respond to a blowout or loss of control of an offshore well drilled or used for the exploration for or production of oil or gas without regard to the depth of the water in which the well is drilled; and (D) except for any monitoring function for which the system may be used, is used or intended to be used as a temporary measure to address fugitive oil, gas, sulfur, or other minerals after a leak has occurred and is not used or intended to be used after the leak has been contained as a continuing means of producing oil, gas, sulfur, or other minerals. (3) "Rules or regulations adopted by any environmental protection agency of the United States" includes 30 C.F.R. Part 254 and any corresponding provision or provisions of succeeding, similar, substitute, proposed, or final federal regulations. (b) An owner or lessee of a marine or mobile drilling unit designed for offshore drilling of oil or gas wells is entitled to an exemption from taxation of the drilling unit if the drilling unit: (1) is being stored in a county bordering on the Gulf of Mexico or on a bay or other body of water immediately adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico; (2) is not being stored for the sole purpose of repair or maintenance; and (3) is not being used to drill a well at the location at which it is being stored. (c) A person is entitled to an exemption from taxation of the personal property the person owns or leases that is used, constructed, acquired, stored, or installed solely as part of an offshore spill response containment system, or that is used solely for the development, improvement, storage, deployment, repair, maintenance, or testing of such a system, if the system is being stored while not in use in a county bordering on the Gulf of Mexico or on a bay or other body of water immediately adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico. Property described by this subsection and not used for any other purpose is considered to be property used wholly as an integral part of mobile or marine drilling equipment designed for offshore drilling of oil or gas wells. (d) Subsection (c) does not apply to personal property used, wholly or partly, for the exploration for or production of oil, gas, sulfur, or other minerals, including the equipment, piping, casing, and other components of an oil or gas well. For purposes of this subsection, the offshore capture of fugitive oil, gas, sulfur, or other minerals that is entirely incidental to the property's temporary use as an offshore spill response containment system is not considered to be production of those substances. (e) Subsection (c) does not apply to personal property that was used, constructed, acquired, stored, or installed in this state on or before January 1, 2013. (f) To qualify for an exemption under Subsection (c), the person owning or leasing the property must be an entity formed primarily for the purpose of designing, developing, modifying, enhancing, assembling, operating, deploying, and maintaining an offshore spill response containment system. A person may not qualify for the exemption by providing services to or for an offshore spill response containment system that the person does not own or lease. Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 805, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1988. Amended by: Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 942 (H.B. 1712), Sec. 1, eff. June 14, 2013.