The commission must adopt rules for treatment and beneficial use of certain oil and gas waste, and those rules must set permit standards and recycling-related requirements.
Sec. 122.004. COMMISSION RULES FOR TREATMENT AND BENEFICIAL USE. (a) The commission shall adopt rules to govern the treatment and beneficial use of fluid oil and gas waste, treated waste, and any byproduct of a process used to generate treated waste. (b) Rules adopted under this section must: (1) encourage fluid oil and gas waste recycling for beneficial purposes; and (2) establish standards for the issuance of permits for commercial recycling of fluid oil and gas waste. (c) In adopting rules under this section, the commission shall consider previously adopted rules for recycling fluid oil and gas waste. (d) Rules adopted under this section for commercial recycling of fluid oil and gas waste must establish: (1) minimum siting standards for fluid recycling pits; (2) uniform technical, construction, and placement standards; (3) uniform standards for estimating closure costs; (4) minimum and maximum bonding and financial security amounts based on factors determined by the commission; and (5) standards for sampling and analysis of fluid oil and gas waste. (e) The commission shall approve or deny an application for a permit issued under rules adopted under this section not later than the 90th day after the date the complete application was received by the commission, unless a protest is filed with the commission, in which case the commission may extend the amount of time to approve or deny the application in order to allow for notice, public comment, and a public hearing on the application. If the commission does not approve or deny the application before that date, the permit application is considered approved and the applicant may operate under the terms specified in the application for a period of one year. (f) An application requesting a variance from the standards adopted under this section must be evaluated and determined to be substantially similar to previous variances approved by the commission. Added by Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 209 (H.B. 2767), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2013. Amended by: Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 420 (H.B. 3516), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2021. Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 538 (H.B. 49), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2025.