Senate members on the Committee on Natural Resources & Economic Development left Senate Bill 1150 pending after the bill’s author described changes intended to delay enforcement and clarify reporting and waiver standards for certain inactive oil and gas wells.

Senator Nathaniel Middleton, the bill’s author, told the committee the substitute delays enforcement for two years to allow operators and the Railroad Commission time to plan implementation, while keeping the bill’s reporting and effective-date provisions intact. “We’re pushing back the bill for 2 years because we had some concerns about some of the complexity with the compliance plan,” Middleton said.

The substitute would apply to wells that have been inactive for more than 15 years and were originally completed more than 25 years ago. The bill, as explained, preserves a requirement for a Railroad Commission report that gives a “better understanding of this problem,” and clarifies elements of a waiver process for plugging requirements by using a “reasonably prudent operator” standard to measure demonstrated financial hardship.

Committee members generally praised the work on the substitute. Senator Judith Blanco thanked Middleton and staff for “working on this” and said the measure “is really gonna help relieve the situation,” noting there are 820 orphan wells in her district per the Railroad Commission. Senator Sparks also complimented Middleton and emphasized state variation in geology and the need to avoid prematurely plugging wells that could be accessed in the future.

Chairing members clarified that the bill would “go into effect this year” while the enforcement mechanism in the compliance plan would be tolled for two years, creating a moratorium on adverse actions tied to compliance plans during that period. “So there would be a 2 year period of no … sanction on those owners,” the chair said.

No additional testimony was taken; the chair said the bill would be left pending and expected to be voted on the following week so members could review the substitute language.

Ending: The committee left the bill pending for further review; no formal vote on the substitute or final recommendation was recorded during the hearing day.