HB2663

HB2663 changes the written assurances an operator must provide when seeking more time to plug an inactive well. For a well inactive at least 10 years, where the operator does not own the land’s surface, the cleanup affirmation must now include removal of equipment used to supply electricity to the production site. Equipment owned by an electric utility as defined in Utilities Code Section 31.002 is excepted; that statutory category is not simply every electricity-related business or provider. Final law, Section 1; electric-utility definition.

Existing requirements remain: the operator must affirm that electric service was physically terminated, and, if the operator does not own the surface, that production fluids were emptied or purged from specified equipment after five but fewer than 10 years of inactivity, or that specified surface equipment, junk and trash were removed after 10 years. Those periods are measured as of renewal of the operator’s organization report. The chapter defines an inactive well as an unplugged well with no reported production, disposal, injection or other permitted activity for more than 12 months; it is not only a well with no oil sales. Final law; definitions, including physical electrical disconnection.

The Railroad Commission must impose an administrative penalty, up to $25,000 for each violation, on a person who provides the affirmation but fails to terminate electric service or remove equipment and materials as required by the specified provisions. This is a maximum per violation, not an automatic flat $25,000 charge or a new criminal sentence. The new penalty paragraph specifically names electrical termination and the 10-year removal requirement; it does not expressly list the five-to-10-year fluid-purging provision. Final law, Section 1, new subsection (g).

The act leaves existing statutory routes for temporary relief due to safety concerns or required site maintenance, and for retaining equipment needed by a qualifying enhanced-oil-recovery project. It does not eliminate plugging obligations or automatically grant an extension. It applies to extension applications filed on or after May 29, 2025, its immediate effective date; earlier applications remain governed by the former law. Retained exceptions, Section 89.029(d)–(e); final law, Sections 2–3; history.