By Railroad Commission Chair Christi Craddick
Texas’ oil and gas industry has historically pumped billions of dollars into the state’s coffers, allowing lawmakers to fund critical programs while reducing the burden on taxpayers. With the Permian Basin setting a new record in natural gas production in 2022, never before have revenues been as strong as they were heading into the 88th Legislature. These additional dollars meant that lawmakers had an unprecedented surplus to fund priorities, including local schools, public safety, and investments in local communities and health care programs for the state’s most vulnerable.
To help keep Texas thriving, the Legislature made important investments in the Railroad Commission that will promote our ability to safely, fairly, and effectively oversee this vital industry that our economy and national security depend on.
With the largest pipeline infrastructure network in the nation and one-sixth of the total pipelines in the United States, Texas moves critical energy sources across our state to power homes, businesses, and transportation. This session the Railroad Commission received funding to expand our ability to monitor and maintain the safety of more pipelines across Texas. The Commission added 100,000 miles of gathering pipeline to the agency’s areas of oversight responsibility, which already numbered more than a quarter-million miles of lines across the state. Funding from the legislature will allow the agency to hire and train more safety inspectors to keep up with the growth.
To assist with the surging increase of Oil and Gas Environmental Permit requests and streamline the application process, the Legislature provided additional funding for key staff to more quickly review applications and perform post-permit monitoring. As an agency, we are always looking for ways to eliminate unnecessary delays while protecting environmental quality and ensuring public safety.
This session, the Legislature provided additional resources needed to update the electricity supply chain map. Frequent changes in the supply chain require stronger security features to ensure the information is timely and accurate. By securing and streamlining this process, the Railroad Commission can more readily share information with partner agencies, making the state better prepared in emergency situations.
We also saw important investments in cybersecurity and data protection tools to better inventory, organize, and protect agency information, as well as state-of-the-art cameras and other monitoring equipment to help further reduce gas flaring and venting.
Our primary role is to protect the interests of all Texans and to best serve the state. To accomplish that mission, we are in the process of creating an Office of Public Engagement. Employees in this office will serve as liaisons to give the public a stronger voice and make our agency even more responsive to their needs and requests.
In that same spirit, the Legislature funded our plans to digitize historical records and make them available electronically to the public. This project means easier access to historical well records, refinery reports, and a variety of other forms previously only available in one physical location. As the oldest regulatory agency in the state and one of the oldest in the country, preserving and sharing our history is important.
With the support of the Legislature’s investments, the Commission is as committed and capable as ever to protect the lives and livelihoods of Texans across the state and ensure a strong and safe energy industry for the long term.
Christi Craddick is the current Chair of the Railroad Commission of Texas, on which she has served since 2012.
