SECTION 3.80. Commission Oil and Gas Forms, Applications, and Filing Requirements

(a) Forms. Forms required to be filed at the Commission shall be those prescribed by the Commission. A complete set of all Commission forms required to be filed at the Commission shall be kept by the Commission secretary and posted on the Commission's web site. Notice of any new or amended forms shall be issued by the Commission. For any required or discretionary filing, an organization may either file the prescribed form on paper or use any electronic filing process in accordance with subsections (e) or (f) of this section, as applicable. The Commission may at its discretion accept an earlier version of a prescribed form, provided that it contains all required information and meets the requirements of subsection (e)(3) of this section.

(b) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) Commission--The Railroad Commission of Texas.

(2) Electronic filing process--An electronic transmission to the Commission in a prescribed form and/or format authorized by the Commission and completed in accordance with Commission instructions.

(3) Form--A printed or typed paper document or electronic submission, including any necessary instructions, with blank spaces for insertion of required or requested specific information.

(4) Organization--Any person, firm, partnership, joint stock association, corporation, or other organization, domestic or foreign, operating wholly or partially within this state, acting as principal or agent for another, for the purpose of performing operations within the jurisdiction of the Commission.

(5) Position of ownership or control--A person holds a position of ownership or control in an organization if the person is:

(A) an officer or director of the organization;

(B) a general partner of the organization;

(C) the owner of an organization which is a sole proprietorship;

(D) the owner of more than a 25 percent ownership interest in the organization; or

(E) the designated trustee of the organization.

(6) Violation--Non-compliance with a statute, Commission rule, order, license, permit, or certificate relating to safety or the prevention or control of pollution.

(c) Organization eligibility. The Commission may not accept an organization report or an application for a permit, or approve a certificate of compliance if:

(1) the organization that submitted the report, application, or certificate violated a statute or Commission rule, order, license, certificate, or permit that relates to safety or the prevention or control of pollution; or

(2) any person who holds a position of ownership or control in the organization has, within the seven years preceding the date on which the report, application, or certificate is filed, held a position of ownership or control in another organization, and during that period of ownership or control the other organization violated a statute or Commission rule, order, license, permit, or certificate that relates to safety or the prevention or control of pollution.

(d) Violations. An organization has committed a violation if there is either a Commission order against an organization finding that the organization has committed a violation and all appeals have been exhausted or an agreed order entered into by the Commission and an organization relating to an alleged violation, and:

(1) the conditions that constituted the violation or alleged violation have not been corrected;

(2) all administrative, civil and criminal penalties, if any, relating to the violation or agreed settlement relating to an alleged violation have not been paid; or

(3) all reimbursements of costs and expenses, if any, assessed by the Commission relating to the violation or to the alleged violation have not been collected.

(e) Authorization and standards for electronic filing.

(1) An organization may file electronically any form for which the Commission has provided an electronic version, provided that the organization pays all required filing fees and complies with all requirements, including but not limited to security procedures, for electronic filing.

(2) The Commission deems an organization that files electronically or on whose behalf is filed electronically any form, as of the time of filing, to have knowledge of and to be responsible for the information filed on the form, pursuant to the statutory requirements, restrictions, and standards found in and pertaining to:

(A) Texas Natural Resources Code, Title 3 (oil and gas well drilling, production, and plugging);

(B) Texas Natural Resources Code, Title 5 (geothermal resources);

(C) Texas Natural Resources Code, Title 11 (hazardous liquids storage);

(D) Texas Utilities Code, Chapter 121, Subchapter I (sour gas pipeline facilities);

(E) Texas Water Code, §26.131 (discharge permits);

(F) Texas Water Code, Chapter 27 (class II injection and disposal wells and class III brine mining wells);

(G) Texas Water Code, Chapter 29 (oil and gas waste haulers);

(H) Texas Health and Safety Code, §401.415 (oil and gas naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) waste); and

(I) Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 3 (Oil and Gas Division) and Chapter 4 (Environmental Protection).

(3) All forms that an organization submits or that are submitted on behalf of an organization shall be transmitted in the manner prescribed by the Commission that is compatible with its software, equipment, and facilities.

(4) The Commission may provide notice electronically to an organization of, and may provide an organization the ability to confirm electronically, the Commission's receipt of a form submitted electronically by or on behalf of that organization.

(5) The Commission deems that the signature of an organization's authorized representative appears on each form submitted electronically by or on behalf of the organization, as if this signature actually appears, as of the time the form is submitted electronically to the Commission.

(6) The Commission holds each organization responsible, under the penalties prescribed in Texas Natural Resources Code, §91.143, for all forms, information, or data that an organization files or that are filed on its behalf. The Commission charges each organization with the obligation to review and correct, if necessary, all forms or data that an organization files or that are filed on its behalf.

(f) Other electronic transmissions. The Commission may at its discretion accept other documents or data electronically transmitted.

Source Note: The provisions of this §3.80 adopted to be effective June 11, 2001, 26 TexReg 4088; amended to be effective April 12, 2004, 29 TexReg 3612; amended to be effective July 12, 2004, 29 TexReg 6633; amended to be effective October 11, 2004, 29 TexReg 9533; amended to be effective April 3, 2006, 31 TexReg 2846; amended to be effective January 30, 2007, 32 TexReg 287; amended to be effective January 7, 2008, 33 TexReg 114; amended to be effective September 12, 2011, 36 TexReg 5835; amended to be effective July 7, 2014, 39 TexReg 5148