DUTIES OF RAILROAD COMMISSION

(a) Except as provided by this section, the Railroad Commission of Texas is solely responsible for the control and disposition of waste and the abatement and prevention of pollution of surface and subsurface water resulting from: (1) activities associated with the exploration, development, and production of oil or gas or geothermal resources, including: (A) activities associated with the drilling of injection water source wells which penetrate the base of useable quality water; (B) activities associated with the drilling of cathodic protection holes associated with the cathodic protection of wells and pipelines subject to the jurisdiction of the Railroad Commission of Texas; (C) activities associated with gasoline plants, natural gas or natural gas liquids processing plants, pressure maintenance plants, or repressurizing plants; (D) activities associated with any underground natural gas storage facility, provided the terms "natural gas" and "storage facility" shall have the meanings set out in Section 91.173, Natural Resources Code; (E) activities associated with any underground hydrocarbon storage facility, provided the terms "hydrocarbons" and "underground hydrocarbon storage facility" shall have the meanings set out in Section 91.201, Natural Resources Code; and (F) activities associated with the storage, handling, reclamation, gathering, transportation, or distribution of oil or gas prior to the refining of such oil or prior to the use of such gas in any manufacturing process or as a residential or industrial fuel; (2) except to the extent the activities are regulated by the Texas Department of Health under Chapter 401, Health and Safety Code, activities associated with uranium exploration consisting of the disturbance of the surface or subsurface for the purpose of or related to determining the location, quantity, or quality of uranium ore; and (3) any other activities regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas pursuant to Section 91.101, Natural Resources Code. (b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), the Railroad Commission of Texas may issue permits for the discharge of waste resulting from the activities described by Subsection (a), and the discharge of waste into water in this state resulting from those activities must meet the water quality standards established by the commission. (c) The commission may issue permits for the discharge into water in this state of produced water, hydrostatic test water, and gas plant effluent resulting from the activities described by Subsection (a) on delegation to the commission of NPDES authority for those discharges. The discharge of produced water, hydrostatic test water, and gas plant effluent into water in this state under this subsection must meet the water quality standards established by the commission. (d) The commission may issue permits for the land application of produced water resulting from activities described by Subsection (a) that has been treated for beneficial use. The commission shall adopt standards for the land application of water under this section, including standards that prevent the pollution of surface and subsurface water.