Advocates applauded the bill’s passage as a step in the right direction, while also raising concerns about provisions in the bill that give operators more time to comply and opportunities to apply for plugging extensions. The bill allows the Railroad Commission to extend deadlines for plugging inactive wells if an operator has a “demonstrated history” of returning inactive wells to service, if an operator files a bond to cover future plugging costs or if an operator is experiencing financial hardship.
“It’ll be up to the commissioners to show us that they intend to enforce the law instead of letting operators off the hook, which is what we’ve seen in the past,” said Virginia Palacios, executive director of the watchdog organization Commission Shift.
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