Laredo, TX — Despite public comments calling for waste prevention, the state oil and gas agency has ignored calls to curb flaring waste in their latest annual Monitoring and Enforcement Plan.
Commission Shift research has documented that the Railroad Commission (RRC) approves almost all flaring rule exception requests (permits), does not enforce permit limits, and is on track to allow more flaring than ever before this decade. We called on the RRC to fulfill its statutory duty and rein in flaring by denying flaring permits more often, verifying that lease numbers are on flaring permits, enforcing permit limits, and reducing the number and volume of releases it permits. They did not acknowledge or adopt our action item to rein in flaring.
“RRC’s current monitoring and enforcement of flaring is harming public health and royalty owners. The RRC’s enforcement methods don’t work to reduce flaring waste, and they need an overhaul,” said Virginia Palacios, executive director of Commission Shift.
“As a health care provider, I am particularly concerned about the Commission’s work, since it affects my patients and their families,” wrote one public commenter on the FY 2027 Monitoring and Enforcement Plan.
The Railroad Commission, however, did acknowledge the mounting problems from the underground injection of waste, and says it will more closely monitor permit requirements for Underground Injection Control (UIC) wells in the Permian Basin as a part of its FY 2027 M&E Plan.
Over the years, it has become increasingly clear that UIC wells interacting with both plugged and unplugged wellbores have resulted in leaks and emergency incidents. In 2025, the legislature made a special appropriation of $100 million to the RRC to address emergency incidents. The RRC has faced a significant rise in costly emergency well-plugging incidents. A recent notable example involved a previously plugged “zombie” well that became active again in the parking lot of the Grand Falls First Baptist Church. High priority well plugging has increased drastically from year to year, with the RRC plugging the same number of Priority 1 wells in the first half of FY 2026 as in all of FY 2025.
“Stronger scrutiny of injection wells is a positive development. We would like to see the RRC use the lessons they are learning to move to a proactive, preventive permitting model across the state, not just in the Permian Basin,” said Julie Range, Commission Shift Policy Manager.
Another commenter on the 2027 plan wrote: “I am a coastal Texas resident who cares deeply for the healthy air and healthy water for all people to have access to. I have seen firsthand the negative consequences on human health when there is lack of stewarding our natural resources. The Texas economy depends on healthy communities and improved transparency of consequences for bad actors who are violating the right to a healthy community.”
Every year, the Railroad Commission of Texas publishes a Monitoring and Enforcement (M&E) Plan for the following fiscal year (FY). A major feature of the M&E plan is the RRC’s annual action item goals, which highlight its top priorities for the year. The state legislature requires RRC to seek input from stakeholders when developing the plan. This year, the public comments on the 2027 Monitoring and Enforcement Plan overwhelmingly called for the Railroad Commission to adopt Commission Shift’s priorities.
In addition to increased monitoring of underground injection permits, the Railroad Commission also committed to conducting outreach and education on carbon capture and storage projects, as well as implementing SB1150 and other new rules on addressing inactive wells. For a full overview of what the RRC implemented in the FY2027 plan, read Commission Shift’s blog post.
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