Austin, TX – The Railroad Commission of Texas, our state oil and gas agency, has incorporated several meaningful changes into its 2025 Monitoring and Enforcement Plan relating to public engagement, surface waste management, flaring, and more. These changes, which align closely with recommendations made by Commission Shift and community members across Texas, represent a strong step forward in the agency’s progress demonstrating accountability to the people of Texas.
Among the key changes, the agency states it will seek methods to enhance public engagement, demonstrate compliance related to waste pits, provide more comprehensive flaring data, and evaluate its existing tools to reduce the number of orphan wells older than 20 years. To improve public engagement, the Railroad Commission (RRC) agreed to review the American Petroleum Institute (API’s) published Recommended Practice 1185 Pipeline Public Engagement (RP1185), as suggested by Commission Shift. More demonstrations of compliance for oil and gas surface waste pits will ensure that facilities are regularly monitored, helping to prevent groundwater contamination and air pollution. More comprehensive flaring data will help the agency and the public to monitor progress toward reducing waste and harmful air emissions, which studies link to 50% higher odds of preterm birth in those living near oil and gas activity. Additionally, the RRC acknowledged that there are 573 wells on the orphaned list that have been inactive over 20 years, and it intends to use federal funds from the formula grant to plug these wells. Although we applaud the RRC for taking steps to reduce legacy orphaned wells, we continue to call on the RRC to consider what actions it can take to ensure active operators plug their inactive wells in a timely manner.
“We are thrilled to see our recommendations reflected in the 2025 Monitoring and Enforcement Plan,” said Virginia Palacios, Executive Director of Commission Shift.“These changes demonstrate that when the public weighs in on government processes, we can help to ensure stewardship of natural resources and the environment. We commend Texas’s oil and gas agency for taking public concerns seriously.”
While these improvements mark significant progress, further enhancements to the plan are necessary to fully safeguard the environment and community well-being. One area that still requires attention is updating Class II injection well permitting standards to prevent risks to public safety and groundwater resources. Additionally, the RRC should consider how and when they will prepare the public and first responders for carbon dioxide pipeline safety incidents. The RRC also needs to invest more in the Office of Public Engagement in order to hold public hearings throughout the state, improve access to RRC open meetings, and develop a plan to incorporate language access throughout the RRC.
Commission Shift’s full public comments and recommendations for the 2025 Monitoring and Enforcement plan can be found here. Over 150 community members signed on and sent emails to Railroad Commission staff advocating for these changes.
For more information and full analysis of the published 2025 Monitoring and Enforcement plan, read Commission Shift Policy Manager Julie Range’s blog post.
