Step one is to change the name of the agency.
The Railroad Commission has changed in function, composition, and even jurisdiction over the years, but not in name. Other states call their oil and gas agencies things like the “New Mexico Oil Conservation Division,” but the name of the Texas agency has not changed.
It’s time to change the name of the commission so that it better reflects what the agency actually does. This will help Texans understand what they’re voting for in a railroad commissioner and who to contact when they have concerns.
Tell your lawmaker to rename the Railroad Commission.
As former Commissioner Ryan Sitton once said, changing the commission’s name is “about transparency, good government, and keeping people informed about what we’re doing.”
Beyond the name change, there are several areas where the Railroad Commission needs reform. At Commission Shift, we are currently focused on the following challenges:
A principal reason environmental, oil and gas policy reforms are difficult in Texas is because railroad commissioners continue to maintain close financial ties to the companies they oversee. The commissioners take more than two-thirds of their campaign contributions from the same companies they oversee, with no monetary limits and no calendar limits on when the companies can donate. These financial conflicts of interest may introduce bias toward the oil and gas industry in the commissioners’ decisions and prevent landowners and environmental interests from achieving science and data-driven reforms. Commission Shift has exposed this issue through our research, and has proposed several solutions to help reduce financial conflicts of interest at the Railroad Commission.
Read Our Captive Agency ReportsRailroad commissioners may solicit and accept large campaign contributions from the very industry that they are supposed to oversee, raising concerns about the integrity of the commission’s decisions. Commission Shift and Texans for Public Justice published a series of research reports in 2021, finding that the commissioners raised more than two-thirds of their campaign contributions from the same companies they oversee in their official role.While railroad commissioners are subject to the rules of the Texas Ethics Commission, the rules do not currently forbid this practice – even for companies with cases pending before the Railroad Commission.
Over the years, commissioners have received tens of millions of dollars from oil and gas interests with cases pending before their agency, including from companies accused of triggering earthquakes and taking advantage of gas utility customers. Notably, the commission ultimately ruled in favor of these companies, funneling Texans’ money into the pockets of utilities and contradicting the findings of the state’s leading seismologists. Recognizing the issues present in allowing a sitting commissioner to regulate companies with which they are personally associated, states like Oklahoma have explicit laws that forbid members of the commission from owning interest or associating themselves with firms under the agency’s jurisdiction.
In 2013, the Sunset Advisory Commission recommended that the Railroad Commission adopt a recusal policy, limit railroad commission candidate fundraising to an 18-month period during each commissioner’s six-year term, and prohibit parties with upcoming contested case hearings from making financial contributions to commissioners’ campaigns. Lawmakers failed to pass any of these recommendations, instead simply requesting that the commission adopt a recusal policy on its own. While the commission ultimately adopted a generic recusal policy, the policy has never been followed by the commissioners or enforced by the Texas Attorney General’s office. There is no requirement that commissioners recuse themselves from matters affecting company executives that contributed to their campaigns.
Commission Shift is proposing three priority solutions for reducing conflicts of interest at the Railroad Commission:
As oil and gas development expands across the state, Texas residents increasingly wonder what they can do to protect themselves from problems like pollution. Drilling is a dangerous business; when a company breaks the rules in a community, it’s important to know who can hold them accountable. Unfortunately, filing complaints with Texas’ regulatory agencies can be tough, especially for those that find themselves having to deal with the Railroad Commission. The commission’s website reflects the agency’s long-outdated information system. Visitors often describe trouble locating basic information such as how to contest permits or what steps they should take when impacted by chemicals and fumes from drilling.
Inclusive decision making is one of Commission Shift’s core values. We believe that oil and gas workers, farmers and ranchers, neighbors of oil and gas development, students of Texas’ public schools, energy consumers, and the many others that are affected by the oil and gas industry in Texas deserve stability, safety, clean air, and clean water.
Our state can achieve better results in rulemakings, strategic plans, permit proceedings, and more when the public is meaningfully engaged, authentically listened to, and when their needs are incorporated into decisions.
The Railroad Commission hosts a monthly or biweekly Open Meeting where they approve recommended orders presented by the commission’s hearings examiners, administrative law judges, counsel, and staff. The public can sign up to comment on an agenda item or during the public input session. If you sign up for an agenda item, the commissioners may choose not to call on you. If you wish to speak on a matter that is not on the agenda, you may also sign up for public input. Typically, commenters are allowed five minutes for public input.
Instructions on how to sign up for public input or to give comment on an agenda item are available on the Railroad Commission Open Meeting agendas, which can be found on the commission’s website. The commission posts meeting agendas one week prior to each meeting. You must sign up by noon the day before the meeting to give comment on an agenda item or public input on an item that is not on the agenda.
There is a dangerous lack of public input at the Railroad Commission. As opportunities arise for public comment on commission reports and rulemakings, Commission Shift is mobilizing Texans – especially those most affected by oil and gas pollution.
One major gap in the Railroad Commission’s public participation processes is the absence of language accommodation. Even though many Texans prefer Spanish or Vietnamese, the Railroad Commission does not provide information on its website in any languages other than English, nor does it offer language accessibility services in its proceedings.
Commission Shift previews and summarizes Railroad Commission public meetings to make sure more Texans know what this critically important state agency is doing. As we build out our language justice program, we will be able to offer more materials in other languages.
We see a need for sustained outreach by the Railroad Commission in communities that need language accommodation, so that we can improve awareness and public participation among communities affected by oil and gas development. Commission Shift recently provided on an API Standard (RP 1185) on Public Engagement, advocating for better language accommodation by pipeline companies. Once approved, the standard could be incorporated into federal or state rulemakings.
The Monitoring and Enforcement Plan is a helpful document for impacted community members to review to understand the Railroad Commission’s process from handling complaints, to scheduling inspections, and issuing violations or enforcement actions. The plan includes summaries of:
Check out our Short Guides to Complaints & Inspections at the Railroad Commission of Texas for more tools and plain-language explanations of the RRC’s processes.
Read the guidesSince 2021, Commission Shift and our supporters have been commenting on the Monitoring and Enforcement Plan, and the Railroad Commission has gradually improved its process for accepting stakeholder feedback and has accepted our recommendations for the plan. When the public engages with government bodies, change is possible.
The RRC has made the following process improvements over the years:
The RRC has also accepted some of our recommendations into its goals for plans in previous fiscal years, including:
2027:
2026:
2025:
2024:
House Bill 1818 (HB 1818) authorized the Railroad Commission to continue to exist after the agency’s 2017 Sunset Review. The law requires the RRC to report the following metrics in the annual monitoring and enforcement plan:
Although the law requires the RRC to define “major violations,” the agency has only done so in its publication of the Monitoring and Enforcement plan. Technically, the agency should open a rulemaking and accept public comment on what counts as a “major violation.” Importantly, although the agency’s definition includes a list of rules that may qualify as major violations, the Director of the RRC’s Oil and Gas Division has the ultimate decision making authority over which cases they consider a major violation. Therefore, the count of major violations reported each year is subjective.