HB5410 - Relating to responsibility in tort for the treatment of fluid oil and gas waste for beneficial use.

  2025S0100-1 02/13/25     By: Dean H.B. No. 5410     A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to responsibility in tort for the treatment of fluid oil   and gas waste for beneficial use.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 122.002, Natural Resources Code, is   amended to read as follows:          Sec. 122.002.  OWNERSHIP OF FLUID OIL AND GAS WASTE   TRANSFERRED FOR TREATMENT AND [ SUBSEQUENT ] BENEFICIAL USE.  Unless   otherwise expressly provided by an oil or gas lease, a surface use   agreement, a contract, a bill of sale, or another legally binding   document:                (1)  when fluid oil and gas waste is produced and used   by or transferred to a person who takes possession of that waste for   the purpose of treating the waste for a [ subsequent ] beneficial   use, the waste is considered to be the property of the person who   takes possession of it for the purpose of treating the waste for   [ subsequent ] beneficial use until the person transfers the waste or   treated waste to another person for disposal or use; and                (2)  when a person who takes possession of fluid oil and   gas waste for the purpose of treating the waste for a [ subsequent ]   beneficial use transfers possession of the treated product or any   treatment byproduct to another person for the purpose of   [ subsequent ] disposal or beneficial use, the transferred product or   byproduct is considered to be the property of the person to whom the   material is transferred.          SECTION 2.  Section 122.003(a), Natural Resources Code, is   amended to read as follows:          (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), a person who   produces fluid oil and gas waste and supplies that waste to a   treatment facility that produces from that waste a treated product   or who takes possession of fluid oil and gas waste and [ , ] produces   from that waste a treated product [ generally considered in the oil   and gas industry to be suitable for use in connection with the   drilling for or production of oil or gas, and transfers the treated   product to another person with the contractual understanding that   the treated product will be used in connection with the drilling for   or production of oil or gas ] is not liable in tort for a consequence   of the beneficial [ subsequent ] use of that treated product [ by the   person to whom the treated product is transferred or by another   person ].          SECTION 3.  Section 101.023, Civil Practice and Remedies   Code, is amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:           (e)     This section applies to an action brought under Section   122.003, Natural Resources Code.          SECTION 4.  A cause of action that accrues before the   effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed   immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is   continued in effect for that purpose.          SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.