AUSTIN — Texas Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones has weighed in on the devastating effects to states from the passage of HR 5626, the Blowout Prevention Act 2010,  by Congressman Henry Waxman (D-California). 

Among the additional layers of new regulations, the new law would require that every state’s oil and gas regulatory agency have its rules approved by the federal government.  

This bill, and others similar to it, is being rushed through Congress — with no state input on the drafting of the legislation. We uncovered mistakes arising from inexperience in the bill.  Even worse, requiring states to concur with Federal drilling regulations both onshore and offshore puts needless hurdles in front of experienced state oversight of drilling for oil and natural gas.  Chairman Waxman’s policy is bad for America’s energy security.”

Elizabeth Jones, Texas RR Commissioner

In a letter she sent on Friday (July 23) to Rep. Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce, Jones said, “For the first time in 100 years of regulating the energy industry in Texas, the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), the permitting agency for all of Texas’s oil and natural gas wells, would be required to have our safety requirements approved before issuing permits for both our onshore wells and offshore wells out to 3 leagues.

“This bill, and others similar to it, is being rushed through Congress — with no state input on the drafting of the legislation. We uncovered mistakes arising from inexperience in the bill.  Even worse, requiring states to concur with Federal drilling regulations both onshore and offshore puts needless hurdles in front of experienced state oversight of drilling for oil and natural gas.  Chairman Waxman’s policy is bad for America’s energy security.”

H.R. 5626, Blowout Prevention Act of 2010, was reported out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on July 15, 2010 and is expected to be voted on in the coming days in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Congress’ action in this matter is imprudent since it could drive up the price of gasoline and heating oil, according to Jones.

“HR 5626 profoundly usurps state authority over oil and gas exploration and production and puts it the hands of an unknown ‘appropriate federal official’ whose colleagues have a less than stellar record at oil and gas operations. It will drive up the drilling costs of wells at a time when American consumers can least afford the increased energy costs or the declining supply that will necessarily result.” 

She called for a coalition of the experienced states to assist the federal government in their oversight saying that, “other experienced state energy regulatory agencies, might band together and create a cooperative to assist the federal government in regulating the drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf off our respective coastlines.

The text of the letter may be found on the Railroad Commission website: http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/commissioners/jones/index.php

Jones, 53, was first elected to the Texas Legislature in an upset victory in 2000. She was re-elected to serve a six-year term in 2006 to Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s energy agency.  She considers herself an advocate for the responsible production of America’s energy resources, tort reform, and limited government, and Jones lends her insight and voice to a wide range of conservative issues in Texas and nationally.

Her commentaries have been published in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and other major newspapers.