Texas Bill Preventing Local Drilling Bans Goes to Governor

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A Texas bill banning its own cities from imposing prohibitions on hydraulic fracturing and other potentially environmentally harmful oil and natural gas drilling activities within their boundaries has been sent to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.

Lawmakers in America’s largest oil-producing state scrambled to limit local energy exploration prohibitions after Denton, a university town near Dallas, passed an ordinance in November against hydraulic fracturing or fracking, attempting to keep encroaching drilling bonanzas outside their community.

Fracking is the practice of blasting huge volumes of water and chemicals underground to release tight deposits of oil and gas. Denton voters’ opposition was driven by recurring small earthquakes and safety worries from gas wells that have become ubiquitous near urban area during the energy boom of the last few years.

But energy lobbyists argued that local regulations shouldn’t trump property rights and effectively choke off natural gas drilling underground.

The measure by San Angelo Republican Rep. Drew Darby, chairman of the House Energy Resources Committee, allows local communities to regulate things above ground such as noise, traffic and lighting associated with fracking, drilling and other oil and gas activities.

But it forbids limits on any drilling or activity below the surface, except for some regulations, such as bans on exploration on Sunday, that are already in place. Any limits imposed by communities would have to be “commercially reasonable,” which critics say allows the energy industry wide sway.