Fiscal Year 2023 has now come to an end and the RRC has once again exceeded regulatory goals in its critical mission to protect communities and the environment, while Texas continues to be the top energy producing state in the nation.
The Texas Legislature sets annual performance measures for each state agency, and year-afteryear the Commission has maintained a high-level of meeting or exceeding those expectations in its important work regulating the oil and gas industry, intrastate pipelines, surface mining, and alternative fuels.
RRC’s Oil and Gas Division worked tirelessly to exceed the target in its award winning Well Plugging Program for the seventh year in a row. The Legislature set a target of 1,000 orphaned wells to be plugged in fiscal year 2023, and the RRC plugged a total 1,750 wells including1,020 wells with oil and gas funds and an additional 730 orphaned wells using federal grants.
The Commission’s Pipeline Safety Division far surpassed their annual target in specialized pipeline inspections, which consists of operator program evaluations, pipeline integrity management reviews, new construction inspections, as well as other safety inspections to ensure safe transportation through the state’s vast pipeline system.