Texas’s main oil regulator has been prohibited from waiving environmental rules and fees, measures adopted to help drillers cope with the pandemic-driven slump in crude prices.
The decision by a state judge means that the Railroad Commission of Texas will not be able to enforce a series of emergency rule-waivers announced in May. District Court Judge Jan Soifer faulted the agency for failing to give the public adequate forewarning, according to a ruling handed down on 10 December.
Soifer’s order will remain in effect until a suit by accountability watchdog Public Citizen is heard, or the regulator posts proper notice, the judge said. The Public Citizen case is set to be heard in May.
At a 5 May meeting, the Railroad Commission passed rules that waived fees, extended deadlines for environmental clean-ups, and expanded the types of locations where companies could store crude. Public Citizen said the suspension of such rules was unlawful and amounted to a “handout to the oil and gas industry” at the expense of public health and safety.