(a) Definitions. The following words and terms when used in this section shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Accredited laboratory--A laboratory as defined in Texas Water Code, §5.801.
(2) Additive--Any chemical substance or combination of substances, including a proppant, contained in a hydraulic fracturing fluid that is intentionally added to a base fluid for a specific purpose whether or not the purpose of any such substance or combination of substances is to create fractures in a formation.
(3) Adjacent property--A tract of property next to the tract of property on which the subject wellhead is located, including a tract that meets only at a corner point.
(4) API number--A unique, permanent, numeric identifier assigned to each well drilled for oil or gas in the United States.
(5) Base fluid--The continuous phase fluid type, such as water, used in a particular hydraulic fracturing treatment.
(6) Chemical Abstracts Service--The division of the American Chemical Society that is the globally recognized authority for information on chemical substances.
(7) Chemical Abstracts Service number or CAS number--The unique identification number assigned to a chemical by the Chemical Abstracts Service.
(8) Chemical Disclosure Registry--The chemical registry website known as FracFocus developed by the Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission.
(9) Chemical family--A group of chemical ingredients that share similar chemical properties and have a common general name.
(10) Chemical ingredient--A discrete chemical constituent with its own specific name or identity, such as a CAS number, that is contained in an additive.
(11) Commission--The Railroad Commission of Texas.
(12) Delegate--The person authorized by the director to take action on behalf of the Railroad Commission of Texas under this section.
(13) Director--The director of the Oil and Gas Division of the Railroad Commission of Texas or the director's delegate.
(14) Health professional or emergency responder--A physician, physician's assistant, industrial hygienist, toxicologist, epidemiologist, nurse, nurse practitioner, or emergency responder who needs information in order to provide medical or other health services to a person exposed to a chemical ingredient.
(15) Hydraulic fracturing fluid--The fluid, including the applicable base fluid and all additives, used to perform a particular hydraulic fracturing treatment.
(16) Hydraulic fracturing treatment--The treatment of a well by the application of hydraulic fracturing fluid under pressure for the express purpose of initiating or propagating fractures in a target geologic formation to enhance production of oil and/or natural gas.
(17) Landowner--The person listed on the applicable county appraisal roll as owning the real property on which the relevant wellhead is located.
(18) Operator--An operator as defined in Texas Natural Resources Code, Chapter 89.
(19) Person--Natural person, corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, or any other legal entity.
(20) Proppant--Sand or any natural or man-made material that is used in a hydraulic fracturing treatment to prop open the artificially created or enhanced fractures once the treatment is completed.
(21) Requestor--A person who is eligible to request information claimed to be entitled to trade secret protection in accordance with Texas Natural Resources Code, §91.851(a)(5).
(22) Service company--A person that performs hydraulic fracturing treatments on a well in this state.
(23) Supplier--A company that sells or provides an additive for use in a hydraulic fracturing treatment.
(24) Total water volume--The total amount of water in gallons used as the carrier fluid for the hydraulic fracturing job. It may include recycled water and newly acquired water.
(25) Trade name--The name given to an additive or a hydraulic fracturing fluid system under which that additive or hydraulic fracturing fluid system is sold or marketed.
(26) Trade secret--Any formula, pattern, device, or compilation of information that is used in a person's business, and that gives the person an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not know or use it. The six factors considered in determining whether information qualifies as a trade secret, in accordance with the definition of "trade secret" in the Restatement of Torts, Comment B to Section 757 (1939), as adopted by the Texas Supreme Court in Hyde Corp. v. Huffines, 314 S.W.2d 763, 776 (Tex. 1958), include:
(27) Well--A well as defined in Texas Natural Resources Code, Chapter 89.
(28) Well completion report--The report an operator is required to file with the Commission following the completion or recompletion of a well, if applicable, in accordance with §3.16(b) of this title (relating to Log and Completion or Plugging Report.)
(b) Applicability. This section applies to a hydraulic fracturing treatment performed on a well in the State of Texas for which the Commission has issued an initial drilling permit on or after February 1, 2012.
(c) Required disclosures.
(1) Supplier and service company disclosures.
(2) Operator disclosures.
(3) Inaccuracies in information. A supplier is not responsible for any inaccuracy in information that is provided to the supplier by a third party manufacturer of the additives. A service company is not responsible for any inaccuracy in information that is provided to the service company by the supplier. An operator is not responsible for any inaccuracy in information provided to the operator by the supplier or service company.
(4) Disclosure to health professionals and emergency responders. A supplier, service company or operator may not withhold information related to chemical ingredients used in a hydraulic fracturing treatment, including information identified as a trade secret, from any health professional or emergency responder who needs the information for diagnostic, treatment or other emergency response purposes subject to procedures set forth in 29 Code of Federal Regulations §1910.1200(i). A supplier, service company or operator must provide directly to a health professional or emergency responder, all information in the person's possession that is required by the health professional or emergency responder, whether or not the information may qualify for trade secret protection under subsection (e) of this section. The person disclosing information to a health professional or emergency responder must include with the disclosure, as soon as circumstances permit, a statement of the health professional's confidentiality obligation. In an emergency situation, the supplier, service company or operator must provide the information immediately upon request to the person who determines that the information is necessary for emergency response or treatment. The disclosures required by this subsection must be made in accordance with the procedures in 29 Code of Federal Cont'd...