Sen. Uresti’s county roads bill headed to the governor
(AUSTIN) — The Texas House and Senate late Sunday passed and sent to the governor a bill by Sen. Carlos Uresti that will provide $225 million to help counties repair and maintain county roads damaged by oil and gas production activity.
After weeks of negotiations and a final round of talks late Saturday and into Sunday with Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, Gov. Perry, Speaker Straus, and Senate Finance Chairman Tommy Williams; Uresti, House Energy Resources Chairman Jim Keffer, and other conferees secured $225 million in general revenues to help fund SB 1747, which is desperately needed by counties in the Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin regions.
“Help is on the way for these counties,” Uresti said. “Working in a bipartisan fashion, the Legislature has recognized that county roads are the gateway to the oil patch and must be maintained for the state’s oil boom to continue. With this bill, we are saving the goose that laid the golden egg.”
Uresti’s priority legislation for the 83rd session — crafted over the last few months with major contributions from Rep. Keffer, Sen. Williams, Sen. Glenn Hegar, and Sen. Kel Seliger. — the bill creates a Transportation Infrastructure Fund and allows counties in high-impact oil and gas producing regions to create County Transportation Reinvestment Zones. By establishing such zones, counties could use increased revenues from county property and sales taxes to repair and maintain roads that have been damaged by oil production activity.
It’s estimated that a county road used for drilling one oil and gas well will endure the equivalent of 8 million passenger vehicles. Some 5,400 wells have been permitted in the Eagle Ford Shale region alone, and it’s projected that 24,000 wells will be operating by 2022.
“The need is clear. County roads were not designed to take on the punishing burden of oil patch trucks carrying heavy loads of fracking sand, water, and drilling equipment,” Uresti said. “This bill and the funding that it brings will take a giant step toward addressing the long-term needs of county roads, which are the linchpin of our energy production efforts.
Some highlights of the bill:
Creates a Transportation Infrastructure Fund, allowing counties to apply for money for county road maintenance and repair based on the following criteria: 20 percent weight tolerance permits, 20 percent oil and gas production taxes, 50 percent well completions, 10 percent oil and gas waste injection wells.
Requires counties to provide 20 percent matching funds for projects, at least 10 percent for economically disadvantaged counties.
Allows counties to lease or rent equipment used for road maintenance from the grant funds they receive.
Creates Energy Transportation Reinvestment Zones, in which increased revenues from county property and sales taxes can be applied to county roads.
Sen. Uresti represents Senate District 19, which covers more than 35,000 square miles and contains all or part of 17 counties, two international ports of entry, ten state parks, 51 school districts, almost 9,000 miles of highways and county roads, and more than 29,000 producing oil and gas wells. The district is larger than 11 states and 124 Nations, and contains almost 400 miles of the Texas-Mexico border.
