Texas House Bill HB 5186

Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

• Filed: 3/14/25

Caption

Relating to information relied on by the Railroad Commission of Texas for purposes of rules involving rainfall estimates.

Summary

HB 5186 would require the Railroad Commission of Texas to periodically update any rule that relies on rainfall intensity, duration, or frequency data. For covered rules, the commission would have to incorporate the latest available data from NOAA or a comparable source at least once every five years, and also update rules when new volumes of NOAA’s Precipitation-Frequency Atlas of the United States are published. The bill also directs the commission, during each required rulemaking, to consider the costs avoided by the state from using updated rainfall data, the differences between existing and new data, and the relative accuracy of the new information. The first updated rules would have to be adopted by January 1, 2026, and the act would take effect September 1, 2025.

Impact

The bill would add a new Section 81.076 to the Natural Resources Code and create an ongoing statutory duty for the Railroad Commission to keep rainfall-based rules current. In practice, this would affect commission rules tied to rainfall estimates, likely including rules used in energy, oil and gas, and related regulatory contexts where stormwater or precipitation assumptions matter. It would not directly regulate private parties, but it could change compliance standards and rulemaking timelines by requiring more frequent updates to technical data used in agency rules.

Sentiment

The available context shows the bill was referred to the House Energy Resources Committee, with no recorded votes or committee transcript excerpts provided. Based on the bill text, the measure appears technical and administrative rather than ideological, aiming to modernize agency rulemaking with current scientific data. There is no direct evidence in the record provided of strong support or opposition, but the bill’s structure suggests a generally policy-oriented effort to improve accuracy and consistency in commission rules.

Contention

The main potential point of contention is whether the Railroad Commission should be required to update rainfall-based rules on a fixed schedule and whether the agency should be bound to specific NOAA data sources. Another possible issue is the cost and administrative burden of repeated rulemakings, especially the requirement to evaluate cost savings, data variance, and accuracy each time. Stakeholders favoring regulatory stability may prefer less frequent updates, while those concerned with engineering accuracy, flood risk, and climate-related precipitation changes may support the bill’s update mandate.