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Texas

Railroad Commission State Managed Cleanup Program

Agency Railroad Commission of Texas

Through its State Managed Cleanup Program, the Railroad Commission of Texas pays to clean up polluted oil and gas sites that have been abandoned. The Oil and Gas Division's Site Remediation Section manages the work with the district offices and draws on the Oil and Gas Regulation and Cleanup Fund. The Commission says the industry pays for the program through its regulatory, permit and bond fees. It is separate from the Operator Cleanup Program, in which the Oil and Gas Division oversees cleanups that operators carry out.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name this program among its standard record sources. On a property with oil and gas history, it is the record of pollution at an abandoned oilfield site that the state took on. Because it is a Railroad Commission record, it is asked for there.

  • Sites with no one to act become candidates. The Commission says an abandoned site is considered for a state cleanup once whoever is responsible will not or does not act, or is unknown, has died or is bankrupt. The party that caused the pollution may not be there to ask, so ask the Commission for its file.
  • Risk sets the order. The Commission ranks sites by the threat each poses to people's health and safety and to the environment. A site that is a candidate may not yet have been cleaned up; ask where it stands.
  • The fund replaced an older one. The Commission says the 82nd Texas Legislature created the Oil and Gas Regulation and Cleanup Fund in 2011 to replace the earlier Oil Field Cleanup Fund. The same fund pays for plugging abandoned wells, covered on the Orphan wells and State Managed Well Plugging page.
  • Reports are posted by month, quarter and year. The Commission posts monthly state funded cleanup reports by fiscal year. On the page as read they run from September 2022 to July 2026, with August 2026 listed but not linked. It also posts quarterly Oilfield Cleanup Program reports from fiscal year 2017 and annual ones for fiscal years 2005 to 2025.
  • Geoscientist seals are expected. The program page reminds geoscientists that the law requires a Professional Geoscientist's seal on reports filed with the Site Remediation Section.

Where to look a site up

Getting the file

The Commission takes written requests under the Public Information Act by email to open.records@rrc.texas.gov, by fax to 512-463-6684, by mail to PO Box 12967, Austin, Texas 78711-2967, or in person, as its Procedures for Requesting Information page sets out. The page asks that a request say exactly what is wanted, and says a request is dropped when the Commission asks for clarification and hears nothing back in a reasonable time. It says the records team aims to answer every request within 10 business days.

Sources

Railroad Commission of Texas pages, read October 15, 2026, no modified date shown:

Railroad Commission of Texas page, read September 30, 2026, no modified date shown:

Maintained by Barrow. General reference only, not legal or professional advice. Barrow is not affiliated with any government agency, and neither Barrow nor the information as presented here is endorsed by any state or government agency. See how Barrow drafts the report