89S20522 ANG-D     By: Curry H.B. No. 262       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the production and ownership of brine.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Subtitle D, Title 3, Natural Resources Code, is   amended by adding Chapter 124 to read as follows:   CHAPTER 124. OWNERSHIP OF BRINE MINERALS          Sec. 124.001.  DEFINITION. In this chapter, "brine   minerals" means the interstitial particles and solutes suspended,   dissolved, or otherwise contained in brine, including bromine,   magnesium, potassium, lithium, boron, chlorine, iodine, calcium,   strontium, sodium, sulfur, barium, sodium chloride, and other   minerals, chemical elements, compounds, or products produced with   or extracted from brine.          Sec. 124.002.  OWNERSHIP OF BRINE MINERALS. Except as   otherwise expressly provided by a conveyance, contract, deed,   reservation, exception, limitation, lease, assignment, or other   binding obligation, the owner of the mineral estate of the land owns   the brine minerals below the surface of the land as real property   and is responsible for protecting the correlative rights of other   owners.          SECTION 2.  Section 27.002, Water Code, is amended by adding   Subdivision (26) to read as follows:                (26)  "Brine" means a subterranean liquid or semiliquid   of varying salinities and the interstitial particles and solutes   suspended, dissolved, or otherwise contained in the liquid or   semiliquid, including the brine minerals, as defined by Section   124.001, Natural Resources Code. The term does not include   groundwater, as defined by Section 36.001(5), surface water, as   described by Section 11.021(a), fluid oil and gas waste, as defined   by Section 122.001, Natural Resources Code, or oil, gas, or a   product of oil or gas, as defined by Section 85.001, Natural   Resources Code.          SECTION 3.  Sections 27.036(a) and (d), Water Code, are   amended to read as follows:          (a)  In this section:                (1)  "Brine mining" means the production of brine,   including naturally occurring brine and brine extracted by the   solution of a subsurface salt formation, for the purpose of   extracting from a subsurface formation brine minerals, elements,   salts, interstitial particles and solutes in the liquid or produced   from the liquid, or other useful substances[, not including:                      [(A)  oil, gas, or any product of oil or gas as   defined by Section 85.001, Natural Resources Code; or                      [(B)  fluid oil and gas waste, as defined by   Section 122.001, Natural Resources Code].                (2)  "Class V brine injection well" means a well that   injects spent, naturally occurring brine produced by a brine mining   operation into the same formation from which it was withdrawn after   the processing and extraction of brine minerals, elements, salts,   interstitial particles and solutes in the liquid or produced from   the liquid, or other useful substances, including halogens or   halogen salts.          (d)  The railroad commission shall adopt rules that are   necessary to administer and regulate brine mining, including rules   establishing reporting requirements for operators of brine   production wells and injection wells used for brine mining.          SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the   last day of the legislative session.