September 2003
All states must have regulations to protect ground water. In Texas, the Railroad Commission (RRC) has jurisdiction over oil and gas industry operations to determine casing points. Water was an issue in Texas long before the oil industry emerged. In fact, the first oil well was looking for water. In its concern about ground water protection, the industry sought to limit its environmental liability by requesting that RRC determine what ground water should be protected. To remove any perception of industry/state-agency conflict of interest, the industry insisted that the water regulatory group be separate from RRC. From those discussions, the Surface Casing Team (SCT) was formed as part of the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission, recently renamed Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The SCT notionally reported to the TCEQ, but in reality functioned as an ad hoc independent unlegislated state agency.
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