In a press release posted on its web site not too long ago, the Railroad Fee of Texas (RRC) revealed that its data digitization drive is “quick approaching 100 million recordsdata”.
“The Railroad Fee of Texas continues to make nice strides in digitizing oil and gasoline data because the company improves each transparency and effectivity in its day by day features,” the RRC famous within the assertion.
“With greater than 89.4 million data now digitized, up by greater than six million since final October, the RRC is quick approaching 100 million data being added to its on-line digital archives by the tip of this fiscal yr,” it added.
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“The accomplishment saves RRC employees vital man hours and reduces the processing time for routine data requests, permitting them to give attention to extra advanced duties that require extra time to satisfy,” the RRC continued.
Within the assertion, the RRC highlighted that it has almost a century’s value of oil and gasoline data on file. It went on to state that the group has been “tirelessly working to digitize and add this huge trove of paper and microfilm info to make it extra simply accessible to the general public who can now entry them on-line moderately than having to journey in particular person to the RRC’s Central Data workplace in Austin or rent a marketing consultant to look the data for them”.
Paperwork which were digitized vary from oil and gasoline manufacturing and effectively completion data to listening to recordsdata, effectively standing stories, and varied forms of permits, the RRC famous in its assertion. It highlighted that these data are routinely utilized by researchers, landowners, royalty house owners, vitality corporations, and public info requesters.
“This milestone represents a significant step ahead for the Railroad Fee and for presidency transparency and effectivity,” RRC Chairman Christi Craddick mentioned within the assertion.
“Once I took workplace, the company relied on decades-old know-how. Modernizing our IT methods has been a prime precedence of mine – rising effectivity inside the company and making certain better transparency and simpler entry to knowledge and data for all Texans,” Craddick added.
“Reaching almost 100 million digitized data is a transparent signal of our continued success in totally bringing the world’s oldest regulatory company into the twenty first century,” Craddick continued.
RRC Commissioner Wayne Christian mentioned within the assertion, “for years now, the Railroad Fee has been quickly modernizing our company to satisfy the calls for of the technological age”.
“Texas oil and gasoline leads the trade in innovation, so it’s crucial that its regulator does the identical,” Christian added.
“I need to commend our company’s employees for his or her onerous work digitizing the RRC, which can streamline authorities permitting our producers extra time to do what they do finest – produce low cost, inexpensive, and dependable vitality,” he added.
RRC Commissioner Jim Wright highlighted within the assertion that “company effectivity is a precedence for the Railroad Fee”.
“This digitalization effort not solely improves the effectivity of Fee employees however permits better entry for all Texans to overview and search the Railroad Fee’s huge trove of data,” he added.
“I need to thank the Railroad Fee employees concerned on this effort for his or her tireless work to enhance entry to this vital info,” Wright went on to state.
In a press release posted on its web site in October final yr, the RRC revealed that greater than 15 million data had been digitized prior to now yr and that the group had 83.4 million oil and gasoline data “that may be searched and considered on-line from wherever on this planet”.
“The big quantity of labor is a part of the RRC’s ongoing success rising transparency and making the huge trove of data held on the company simply accessible to the general public,” the RRC famous in that assertion.
Danny Sorrells, RRC Deputy Govt Director, mentioned in that assertion that “placing thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of oil and gasoline data on-line is a win-win for the general public and the company”.
In a press release posted on its web site again in July 2024, the RRC mentioned it launched a “main know-how mission streamlining oil and gasoline filings”.
The RRC revealed in that assertion that it had launched State Monitoring and Reporting (LoneSTAR), which it described on the time as “a mission that additional improves efficiencies on the company to avoid wasting time and sources for oil and gasoline operators in addition to RRC employees”.
“The primary LoneSTAR launch permits operators to make on-line filings for Kind P-5, that are required to turn out to be, or renew as, an oil or gasoline operator or pipeline operator,” the RRC famous within the assertion, highlighting that P-5s are required with a purpose to function in Texas.
“Different varieties related to the P-5 course of may also be filed on-line by way of LoneSTAR: Kind W-3C, for Certification of Floor Tools Removing for an Inactive Effectively; and Kind W-3X, the Software for an Extension of Deadline for Plugging an Inactive Effectively,” it added.
“LoneSTAR provides operators the flexibility to observe the P-5 approval course of on-line, repair any compliance points associated to filings in real-time, and examine data on-line,” it continued.
The RRC mentioned within the assertion that the mission not solely reduces the intensive paperwork that operators have been as soon as required to ship, it additionally streamlines the day after day overview course of by RRC employees.
“The LoneSTAR launch marks a big development to the way in which the company interacts with operators,” Craddick mentioned in that assertion.
The RRC not has any jurisdiction or authority over railroads in Texas, the group’s web site highlights. It’s the state company with major regulatory jurisdiction over the oil and pure gasoline trade, pipeline transporters, pure gasoline and dangerous liquid pipeline trade, pure gasoline utilities, the LP-gas trade, essential pure gasoline infrastructure, and coal and uranium floor mining operations, the positioning notes.
The Fee exists underneath provisions of the Texas Structure and workouts its statutory tasks underneath state and federal legal guidelines for regulation and enforcement of the state’s vitality industries, it goes on to state.
The Fee additionally has regulatory and enforcement tasks underneath federal legislation together with the Floor Coal Mining Management and Reclamation Act, Protected Ingesting Water Act, Pipeline Security Acts, Useful resource Conservation Restoration Act, and Clear Water Act, the positioning highlights.
To contact the writer, e mail andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
