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During the mid-1800's, Texas encouraged railroads to come to the state. While Texas was rich in potential, the population was not sufficient to support a market for railroads. The state had a long-standing policy of trying to attract settlers from the eastern United States and Europe. Leaders of the time believed they could draw settlers here if there was a developed infrastructure of railroads in the state. Railroad development was, and still is, a highly capital-intensive and expensive business. Without an established market to attract railroads in Texas, the state began to grant railroad companies land in 1852. Companies were granted 8 sections of 640 acres each for every mile of completed road. Within two years, that was upped to 16 sections per mile completed. This land could then be sold by the railroad companies to settlers to pay their costs of building the railroads. These companies recruited heavily to bring in settlers to whom they could sell land from their grant sections. The railroads had great power in setting rates since they were basically the only developed transportation mode. Dirt roads made for wagons were mostly short and quite rough. As a result, many of the railroads took advantage of this with unfair and discriminatory rates and tariffs. Popular resentment of these practices caused the people of Texas to call for the regulation of railroads. Governor James Hogg won his election in 1890 largely based on his promise to regulate the industry. The Railroad Commission of Texas was established in 1891 under a constitutional and legislative mandate to prevent discrimination in railroad charges and establish reasonable tariffs. It is the oldest regulatory agency in the state and one of the oldest of its kind in the nation. Over the years, the Commission's jurisdiction grew to encompass many activities: oil and gas production and transportation (1919), gas utilities (1920), buses and trucks (1931), liquefied petroleum gas (1939), surface mining and reclamation (1976), and alternate fuels research (1991.) Today, the real power of the Railroad Commission is not related to the railroad industry, but in its authority over the oil and gas industry. Through its Oil and Gas Division, the commission regulates the exploration, production, and transportation of oil and natural gas in Texas. Its statutory role is to prevent waste of the state's natural resources, to protect the correlative rights of different interest owners, to prevent pollution, and to provide safety in matters such as hydrogen sulfide. These roles are fulfilled through such regulatory actions as permitting for well drilling, testing of wells, and abandoned well plugging. The Railroad Commission is governed by three commissioners elected at-large by the citizens of Texas. Railroad Commissioners are elected to six-year staggered terms with one Commissioner seeking election every two years. Our current commissioners are: Victor Carrillo, Charles Matthews and Michael Williams. You can find more information on the Commission and its jurisdiction on its website at www.rrc.state.tx.us. You can contact me by writing to P.O. Box 2910, Austin, TX 78768-2910 or by e-mailing me at larry.phillips@house.state.tx.us.
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