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Questions or Comments: TexasEnviroHelp@tceq.texas.gov

Oil and Gas Activities

While the regulation of oil and gas activities in Texas falls primarily under the jurisdiction of the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) plays an important role in the areas of air quality, surface water management, water quality, and waste management.

Compliance Alerts

  • HOT Oil and Gas Wastewater Discharge Permits – House Bill (HB) 2771 requires TCEQ to submit a request to EPA for the authority to regulate wastewater discharges into water in the state from crude oil and natural gas exploration, development, or production. When EPA grants regulatory authority to TCEQ, the bill will transfer state permitting authority for these discharges from the Railroad Commission of Texas to TCEQ. In anticipation of receiving regulatory authority from EPA, TCEQ is hosting a free online workshop to familiarize regulated entities with our online permitting and reporting tools.

  • HOT Guide to “Find It and Fix It” Initiative – Effective through January 31, 2021, the TCEQ Office of Compliance and Enforcement is implementing a “find it and fix it” initiative to incentivize compliance with air quality rules and regulations at oil and gas operations in the 61 counties comprising the Permian Basin.

  • HOT Oil and Gas Emissions Events – To improve consistency in the evaluation of emissions events (EE) reports from oil and gas operations, TCEQ has developed updated guidelines for operators to determine if an incident is an emissions event or a routine event.

  • HOT Guidance for Bulk Crude Oil Storage Regulated by TCEQ – Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, TCEQ has received numerous inquiries related to the regulatory requirements of temporary storage of excess crude oil in aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) at locations not regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC). While the storage of crude oil in ASTs is not regulated under TCEQ Petroleum Storage Tank (PST) rules, there are other permitting, reporting, and spill requirements that we regulate. The purpose of this guide is to summarize TCEQ's regulatory oversight for those storage tanks in Texas.

  • HOTSour Gas Handling Compliance – Permitting options and guidance relating to oil and gas sites that handle or produce ‘sour’ gas.

Emissions Events Workshops

General Information

Water Quality

  • Oil and Gas Wastewater Permits - Permits for oil and gas facilities, requirements for each type, and links and information on how to apply.
  • NEW Oil and Gas Facilities with Compliance and Enforcement Transferred to TCEQ
  • NEWTexas NPDES Oil and Gas Permittees Report DMR Data in NetDMR-Texas TCEQ Instance
    On January 15, 2021, the TCEQ became the authority responsible for NPDES Oil and Gas permits. This change impacts the way O&G permittees submit Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) data.

    Beginning June 24, 2021, O&G permittees will no longer use the EPA Region 6 NetDMR instance: NDMR-R6: NetDMR: EPA Region 6 – AR-GM-LA-NM-OK-TX. Instead permittees must begin reporting to the Texas TCEQ instance: NDMR-TX: NetDMR: Texas TCEQ. Use the TCEQ’s step-by-step guide to add the NetDMR - Texas TCEQ Instance to your Central Data Exchange (CDX) account.

    You can reach the TCEQ’s NetDMR Helpline at NetDMR@tceq.texas.gov or call us at 512-239-eDMR (3367) if you have questions regarding the Texas TCEQ instance.

Air Quality

Compliance Resources

The TCEQ regulates certain aspects of oil and gas operations. You can easily find more information about oil and gas compliance at the following links:

The Small Business and Local Government Assistance (SBLGA) program provides confidential technical assistance without the threat of enforcement.