Texas House passes bills related to the Smokehouse Creek wildfire, await Senate OK
Lawmakers like State Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, have put forward bills that have passed out of the Texas House and are up for consideration by the Texas Senate to help shore up Texans' readiness for the next crisis and ensure a fire like Smokehouse won't happen again.
Dig Deeper: One-year anniversary of Smokehouse Creek Fire highlights Texas wildfire threat
King, who also chaired the Texas House Investigative Committee on the Panhandle Wildfires, along with now Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, released a report in mid-2024 about how the fire started.
The committee also released several recommended actions for this legislative session to look at, which King has made good on with two legislative items that were approved with bipartisan support in the House on April 1.
"Wildfires affect not only the Panhandle, but the entire state of Texas," Burrows said. "It is good to see Republicans and Democrats come together and support such critical, important bills for our first responders and emergency management."
The first bill, HB 143, aims to ensure that electrical power lines serving well sites and surface facilities involved in oil and gas operations are constructed, operated, and maintained according to the National Electrical Code or relevant Texas codes.
This bill stems from the committee's finding that there has been an increase in wildfires in the state since 2006 due to "a regulatory no-man's land that permits irresponsible oil and gas operators to neglect fuel loads and dangerous electrical safety problems on and around well site locations, where exposed wiring and other dilapidated electrical equipment make for ready ignition sources."
Dig Depper: Unregulated oilfield power lines are suspected of sparking Texas wildfires
Burrows said that an area deemed as no-man's land is when an electrical line off-shoots from other power lines to help power the wells and that there was some confusion on who regulates them.
"The Public Utilities Commission thought it was the Railroad Commission's responsibility to regulate and inspect and make sure that those offshoot lines were actually up to par and the Railroad Commission thought it was the Public Utilities Commission," Burrows said.
However, after the House concluded its investigation, PUC and the commission drafted a memorandum of understanding on how to best proceed in regulating that area. Burrows said HB 143 seeks to codify the MOU into law.
Others are reading: Xcel Energy confirms company's infrastructure likely started Smokehouse Creek fire
There was also another realization that the committee discovered last year, which spurred the creation of HB 13.
"Through hours of testimony, it became abundantly clear that the underlying problem was lack of communication," King said on the House floor on April 1.
It is through HB 13 that King said the state would create the Texas Interoperability Council to help facilitate the communication between first responders in emergency events by developing the necessary infrastructure to do so, along with the council creating a statewide strategic plan to do so.
The bill would also task the new council with overseeing a grant that would help fund local governments' purchase of necessary emergency equipment and infrastructure to achieve this goal. According to King, the rider for the bill to fund the grant equates to $500 million every two years.
Others are reading: Fairly's bill aims to make statewide database for fire depts. to better fight wildfires
The council would be formed by six appointees, two each from the governor, the House speaker, and the Lt. Governor. It would not be subject to Texas open meeting laws because King said the council would handle sensitive critical infrastructure for the state.
Although this bill stems from the House's investigation, Burrows said HB 13 would address issues found during another House investigation into a deadlier event three years ago.
"We found some of the same issues in our investigatory committee from the Robb Elementary School shooting," Burrows said. "We have learned from that that when we have emergency situations, different departments and law enforcement agencies use different equipment, and so an emergency comes up, they cannot talk to one another."
The bills now head to the Senate, where they will be debated. If passed, they will then head to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk to be signed and become effective Sept. 1, 2025.
Mateo Rosiles is the Government & Public Policy reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Got a news tip for him? Email him at mrosiles@lubbockonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas lawmakers seek to prevent more wildfires, support emergency services
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