# Pipeline Safety and Regulatory Program Fees

- **operation:** document
- **citation:** 16 TAC § 8.201
- **title:** Pipeline Safety and Regulatory Program Fees
- **source type:** regulation
- **agency:** Railroad Commission of Texas
- **status:** current
- **official:** true
- **published on:** Not available
- **effective on:** 2026-02-25
- **summary:** (a) Application of fees. Pursuant to Texas Utilities Code, §121.211, the Commission establishes a pipeline safety and regulatory program fee, to be assessed annually against operators of gas distribution pipelines and pipeline facilities and gas master metered pipelines and pipeline facilities subje
- **machine formats:** - **json:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/tx-tac-16-8-201.json
- **markdown:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/tx-tac-16-8-201.md
- **app url:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/tx-tac-16-8-201
- **source url:** https://texas-sos.appianportalsgov.com/rules-and-meetings?chapter=8&interface=VIEW_TAC&part=1&title=16
**body:**

(a) Application of fees. Pursuant to Texas Utilities Code,
§121.211, the Commission establishes a pipeline safety and
regulatory program fee, to be assessed annually against
operators of gas distribution pipelines and pipeline facilities
and gas master metered pipelines and pipeline facilities
subject to the Commission's jurisdiction under Texas
Utilities Code, Title 3. The total amount of revenue
estimated to be collected under this section does not exceed
the amount the Commission estimates to be necessary to
recover the costs of administering the pipeline safety and
regulatory programs under Texas Utilities Code, Title 3,
excluding costs that are fully funded by federal sources for
any fiscal year.

(b) Gas distribution systems. The Commission hereby
assesses each operator of a gas distribution system an annual
pipeline safety and regulatory program fee of $1.00 for each
service (service line) in service at the end of each calendar
year as reported by each system operator on the U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT) Gas Distribution
Annual Report, Form PHMSA F7100.1-1 due on March 15
of each year.
(1) Each operator of a gas distribution system shall
calculate the annual pipeline safety and regulatory program
total to be paid to the Commission by multiplying the $1.00
fee by the number of services listed in Part B, Section 3, of
Form PHMSA F7100.1-1, due on March 15 of each year.
(2) Each operator of a gas distribution system shall remit
to the Commission on March 15 of each year the amount
calculated under paragraph (1) of this subsection. Payments
shall be made using the Commission's online application
available on the Commission's website.
(3) Each operator of a gas distribution system shall
recover, by a surcharge to its existing rates, the amount the
operator paid to the Commission under paragraph (1) of this
subsection. The surcharge:
(A) shall be a flat rate, one-time surcharge;
(B) shall not be billed before the operator remits the
pipeline safety and regulatory program fee to the
Commission;
(C) shall be applied in the billing cycle or cycles
immediately following the date on which the operator paid
the Commission;
(D) shall not exceed $1.00 per service or service line;
and
(E) shall not be billed to a state agency, as that term is
defined in Texas Utilities Code, §101.003.
(4) No later than 90 days after the last billing cycle in
which the pipeline safety and regulatory program fee
surcharge is billed to customers, each operator of a gas
distribution system shall file with the Commission's
Oversight and Safety Division a report showing:
(A) the pipeline safety and regulatory program fee
amount paid to the Commission;
(B) the unit rate and total amount of the surcharge
billed to each customer;
(C) the date or dates on which the surcharge was billed
to customers; and
(D) the total amount collected from customers from the
surcharge.
(5) Each operator of a gas distribution system that is a
utility subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission pursuant
to Texas Utilities Code, Chapters 101 - 105, shall file a
generally applicable tariff for its surcharge in conformance
with the requirements of §7.315 of this title (relating to
Filing of Tariffs).
(6) Amounts recovered from customers under this
subsection by an investor-owned gas distribution system or a
cooperatively owned gas distribution system shall not be
included in the revenue or gross receipts of the system for
the purpose of calculating municipal franchise fees or any
tax imposed under Subchapter B, Chapter 182, Tax Code, or
under Chapter 122, nor shall such amounts be subject to a
sales and use tax imposed by Chapter 151, Tax Code, or
Subtitle C, Title 3, Tax Code.
(c) Master master meter systems. The Commission hereby
assesses each master meter system an annual pipeline safety
and regulatory program fee of $100 per master meter system.
(1) Each operator of a gas master meter system shall

remit to the Commission the annual pipeline safety and
regulatory program fee of $100 per master meter system no
later than June 30 of each year. Payments shall be made
using the Commission's online application available on the
Commission's website.
(2) The Commission shall send an invoice to each
affected master meter system operator no later than April 30
of each year as a courtesy reminder. The failure of a master
meter system operator to receive an invoice shall not exempt
the master meter system operator from its obligation to remit
to the Commission the annual pipeline safety and regulatory
program fee on June 30 each year.
(3) Each operator of a master meter system shall recover
as a surcharge to its existing rates the amounts paid to the
Commission under paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(4) No later than 90 days after the last billing cycle in
which the pipeline safety and regulatory program fee
surcharge is billed to customers, each master meter system
operator shall file with the Oversight and Safety Division a
report showing:
(A) the pipeline safety and regulatory program fee
amount paid to the Commission;
(B) the unit rate and total amount of the surcharge
billed to each customer;
(C) the date or dates on which the surcharge was billed
to customers; and
(D) the total amount collected from customers from the
surcharge.
(d) Late payment penalty. If the operator of a gas
distribution system or a master meter system does not remit
payment of the annual pipeline safety and regulatory
program fee to the Commission within 30 days of the due
date, the Commission shall assess a late payment penalty of
10 percent of the total assessment due under subsection (b)
or (c) of this section, as applicable, and shall notify the
operator of the total amount due to the Commission.
- **truncated:** false
- **body characters:** 5734