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AUSTIN, Texas (KOSA) - The Railroad Commission of Texas has announced that it is looking to reduce natural gas flaring in the State of Texas.

On Tuesday the commissioners approved a rule change that includes the following:

The period of time for which an operator may obtain an administrative exception to flare gas will be reduced in many cases. For certain exceptions, the duration may be reduced by 50% to 80%.
Provide incentives for operators to use technologies to reduce the amount of gas flared.
Operators must provide more specific information to justify the need to flare or vent gas in accordance with Commission rules.
Flares would be related to specific production properties to facilitate compliance with reported production.

“Today, we took an important first step in ensuring we have the data necessary to get an accurate view of the scope of flaring in Texas,” said Chairman Wayne Christian. “Since the downturn, the rate of flaring has gone down with more than 99.5 percent of the gas produced in the month of May sold and beneficially used to generate electricity, cook dinner, or make hundreds of consumer products. Now is the opportune time to implement meaningful recommendations to reduce flaring before oil and gas production climbs back to previous highs.”

A 30-day public comment period is open before any final changes can be made.