House Bill 40 - Regulating oil and gas operations in this state and the express preemption of local regulation of those operations
This year state lawmakers severely restricted the ability of Texas towns to regulate local oil and gas drilling. A law known as House Bill 40 was a reaction to a fracking ban passed by voters in the North Texas city of Denton. Denton has come to represent local fracking bans and clashes between local governments and the oil and gas industry. But while Denton was the first city in Texas to ban fracking, it wasn’t the first city to ban drilling within city limits. The bill, known as the “ban on bans,” ends drilling and fracking prohibitions outright, and it allows other regulations only if they are “commercially reasonable.” That’s throwing hundreds of other local rules, like setbacks and noise ordinances, into question. HB 40 takes away local control, essentially mandating what a municipality can and cannot do.
North Central Texas Communities Alliance
The North Central Communities Alliance (NCTCA) is a relatively new organization that defines itself as a "coalition of individuals, organizations, and communities throughout the Barnett Shale" who will work for "positive solutions to the problems of natural gas drilling and pipelines" from city hall to Washington, D.C.. They have quickly become a very effective organization working to great effect both locally and at the state level.
Texas OGAP
EARTHWORKS has a campaign in Texas focused on the problems involved with extraction of Oil and Gas - the Texas Oil & Gas Accountability Project, otherwise known as Texas OGAP. Texas OGAP has issued a set of best management practices named "Drill Right Texas: Best Oil & Gas Development Practices for Texas".
ShaleTest
ShaleTest is a non-profit organization that collects environmental data and provides testing to lower income families and communities that are negatively impacted by shale oil and gas extraction.