Meet Bill Burch

What are the budgetary priorities for the Railroad Commission as you see them?

To increase the salaries of the inspectors in order to hire and retain high quality talent (with only 186 inspectors statewide, the agency is unable to regulate the industry sufficiently); to address the real legacy well cleanup costs including remediation of polluted soils/groundwater; and to focus efforts on recycling produced water to stop the earthquake issues throughout West Texas

How can we hold companies accountable for much-needed weatherizing?

By having public transparency of what is "critical infrastructure" with real-time mapping and dashboard, by confirming by 3rd party inspection services of correct identification/winterization has occurred as our system gets much larger over the next decades and more critical components are added; by testing and training for emergency response and being fully prepared with sufficient backup/redundancy systems in case of failure

How do you plan to help educate the public about what the Railroad Commission does?

By regularly publishing Commissioner newsletters, posting blogs and actively participating on social media, holding town halls, and attending events with the general public to let them see what an active commissioner does throughout the 12 district offices in the State

How can the Railroad Commission assist in lowering pollution levels for Texans?

Primarily by enforcing the Flaring Only Under Exemption rules and not allowing our resources to be wasted by operators. In addition, TRRC should be engaging with the EPA and 3rd party vendors to use satellite technologies as first-warning identification notices of potential events and opportunities to find hidden sources of venting/flaring operations in the State