The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) initially had jurisdiction over the rates and operations of railroads, terminals, wharves and express companies. Today the Railroad Commission of Texas regulates the exploration, production, and transportation of oil and natural gas and surface mining for coal, uranium, and iron ore gravel. Its statutory role is to prevent waste of the state's natural resources, to protect the correlative rights of different interest owners, to prevent pollution, and to provide safety in matters such as hydrogen sulfide. These minutes are the official record of the meetings of the Railroad Commission of Texas and document the actions and orders of the commissioners, covering the years 1891-2004. Matters before the Commission documented in the minutes include the establishment of and changes in railroad freight and passenger rates, train schedules, tariff classifications, requests to discontinue passenger stations, amendments to rules, complaints, and other railroad issues; contested oil and gas cases, complaints on violated Commission oil and gas rules (e.g. operator not in compliance with plugging rules), changes in policies and procedures, amendments to rules, resolution of complaints filed against the Commission, and other related matters concerning oil and gas regulation (production/permitting, oil field clean up, site remediation, compliance, etc.); issues concerning the operation of motor vehicles; gas utility regulation; liquefied petroleum gas and other gas services issues; regulation of pipelines; and surface mining and reclamation issues.
