Texas lawmaker wants oil regulators to explain why they ended public comment at meetings

The commission, which oversees oil and gas regulation across Texas, changed its meeting rules so that general public testimony is no longer guaranteed. Under the new policy, public comment only happens if a sitting commissioner specifically requests it. The agency said it remains "committed to providing meaningful, accessible opportunities for public participation and engagement," pointing to new listening sessions and outreach events as replacements.

That explanation has not satisfied everyone. Transparency advocates raised flags, and the lawmaker who helped rewrite Texas's open meetings laws is among those pushing back. For West Texas, this is not an abstract fight. The Permian Basin drives the state's oil economy, and Lubbock-area residents, farmers, and landowners regularly have business before the Railroad Commission, whether it involves drilling permits, pipeline routes, or environmental complaints. Cutting off the public comment period limits one of the few direct lines everyday Texans have to regulators who make decisions affecting their land and water.

A Texas House committee is scheduled to take up the matter on September 15.

The Railroad Commission regulates an industry that generates hundreds of billions of dollars for Texas annually, yet its monthly meetings are now less open to the public than a typical city council session in Lubbock.