Railroad Commission of Texas:

An Inventory of Railroad Commission Arkansas-White-Red Basins Inter-Agency Committee Records at the Texas State Archives, 1954-1956, bulk 1955

Agency History

The Railroad Commission of Texas regulates the exploration, production, and transportation of oil and natural gas in Texas. 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. It oversees hazardous materials pipelines and natural gas pipelines and distribution systems as well as propane, butane, compressed natural gas, and liquefied natural gas. It works to make sure a continuous, safe supply of natural gas is available to Texas consumers at the lowest reasonable price. Additionally, the Commission regulates surface mining for coal, uranium, and iron ore gravel, and conducts a program for reclaiming lands that were mined and abandoned before 1975.

The Arkansas-White-Red Basins Inter-Agency Committee was created in 1950 at the request of the President of the United States. Legislative basis for this committee was contained in the Flood Control Act of 1950, Public Law 516, 81st Congress. The Committee was made up of representatives from federal agencies concerned with water and related resource development and governors of the states involved. Each state had a work group composed of representatives from state agencies or similar bodies involved in the process. The Texas work group members were: Chief Engineer, Railroad Commission; Chairman, Texas Board of Water Development; Executive Secretary, Game and Fish Commission; State Health Officer; Director, Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas; Director, State Parks Board; Executive Director, State Soil Conservation Board; Director, Bureau of Business Research, University of Texas; and Vice Chancellor, Texas A&M University. The Committee conducted water and resource development studies. It produced an initial set of reports that were sent to the various federal and state work groups to solicit comments to accompany the report before it was submitted to Congress and the President. The comprehensive reports were published in 1955.

(Sources: Guide to Texas State Agencies, various editions; general laws and statutes; and the records themselves.)

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Scope and Contents of the Records

The Arkansas-White-Red Basins Inter-Agency Committee was created in 1950 at the request of the President of the United States to conduct water and resource development studies under the auspices of the federal Flood Control Act of 1950. The chief engineer of the Railroad Commission was a committee member. These are reports, drafts, collection data, and correspondence on water and other resources in the Arkansas, White, and Red River Basins, dating 1954-1956, bulk 1955. The river basins cover areas in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Texas. The reports in this series were produced by the Arkansas-White-Red Basins Inter-Agency Committee. The bulk of the materials consist of the published reports. A small amount of correspondence accompanies the reports, consisting of memorandum to work group members from John J. Ledbetter, who served as Governor Allan Shivers' representative on the Arkansas-White-Red Basins Inter-Agency Committee. Topics covered in the reports include mosquito control, oil and gas by-products, and water resources. Elements in the reports include descriptive data, summaries of research and data gathered, cost analysis, recommendations for programs to initiate, and maps. The title of this set of reports is Arkansas-White-Red River Basins : A Report on the Conservation and Development of the Water and Land Resources, 23 volumes.

Some preliminary reports and drafts of the Committee not found in this series can be found in the federal Documents Collection of the Library and Archives Commission or in the library at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Titles of all the reports produced by the Inter-Agency Committee are unknown. Minutes of the Inter-Agency Committee from 1955 to 1959 can be found in the federal Documents Collection. Transcripts of public hearings of the committee in 1950 are in the library at TCEQ.

This finding aid describes a single series of the Railroad Commission of Texas records. See Railroad Commission of Texas: An Overview of Records for more records series.

To prepare this inventory, the described materials were cursorily reviewed to delineate series, to confirm the accuracy of contents lists, to provide an estimate of dates covered, and to determine record types.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Materials housed in the State Archives do not circulate, but may be used in the State Archives search room. Materials will be retrieved from and returned to storage areas by staff members.

Restrictions on Use

Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).

Technical Requirements

None.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item) Railroad Commission of Texas Arkansas-White-Red Basins Inter-Agency Committee records, Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession number: 2002/003

These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Railroad Commission of Texas on September 5, 2001.

Processing Information

Processed by Laura K. Saegert and Ben Stone, April 2003

DACS compliance by Laura K. Saegert, February 2009

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Detailed Description of the Records

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