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Protestors who interrupt operations or damage oil and natural gas pipeline equipment may face up to 10 years in prison under legislation nearing passage in the Texas legislature.*

Curtailing or outright banning new oil and natural gas drilling in California is bubbling up as a back-burner public policy issue in the state capital, with proposed legislation that could impose a 2,500-foot setback for drilling.

The Colorado General Assembly on Wednesday passed an amended oil and natural gas reform proposal that was fast-tracked in a month’s time by the new Democratic majority and forwarded to Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, who is expected to sign it into law.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is expected to sign bipartisan legislation to reform regulations covering produced water from oil and gas operations, including in the booming Permian Basin, after lawmakers in the state House and Senate agreed to several amendments.

Four Republican senators have introduced a bill designed to clarify Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), which the oil and natural gas industry hopes will help prevent states from using the law to block or delay infrastructure projects, including interstate oil and gas pipelines.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) is targeting the natural gas-consuming food processing industry with $57 million in grants provided by the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction Fund. The grants are aimed at adopting advanced energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. CEC is offering grants to two tiers of potential projects. Individual grants of $100,000 to $3 million are available for commercial equipment upgrades, while $2-8 million in grants would be available for emerging technologies to reduce GHG emissions. More information is available at the Food Production Investment Program.

West Virginia’s natural gas industry is “anxiously awaiting” Republican Gov. Jim Justice’s signature on co-tenancy legislation that would modernize the mineral law and better accommodate unconventional development in the state.

The energy industry and environmentalists have come together in a rare display of unity in Ohio to push for passage of a bill that they claim would accelerate ongoing efforts to plug thousands of orphaned oil and natural gas wells.

House Republicans passed a $1.5 trillion comprehensive tax reform bill on Tuesday that lowers the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and preserves important tax credits used by the oil and gas industry.