(a) Oil and gas exploration and production on submerged lands shall comply with the policies in this section.
  (1) In or near critical areas, facilities shall be located and operated and geophysical and other operations shall be located and conducted in such a manner as to avoid and otherwise minimize adverse effects, including those from the disposal of solid waste and disturbance resulting from the operation of vessels and wheeled or tracked vehicles, whether on areas under lease, easement, or permit or on or across access routes thereto. Where practicable, buffer zones for critical areas shall be established and directional drilling or other methods to avoid disturbance, such as pooling or unitization, shall be employed.
  (2) Lessees, easement holders, and permittees shall construct facilities in a manner that avoids impoundment or draining of coastal wetlands, if practicable, and shall mitigate any adverse effects on coastal wetlands impounded or drained in accordance with the sequencing requirements in this section.
  (3) Upon completion or cessation of operations, lessees, easement holders, and permittees shall remove facilities and restore any significantly degraded areas to pre-project conditions as closely as practicable, unless facilities can be used for maintenance or enhancement of CNRAs or unless restoration activities would further degrade CNRAs.
(b) To the extent applicable to the public beach, the policies in this section are supplemental to any further restrictions or requirements relating to the beach access and use rights of the public.
(c) The GLO and SLB shall comply with the policies in this section when approving oil, gas, and other mineral lease plans of operation and granting surface leases, easements, and permits and adopting rules under the Texas Natural Resources Code, Chapters 32, 33 and 51 - 53, governing oil and gas exploration and production on submerged lands.

Source Note: The provisions of this §26.17 adopted to be effective October 6, 2004, 29 TexReg 9407; transferred effective December 1, 2022, as published in the Texas Register October 28, 2022, 47 TexReg 7301