The State Land Office told the interim committee it was not consulted during placement and licensing work for a proposed off-site consolidated storage facility in Andrews County, Texas, and raised concerns that the selection and environmental assumptions used in licensing did not reflect active mineral and surface uses on state trust lands.

Deputy Commissioner Sunilay Stewart said the land office is reviewing the U.S. Supreme Court case tied to proposed consolidated interim storage projects in Texas (Holtec and Interim Storage Partners) and stressed the agency’s concern about mining, potash, oil-and-gas and sand-and-gravel activity under or adjacent to the proposed site. Stewart said the commissioner’s office would not support new uranium leasing on state trust lands until legacy cleanup priorities are addressed.

Why it matters: The land office owns mineral estate under some parcels and said it retains contractual tools and enforcement authority as a landowner. The agency flagged the scale of legacy contamination in the San Mateo Creek Basin and stressed the need for long-term funding and planning for reclamation.

Legacy sites and cleanup approach: The land office described three initial state-priority sites in the San Mateo Basin and said site-by-site work will include characterization, jurisdictional reviews and coordination with state agencies. Stewart said the agency has created an Environmental Compliance Office to pursue remediation and to prioritize actions where responsible parties can be identified. She cautioned that some legacy sites may require decades and substantial funding and that options include on-site stabilization or off-site disposal.

Bonds and enforcement: The land office said it will pursue stronger bonding and enforcement tools to prevent taxpayers from shouldering cleanup costs. Stewart said rulemaking to revise bonding practices is planned and that the office will hold stakeholder meetings with industry and other partners to design more robust financial assurance.

Ending: The State Land Office asked the committee for coordination and resources to accelerate characterization and remediation work and said it will share corrected presentation materials and site lists with the committee.