| (a) This Letter of Agreement ("LOA") is made effective
as of the date below and is made by and between the Railroad Commission
of Texas ("RRC"), an agency of the State of Texas, and the Texas Water
Development Board ("TWDB"), an agency of the State of Texas.
(b) WHEREAS, the RRC owns linen maps used by the RRC
Groundwater Advisory Unit ("GAU") to record oil and gas related groundwater
regulatory determinations, geophysical log locations, geologic cross-section
locations, and other geologic information;
(c) WHEREAS, the linen maps were purchased in the 1950s
and 1960s from various vendors and/or mapping companies, which may
or may not still be in existence;
(d) WHEREAS, House Bill 30, 84th Texas Legislature,
Regular Session, tasked the TWDB with identifying, designating, and
reporting on regional brackish groundwater production zones;
(e) WHEREAS, the RRC desires to share the linen maps
with TWDB for purposes of fulfilling the legislature’s above-referenced
mandate.
(f) NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing,
the RRC and the TWDB express their understanding and agreement as
follows:
(1) The RRC will load copies of all GAU linen maps
onto an external hard drive provided by the TWDB. The TWDB will then
move the GAU linen map files to a limited-access folder on the TWDB
server.
(2) The TWDB acknowledges that the linen maps were
created by entities/persons other than the RRC and may be copyrighted
material.
(3) The TWDB agrees to use the images of the linen
maps as "read only," for inspection and research purposes in line
with the legislature’s mandate.
(4) The TWDB agrees that printing, photocopying, taking
pictures, or using any other method of copying the images of the linen
maps may constitute copyright infringement.
(5) The TWDB agrees that disseminating the external
hard drive, copies of the external hard drive, or copies of the images
of the linen maps on the external hard drive to any other entity,
agency, or person outside of the TWDB is prohibited.
(6) The TWDB agrees that it will inform any third-party
contractors working on the project that the linen maps may be copyrighted
material and that printing, photocopying, taking pictures, or using
any other method of copying images of the linen maps and/or disseminating
the external hard drive or copies of the external hard drive to any
other entity, agency, or person outside of the TWDB is prohibited.
(7) The TWDB acknowledges that noncompliance with any
terms and conditions of this LOA, either by the TWDB or by any third-party
contractor hired by the TWDB, may result in copyright infringement.
(g) In witness whereof, the Railroad Commission of
Texas and the Texas Water Development Board have approved this LOA
on the 25th day of February 2016, as evidenced by the signatures below.
|
