Elizabeth Ames Jones of the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) passed a resolution condemning federal regulations in Texas State waters on August 10, 2010. The new resolution calls for the federal government to cease and desist mandates that the commission feels are beyond the fed's scope. The general synopsis from the Austin, Texas RRC Conference is that the federal government is usurping RRC agency jurisdiction. According to official documents, the RRC of Texas "opposes all proposals from the present administration and from Congress that may usurp the rights of the states to regulate and manage oil and natural gas exploration and production within their sovereign borders." The resolution was passed unanimously and specifically mentions three recent bills passed in the US House of Representatives (H.R. 5626, the Blow-out Prevention Act of 2010; H.R. 3534, the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act; and S. 3663, the Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act of 2010). Provisions in these bills have been officially opposed by Texas RRC resolution. The Texas Railroad Commission is one of the oldest energy regulatory agencies in the United States. In 1845, the Republic of Texas became the newest State entering the Union. As part of the negotiations, Texas maintained jurisdiction out to 3 leagues off its shore. The Tidelands case adjudicated this boundary in the 1940s and was finally resolved by Congress in 1953. As justification for its resolution, the Texas RRC cites New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992) which states that Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the States. The resolution will be sent to Washington and delivered to the President, Vice President, and the majority and minority leaders of the US Senate and House of Representatives in addition to the governor of each state.

Commissioner Jones has been an opponent of Washington's actions following the Macondo blow out in the Gulf of Mexico and insists that regulation of oil and gas production in Texas must be done by the state's Railroad Commission, which has carried out the management of these resources for the past 100 years.