Review of Texas Railroad Commission Orders Under the Texas Administration Procedure Act is Based on the Substantial Evidence Rule as Applied to All Evidence Before the Commission Rather than as Applied to Only Evidence Before the Reviewing Court

Summarizes the Texas Supreme Court’s case Imperial American Resources Fund, Inc. v. Railroad Commission. On a question regarding the validity of a Railroad Commission of Texas order granting an exception to the oil well spacing requirement. The Court held that “the reviewing court cannot consider evidence outside the agency record in a judicial review of an administrative order.” In its decision, the Court applied the Administrative Procedure and Texas Register Act to an order by the Railroad Commission for the first time.