The Railroad Commission of Texas (Railroad Commission) has named Mark Evarts the new director of its Oversight and Safety Division. The division’s core responsibilities are over the commission’s alternative fuels, gas services, and pipeline safety departments, including oversight of more than 400,000 miles of pipelines in Texas, the largest system of pipeline infrastructure in the nation.
Evarts has served in numerous management roles at the Railroad Commission since 2008, most recently as acting director of the Oversight and Safety Division. While serving in this role, he has continued to manage the Gas Services Department, which includes the Market Oversight Section and the Gas Utility Audit Section, a role he has been in since 2022.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College and a Master of Business Administration degree from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
The Railroad Commission of Texas is the state’s regulatory agency with jurisdiction over the oil and natural gas industry, pipeline transporters, natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline industry, natural gas utilities, the LP-gas industry, critical natural gas infrastructure, and coal and uranium surface mining operations. The commission exists under provisions of the Texas Constitution and exercises its statutory responsibilities under state and federal laws for regulation and enforcement of the state’s energy industries.
