Texas lawmakers are on the verge of approving a bill that would require TCEQ to focus enforcement and increase penalties on industrial facilities that don’t comply with regulations. Environmental advocates say the legislation is too “modest.'
, R-Forney, who laid out the bill on the House floor, if the TCEQ sunset bill would regulate “cumulative air quality impacts” that result from multiple industrial facilities like concrete batch plants operating in close proximity.
In addition to the permit process changes, the sunset bill would also increase the penalties that the TCEQ can impose on industrial facilities that violate state regulations from $25,000 to $40,000 per day. Violations for which facilities could be penalized include the release of pollutants to the air, water or land that surpass the acceptable thresholds by the agency designed to safeguard people’s well-being or the environment.
Each year, TCEQ conducts more than 100,000 investigations, issues thousands of violation notices, assesses millions of dollars in administrative penalties, and provides compliance support to thousands of small businesses and local governments, according to a March email from TCEQ spokesperson Victoria Cann.
Environmental advocacy groups echoed this sentiment, citing TCEQ’s lack of transparency, limited public involvement and inconsistent enforcement of environmental regulations as reasons for public distrust. While these groups said that the sunset staff and commissioners missed an opportunity to propose bold changes to restore public trust and enhance community protection, they supported most of the “relatively modest” recommendations put forth.
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