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Posts Tagged ‘Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’

Pecan Grower’s Lament

Posted in Air Quality, Sunset, TCEQ, tagged , , , , on December 15, 2010 |

pecan pie

It would be a shame to have to forego the Thanksgiving pecan pie because of air pollution - photo via Flickr

As the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission’s hearing on TxDOT, TxRRC and TCEQ continues, visiting citizens have been sharing their stories with us.  Many of them are here to testify about issues they have had with TCEQ, and we hope the commission will move the hearing along so that those who have traveled 3 to 8 hours to get to the hearing will have the opportunity to have their time at the mic. 

One of folks who came in from Victoria, TX was telling us about the impact that the Coleto Creek coal-fired plant’s sulfur dioxide emissions have been having on the  trees in their area – including his pecan trees.  We have been hearing similar stories from pecan growers in other parts of the state whose pecan groves are located near other coal-fired power plants and showing signs of decline. 

This Victorican was kind enough to give us a copy of a letter that he sent to TCEQ last week, detailing his ongoing saga of trying to elicit support, from the agency charged with regulating air quality issues in the state, in protecting his property from pollution.  Because this is a public forum, we’ve “redacted” his personal information. 

Click here to read Charlie’s letter.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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TCEQ to vote on flex permit revisions, but EPA says it still may not be good enough

Posted in Air Quality, TCEQ, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 13, 2010 |

The proposed revisions to the state’s controversial (and according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – illegal) flexible air permitting programs submitted in June in an effort to reach a compromise with the EPA, are scheduled for a formal vote at tomorrow’s hearing of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

Under the proposed revisions, facilities with flexible permits would be subject to stricter record-keeping.  In addition, tighter caps would be placed on some emission points within affected facilities.

The EPA has ruled that Texas’ flexible permits do not comply with the U.S. Clean Air Act, and that ruling has touch off a political and legal war between the state and the federal agency. The state’s legal challenge to the EPA is pending in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The program, which has been in place since 1994 without the EPA’s formally approval, even with the proposed revisions to address the EPA’s concerns, still has provisions that the federal agency, during the public comment period, deemed “too broad.”

TENASKA Air Permit

Also on TCEQ’s agenda tomorrow is the air quality application for Tenaska Energy of Omaha’s 600-megawatt plant, Trailblazer Energy Center between Sweetwater and Abilene in Nolan County.

We expect the permit will be approved by the Commissioner, since it is a rubberstamp commission, however, the administrative law judges from the State Office of Administrative Hearings, which heard several days of testimony about Tenaska’s plans, recommended in October that TCEQ should require the plant to meet stricter limits on a range of harmful emissions that the facility would produce.

Under the ALJs’ recommendations, Trailblazer would have to demonstrate that the plant would have lower emissions for nitrogen oxide, or NOX, as measured by 24-hour and 30-day averages and lower volatile organic compound, or VOC, emissions as measured by 30-day and 12-month averages than currently projected.

The judges also asked that a special condition be imposed that would require VOC testing both when the carbon-capturing technology is being used at the plant and when the technology is being bypassed.

Goliad Uranium Mining

Also on this action packed agenda is Uranium Energy Corporation’s (UEC) proposed permit to drill for uranium in Goliad county.

An administrative law judge from the State Office of Administrative Hearings recommended in September that UEC be required to do additional testing on the fault area covered by the permit, which is about 13 miles north of the city of Goliad and nearly a mile east of the intersection of State Highway 183 and Farm-to-Market Road 1961.  If granted, the permit would allow uranium drilling in a 423.8-acre area, according to the docket.

The TCEQ hearing starts at 9:30 a.m. at the agency’s headquarters 12100 Park 35 Circle (near Interstate 35 and Yager Lane in North Austin).  If you want to watch the streaming video of this hearing, click here.  Video is also archived on this site, generally within 24 hours after a hearing and you can get to it from the same link above if you can’t watch it tomorrow while it is happening.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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TCEQ and RRC on Sunset Advisory Commission December 15th agenda

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , , on December 9, 2010 |

The Sunset Advisory Commission has put TCEQ on the agenda for December 15th, following the Department of Transportation and the Railroad Commission. What this means is that public testimony on TCEQ should begin sometime after lunch.

We hope some of you can make it to the December 15th hearing.  Please don’t hesitate to contact us directly with your questions! Feel free to email us at texasfeedback (at) citizen.org.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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Texas Emissions Reduction Plan under scrutiny by the state auditor

Posted in Air Quality, tagged , , , on December 7, 2010 |

Truck traffic on IH-35 near Laredo. TX.

According to the state auditor, Texas environmental regulators must recover or account for more than $62 million of a grant program, Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP), that’s aimed at improving air quality in some of the nation’s most polluted areas.

TERP provides incentives to individuals, businesses and government agencies that replace old vehicles and industrial equipment with more environmentally friendly models.  The program requires participants to take the replaced old-model vehicle out of commission, and destroy it .

Included among the problems outlined in the 52-page audit are:

  • 593 grant recipients awarded more than $62 million between December 2006 and July 2010 did not meet all the program’s requirements.
  • TERP has dead people’s social security numbers in its database
  • TERP’s database contains inaccurate and incomplete information, including about 47 percent of vehicle identification numbers;
  • At least 12 vehicles that should have been destroyed under the grant contracts were re-registered in Texas, though environmental regulators say six of those were mistakes.

The audit says Texas Commission on Environmental Quality must improve its applicant selection process, strengthen monitoring of recipients and hold them accountable to program guidelines.

Despite the problems, TERP has been extremely successful as a clean air program and TCEQ says it will make changes to its scoring method so that the program can continue to focus on the most polluted regions, including the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston-Galveston areas.

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Texas and EPA: Going to battle over waste water permits now?

Posted in TCEQ, tagged , , , , , on December 3, 2010 |

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has publically demanded that Texas immediately take steps to reissue Clean Water Act permits to some 80 facilities that have been operating without the necessary paperwork.

Not pleased with what they felt was a decision to, ” jump the gun prematurely with this notice,” the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality quickly put out a statement saying it had been cooperating with the EPA to resolve the problems, and already had two proposals on the table.

The EPA and Texas/TCEQ/Gov. Perry  have been locked in battle for some time now that has moved from a dispute over environmental issues into an ugly all out war over state rights with Gov. Rick Perry using the dispute during the election cycle as an example of the federal government and the administration’s meddling in what he believes are state affairs.

This newest dispute is over water discharge permits. The EPA says many of the facilities in question have had their paperwork delayed due to concerns raised by the EPA  regarding the toxicity of the discharges and that their move to ask Texas to resolve the issue stems from their concern that, in some cases, the expired permits are allowing facilities to discharge toxic waste.

The EPA’s regional director, Al Armendariz, shot back, “We are taking a stand for clean water. The streams, lakes and bayous of our great state deserve to be protected from chemicals, bacteria and toxic metals. Our children and future generations should be able to swim and fish anywhere in the state without worries about pollution.”

Let’s see how many lawsuits Texas will file over this one.

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“Las Brisas” Coal Plant Recommended for Denial, Again!

Posted in Coal, Global Warming, tagged , , , , , on December 1, 2010 |

The Las Brisas coal (pet coke) plant proposed for Corpus Christi has had its air permit recommended for denial by the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) for the second time. The SOAH judges presiding over the case have stated in their “proposal for decision” that:

At this time, we are unable to recommend that the requested permits be issued, because we find that Las Brisas Energy Center, LLC… has not made the necessary compliance demonstration to ensure that emissions from the proposed facility would not contribute to air pollution through a violation of a NAAQS or the PSD increment, particularly in regard to particulate matter (PM).

Though not legally binding, a recommendation of denial by SOAH for a second time will, hopefully, have some impact on the TCEQ, who has the final authority for granting the permit.  However, the TCEQ has a history of simply ignoring SOAH, the public, and even their own staff in order to grant inadequate and inappropriate permits to large, industrial sources of pollution such as Las Brisas.

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5th Circuit says Sandy Creek does not comply with Clean Air Act

Posted in Air Quality, Coal, Toxics, tagged , , , , , , on November 30, 2010 |

Last week, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals awarded a major victory to Public Citizen and Sierra Club in their long standing efforts to block the Sandy Creek coal plant near Waco when it ruled that developers improperly started construction without adequate clearance under the federal Clean Air Act.

The court overturned a district court ruling saying the developers of the Sandy Creek Power Plant should have been required to show that they would employ the “maximum achievable control technology” (MACT) to limit the emissions of mercury and other pollutants once the plant was up and running.

In 2006 the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) issued the permit for Sandy Creek, relying on an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  ruling from the year before exempting coal- and oil-fired generating plants from the MACT standard.

In 2008, an appeals court struck down the EPA’s earlier ruling and, even though construction had already started on Sandy Creek, the Sierra Club and Public Citizen filed a lawsuit arguing that work could not go forward because the plant had not shown it could meet MACT standard.

The district court sided with Sandy Creek because it had commenced with construction, and that, at the time, the plant was in compliance with the rules in place.

The circuit court said in its ruling that because the EPA was wrong to exempt coal plants from the MACT standard, Sandy Creek cannot rely on that exemption to continue construction without a proper permit, and sent the case back to the district court.

Click here to see the 5th Circuit’s full ruling.

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Alliance for Clean Texas Town Hall Meeting in Victoria, TX

Posted in Air Quality, Sunset, TCEQ, tagged , , , , on November 27, 2010 |

The Alliance for a Clean Texas (ACT) hosts another town hall addressing TCEQ sunset.

[vimeo 17100424]

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Texas “Low-level” Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission votes to publish new rules opening up Texas to waste from around the country

Posted in Radioactive Waste, tagged , , , , on November 22, 2010 |

Capping and sealing low-level waste

A commission overseeing low-level radioactive waste disposal in Texas voted Saturday to publish proposed rules that would guide the importation of nuclear waste from across the country for burial near the New Mexico line.

The Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission voted 5-2 to publish  revised rules that would guide the importation of nuclear waste from across the country for burial in Andrews County, Texas near the New Mexico line.  The proposed rules, once published in the Texas Registry, will allow for a 30-day comment period.

The vote took place without any public input.  In fact, when Public Citizen’s Texas office director, Tom “Smitty” Smith tried to speak he was told he was out of order and asked to sit down.  Much later, he was allowed to give comment, but the deed had already been done.

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Sunset Report Takes Half Step Forward, More Change Needed at State Environmental Agency

Posted in Air Quality, Sunset, TCEQ, tagged , , on November 18, 2010 |

Today, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission staff released their report on the Texas Commission on Environental Quality.  The Sunset Avisory Commissioners will meet to take public testimony – December 15th or 16th and will vote on their recommendations to the legislature on January 12, 2011. 

The public can respond to the Sunset staff report up until the Commissioners meet.  To read a copy of the report, click here. To access the form for submitting your comments on the staff report, click here.  You can submit comments to the Commission up to the date that the Commissioners vote on their recommendations to the legislature.  To submit a comment, click here.

Below is a statement from the Alliance for a Clean Texas (ACT).  The ACT partner organizations include: Sierra Club, Public Citizen (Texas office), Environmental Defense Fund, Texas IMPACT, Air Alliance of Houston, Texas Campaign for the Environment, Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition, Environment Texas, Texas League of Conservation Voters, ReEnergize Texas, the Enviromental Integrity Project, Texas Center for Policy Studies, Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, Hill Country Alliance, National Wildlife Foundation, Clean Water Action and the Baptist Commission on Christian Life.   

Is the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) – the state’s environmental agency – doing a good enough job protecting the health of Texans?  The Sunset Advisory Commission Staff Report on TCEQ, issued today, is a first step in answering that question.  The report contains a number of positive recommendations that, if adopted by the Sunset Advisory Commission and ultimately enacted by the Texas Legislature, will help strengthen the TCEQ in carrying out its responsibilities to protect the environment and public health for all Texans. However, the report failed to make recommendations to resolve a number of chronic problems plaguing the agency. (more…)

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Study finds Texas coal plants foul neighboring states’ air

Posted in Air Quality, Coal, tagged , , , , on November 18, 2010 |

Image by davipt via Flickr

Coal fired power plant

Coal-fired power plants in Texas are responsible for dozens of bad air days in neighboring states each year, according to a new analysis released by the Sierra Club.  The report attributes as many as 64 days of harmful levels of smog in Oklahoma to Texas’ coal plants. It also ties the plants to as many as 20 days of unhealthy air in Arkansas and up to 16 in Louisiana.

The report supports earlier concerns raised by Oklahoma officials about the potential impacts on their state from the nearly 30 coal-fired plants either operating, permitted or proposed in Texas.

The attorney general for Oklahoma asked the federal Environmental Protection Agency in May to require Texas to show that the new plants will not foul the state’s air before issuing permits for construction. (more…)

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Dallas town hall meeting focused on Railroad Commission

Posted in Air Quality, Global Warming, Sunset, TCEQ, tagged , , , , , on November 9, 2010 |

Citizens and environmental groups concerned about possible air and water pollution from the Barnett Shale spoke out last night in Arlington.  Nearly 140 people gathered to express concerns about the Texas Commission on Environment Quality (TCEQ) and the Railroad Commission (RRC).

Rita Beving, with Public citizen, says both face the Sunset Advisory Commission next month to see if they should change, or even continue to exist.  She went on to say “Our state has failed in many ways to respond to the public. That’s why the EPA has stepped in to pull authority away from the TCEQ.  Some of the people we’ve talked to have had horrible experiences including having their tap water catch fire.” (more…)

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Hearing to reconsider allowing radioactive waste shipments from around the country into Texas scheduled November 13th

Posted in Nuclear, Toxics, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 4, 2010 |

The Texas Low Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission TLLRWDCC will meet in Midland, Texas a week from Saturday (November 13th) to reconsider adopting a rule that was withdrawn in July that would allow for export of low-level radioactive waste for management and disposal from facilities outside of the Texas Compact, this will be followed by a host of generator petitions to ship low-level radioactive waste to Texas facilities.  For those that have been following our blogs on this, that means to the Waste Control Specialists (WCS) facility in Andrews County out in West Texas.  The Compact Commission will receive public comment, discuss and take formal action, as appropriate, on items on the agenda below until it adjourns.

November 13, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.

University of Texas of the Permian Basin
Center for Energy and Economic Diversification
1400 Farm-To-Market Road 1788 N
Midland, Texas.

To see the proposed rule, click here.
To see the proposed additions to the draft rule from Compact Commision chair, Mike Ford, click here.

TEXAS LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL COMPACT COMMISSION AGENDA (more…)

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Pancho the Donkey, White Stallion and Water: The community responds

Posted in Air Quality, Coal, Global Warming, Toxics, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 29, 2010 |

 

The No Coal Coalition brings their mascot, Pancho the Donkey, to the TCEQ hearing, but he is turned away. Photo by Susan Dancer

On Thursday, the TCEQ (Texas Commission of Environmental Quality) held a public meeting for the White Stallion Energy Center at the Bay City Civic Center to hear feedback on the plant’s application for a wastewater permit. (more…)

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Texas last holdout on issuing greenhouse gas permits

Posted in Air Quality, Coal, Energy, Global Warming, natural gas, Renewables, TCEQ, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on October 29, 2010 |

With states scrambling to align their own rules with U.S. EPA‘s new regulations, which are set to take effect on Jan. 2, 2011 and require regulators to start issuing Clean Air Act permits next year for large stationary sources of greenhouse gas emissions, Texas is now the lone holdout, according to an analysis  by the  National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA). Click here to see a copy of the analysis. (more…)

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