AUSTIN — Dozens of people, including doctors, school teachers and church-going grandmothers, pleaded Wednesday with Texas lawmakers to make the state's environmental agency tougher on polluters. The hearing, which was part of the first legislative review of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in a decade, drew people from around the state, with many of them saying the agency had failed to protect them from pollution.
The Legislature's Sunset Advisory Commission periodically evaluates and considers potential reforms at state agencies, and its findings could lead to significant changes in the TCEQ's operations during the legislative session that begins next month. In response to concerns that TCEQ is too lenient with polluters, the Sunset commission's staff has recommended that the Legislature increase the statutory cap on penalties from $10,000 to $25,000, as well as change the way the agency calculates fines.
The TCEQ, for its part, agreed with the two dozen recommendations made by the Sunset commission's staff. But the TCEQ's critics asked for even more changes, accusing the agency of being too cozy with industry and ignoring public concerns. They expressed frustration over the recent approval of air pollution permits for coal-fired power plants near Abilene and Bay City, about 60 miles southwest of Houston, even though state administrative law judges recommended denying both permits.
"It seems like these three TCEQ commissioners have all the power, and it's not working for the state," said Allison Sliva, a Bay City resident who opposes the recently approved White Stallion Energy Center, a 1,320-megawatt power plant.
EDIT
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7341461.htmlYes, I just
bet the TCEQ and the legislature will get right on it to cut pollution!!
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
