U.S. EPA targets Texas permitting program
Posted on November 17th, 2009
Greenwire: By the end of the month, U.S. EPA is likely to declare that Texas’ air permitting program lacks adequate public participation and transparency, another sign of the widening rift between the federal agency and Texas regulators on environmental policy.
In coming weeks, EPA is expected to use the Clean Air Act to formally disapprove of the public participation and transparency aspects of Texas’ air pollution controls. The move raises the notion that other aspects of the state’s regulations, which have been criticized as too weak and industry-friendly by EPA since the 1990s, could be struck down.
No other state has been so singled out for its air policies as Texas, said Kelly Haragan, who heads the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Texas. However, EPA still hopes to work with the help of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), she added.
“From EPA’s position, they hope they can change things faster with TCEQ’s cooperation than if it has to drag the agency kicking and screaming,” she said. “TCEQ wants to make as few changes to their rules as possible to get EPA to go away.”
Since 1995, the state has issued lax air permits, mostly to industrial facilities along the Gulf Coast. Any major revision of these permits could result in expensive consequences for the state’s base of power plants and refineries (Asher Price, Austin American-Statesman, Nov. 15). – PV