Editing Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

{{Short description|Environmental agency of the state of Texas}}{{Infobox government agency

| type = commission

| seal = File:Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.png

| logo =

| image = File:TXEnvironQualBuil.JPG

| image_caption = Headquarters complex for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

| formed = {{Start date and age|1991}}

| jurisdiction = [[State of Texas]]

| headquarters = [[Austin, Texas]]

| employees = 2780

| budget = $420 m [[United States dollar|USD]] (2016)

| website = http://tceq.texas.gov

}}

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{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Use American English|date=November 2023}}

The '''Texas Commission on Environmental Quality''' ('''TCEQ''') is the environmental [[regulatory authority|agency]] for the state of [[Texas]]. The commission's headquarters are located at 12100 Park 35 Circle in [[Austin, Texas|Austin]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Long |first=David |date=2023-12-19 |title=Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation Draft 2024 Annual Action Plan Available for Public Comment |url=https://www.sos.state.tx.us/texreg/archive/December292023/In%20Addition/In%20Addition.html |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=Texas Secretary of State |publisher=Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation}}</ref> The fourth-largest environmental agency in the United States (and the third-largest state environmental agency, behind the [[US Environmental Protection Agency]], the [[California EPA]], and the [[New York State Department of Environmental Conservation|New York DEC]]), it employs about 2,780 employees, has 16 regional offices, and has a $420 million operating budget for the 2016 fiscal year.<ref>[http://www.tceq.texas.gov/about - About the TCEQ]</ref>

Natural resource programs were established in Texas at the turn of the 20th century, motivated initially by concerns over the management of water resources and water rights. In parallel with developments in the rest of the nation, and at the federal level, state natural resource efforts broadened at midcentury to include the protection of air and water resources, and later to the regulation of hazardous and nonhazardous waste generation.

During the 1990s, the Texas Legislature moved to make natural-resource protection more efficient by consolidating programs. In 1991, it combined the Texas Water Commission and the Texas Air Control Board to create the first versionof the TCEQ, known as the '''Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission''' until fall 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015 |title=What Is The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality? |url=http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/topic/tceq/ |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=StateImpact Texas |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |language=en}}</ref> Sunset legislation passed by the Texas Legislature in 2001 changed the agency's name to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and continued the agency until 2013. During the special session of the 81st Legislature (2009), legislation was adopted amending the 2013 date to 2011,<ref>[http://www.tceq.texas.gov/about/tceqhistory.html - History of the TCEQ]</ref> when the agency was continued for an additional 12 years and subject to review in 2023.

In 2017, the TCEQ had around 500 people assisting in the response to [[Hurricane Harvey]].<ref name="EPA On People With Harvey in 2017">{{cite web |url=https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epatceq-updated-status-systems-affected-harvey-2 |title=EPA/TCEQ: Updated Status of Systems Affected by Harvey |date=September 14, 2017 |website= www.epa.gov}}</ref> During and long after the event, the agency kept the public informed by posting air-monitoring data in near real time, status of public water systems, and other information on its Hurricane Harvey webpage.<ref name=":0" /> In March 2019, the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' reported that TCEQ and the [[Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA) had refused [[NASA]]'s offer to collect air-pollution data in Harvey's aftermath,<ref name="Houston and The TCEQ in 2019"/> wherein NASA would have flown a [[DC-8]] over Houston<ref name="NASA's Harvey Offer from Chronicle in 2019"/> to identify up to 450 chemical compounds.<ref name="Houston and The TCEQ in 2019"/> Michael Honeycutt of the TCEQ and EPA responded to the press that the TCEQ's ground-level analysis, "which found few problem areas," was the best approach.<ref name="NASA's Harvey Offer from Chronicle in 2019">{{cite web |url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/State-official-defends-decision-to-rebuff-13666026.php |title=State official defends decision to rebuff NASA’s Harvey help |date=March 5, 2019 |website=www.chron.com }}</ref> The TCEQ argued that the NASA data would have been too high in the air to be relevant to people on the ground, and would have overlapped with their own data and been "confusing" or conflicting.<ref name="Houston and The TCEQ in 2019"/> The decision resulted in controversy, with opponents arguing the extra data would have been a boon for research and assessing public threats.<ref name="Houston and The TCEQ in 2019">{{cite web |url=https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2019/03/06/324358/nasa-called-off-mission-to-assist-in-harveys-response-due-to-misgivings-by-epa-and-tceq/ |title=Environmental Regulators Rejected NASA’s Offer To Monitor Air Pollution After Harvey |date=March 6, 2019 |website=www.houstonpublicmedia.org }}</ref><ref name="Why Would Texas Refuse Editorial in 2019">{{cite web |url=https://www.chron.com/opinion/editorials/article/Why-would-Texas-officials-refuse-NASA-s-help-13668959.php |title=Why would Texas officials refuse NASA’s help after Harvey? [Editorial] |date=March 6, 2019 |website=www.chron.com }}</ref> On March 7, 2019, Congressional Democrats launched a probe into the refusal.<ref name="Houston Chronicle on Probe Launching in 2019">{{cite web |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/houston/article/Three-House-Democrats-launch-investigation-into-13669226.php |title=Democrats launch probe into state decision to decline NASA help after Harvey |date=March 6, 2019 |website=www.houstonchronicle.com }}</ref><ref name="Congress Launches Probe in 2019">{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-nasa-congress-houston-epa-hurricane-harvey-20190306-story.html |title=Congress launches probe on why Texas and EPA stopped NASA from tracking Harvey pollution |date=March 6, 2019 |website=www.latimes.com }}</ref> The TCEQ posted a letter it received from the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and its response, on its Harvey webpage.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.tceq.texas.gov/home-page/response/hurricanes/hurricane-harvey|title=Hurricane Harvey Response|last=The TCEQ's|website=Texas Commission on Environmental Quality|access-date=August 29, 2019}}</ref>

The TCEQ has three full-time commissioners, who are appointed by the governor, to establish overall agency direction and policy, and to make final determinations on contested permitting and enforcement matters. The commissioners are appointed for six-year terms with the advice and consent of the Texas Senate. A commissioner may not serve more than two six-year terms, and the terms are staggered so that a different member's term expires every two years. The governor also names the chairman of the commission. The current commissioners of the TCEQ are Jon Niermann (chairman), Emily Lindley, and Bobby Janecka.<ref>[http://www.tceq.texas.gov/about/organization/commissioner.html - TCEQ Commissioners]</ref>

"The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality strives to protect our state's public health and natural resources consistent with sustainable economic development. Our goal is clean air, clean water, and the safe management of waste."{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mission Statement and Agency Philosophy - Texas Commission on Environmental Quality - www.tecq.texas.gov |url=https://www.tceq.texas.gov/agency/mission.html}}</ref>

The Office of Air oversees all air-permitting activities. The office also implements plans to protect and restore air quality in cooperation with local, regional, state, and federal stakeholders. It tracks progress toward environmental goals, adapting plans as necessary.

The Air Quality Division works to protect and restore air quality through four programs: Air Implementation Grants, Air Industrial Emissions Assessment, Air Modeling and Data Analysis, and Air Quality Planning.<ref>[http://www.tceq.texas.gov/about/organization/air.html - Office of Air]</ref> The Air Permits Division processes air permits and authorizations for facilities that, when operational, would emit contaminants into the atmosphere. The division does this through two major air-permitting programs, New Source Review permits and Title V federal operating permits.

The Office of Water is responsible for the implementation of these major programs:

The office implements federal and state laws related to the regulation of aboveground and underground petroleum storage tanks, generation, treatment, storage, and disposal of municipal, industrial, low-level radioactive, and hazardous wastes, and the recovery and processing of uranium and disposal of byproduct. It also oversees state cleanup of contaminated sites.<ref>[http://www.tceq.texas.gov/agency/land_main.html - Office of Waste]</ref>

In the summer of 2016, [[Texas House of Representatives|Texas State Representative]] [[John Lujan]] called upon the commission to clean up a large used-[[tire]] dump located in his [[San Antonio, Texas|San Antonio]] House district. The abandoned tires often contain [[mosquito]]es, [[Fly|flies]], [[snake]]s, and small animals, and is difficult to spray with [[insecticide]]s. Lujan first visited the site years earlier when he was a [[firefighter]]; he concluded that conditions have worsened and that the site is a fire hazard, and he implored action by the state.<ref>[[John Lujan]], "'Safe' tire site putting community at risk", ''[[San Antonio Express-News]]'', July 31, 2016, p. F1</ref>

The Office of Compliance and Enforcement enforces compliance with the state's environmental laws, responds to emergencies and natural disasters that threaten human health and the environment, oversees dam safety, and monitors air quality within Texas. In addition, the office oversees the operations of 16 regional offices and one special-project office across the state.<ref>[http://www.tceq.texas.gov/about/organization/oce.html - Office of Compliance and Enforcement]</ref>

TCEQ spearheads Take Care of Texas, a personal-responsibility campaign to help Texans decrease their impact on the environment.<ref>[http://takecareoftexas.org/ - Take Care of Texas]</ref>In2018, country recording artist [[Cody Johnson]] teamed up with the agency to produce a public service announcement that encourages protection of the state's natural resources.<ref>[http://takecareoftexas.org/campaigns/cody-johnson - Cody Johnson and TCEQ team up to Take Care of Texas]</ref>

==See also==

* [[Climate change in Texas]]

**{{web archive|url=https://web.archive.org/*/http://www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/|title=Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission}} (predecessor agency)

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