Environmental groups back EPA’s effort to clean Texas air
An environmental watchdog group is supporting the federal government's decision to end the state's ''flexible permitting program.''
Earlier this summer, the Environmental Protection Agency ruled the permitting program makes regulating pollution impossible, and has prohibited the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's ability to issue them.
The EPA will review 129 flexible permit holders in Texas to ensure the facilities are up to code with the Clean Air Act. Most of the permit holders are petrochemical/chemical plants and oil refineries.
Tuesday, the Alliance for a Clean Texas held a press conference to address the issue.
"This whole conflict is totally fixable. It won't be easy. It's not going to be quick, and in some instances it's going to have some expense to it. But it is fixable," Larry Soward, a former TCEQ commissioner, said. "The last thing the EPA wants to do is take over issuing air permits in Texas, but it has been forced to that point over the years."
Representatives from other environmental organizations agreed, adding the Legislature doesn't have to step in to fix the problem.
"The only goal is to get the permitting program compliant with federal law," Soward said. "Texas' permitting program needs to be fully compliant with the Clean Air Act, and with these flexible spending permits it is not."
Representatives with ACT also addressed concerns about the economic impact of retrofitting plants to bring them into compliance. They say other major companies comply with EPA rules in other states and still turn a profit.
''Frankly, if we take just a little bit of money from the $33 million their CEO's made in the last three years and put it up in cleaning up their plants, we could number one have a healthier Texas, no jobs would be lost, and he'd still be a very wealthy man,'' Jim Marston, director of the National Energy Program at the Environmental Defense Fund.
Monday, the state attorney general's office filed a petition, asking an appeals court to reconsider the EPA's decision. Gov. Rick Perry has discussed the issue, calling it "EPA overreach," and said the permitting program has helped improve Texas air quality.
While environmental advocates in the group say air quality is getting better, it's not improving as fast as other states. They point to federal standards and regulations, efforts of local environmental groups and communities and enforcement actions brought by EPA.