AREA LEGISLATORS TO WORK ON CLEAN AIR

By Ella Tyler

The 80th regular session of the Texas Legislature begins Tuesday, and Houston area legislators are ready to fight for clean air.

State senator Rodney Ellis has already filed a bill that would require automakers to sell low emission vehicles and plans to file one that bans smoking in the workplace. Representative Jessica Farrar has filed an air pollution bill that calls for fence line monitoring, and eight local representatives have signed on to a letter to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that opposes fast-tracking seven applications for coal burning power plants.

Ellis’s bill, SB 124, is also known as the “Austin Physicians for Social Responsibility Clean Cars Program.” The Clean Cars Program is already in place in California, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, and seven other states, Ellis’s office said. The bill requires tight limits on tailpipe and evaporative emissions of several air pollutants, including carbon dioxide. Representative Mark Strama filed a companion bill in the House, HB 344.

The clean car bill has already attracted support from the mayors of Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth – cities in areas that do not comply with Clean Air Act ozone standards. Other supporters of the bill include the Houston Chronicle, Lone Star Chapter Sierra Club, Texas Impact, and the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention.

Ellis said, “It is only fair that the clean cars made at the GM plant in Arlington Texas be driven by more Texans – not just shipped and sold to the 11 states with stricter standards.”

The recent elections banning smoking in public places have removed one potential objection to the smoke free workplace bill that Ellis is sponsoring. In his November 16 announcement of the bill, Ellis said, “We know the people support it. This type of law has passed in very different parts of the state – from Austin, to Baytown to Abilene, voters have agreed to go smoke free.”

Representative Farrar has filed a bill calling for fence-line monitoring of air pollutants that is an expansion of the one filed in the previous legislative session by the late Joe Moreno. Farrar has recently founded an environmental caucus, which has been meeting for the past few months. So far, the members are all from the Houston area. Only one Republican, Dwayne Bohac is a member. Farrar said that Lon Burnam of Fort Worth will be forming a Clean Air Caucus.

Eight Houston-area representatives, including Bohac, signed on to a letter opposing fast tracking of coal-fired utility plants that was prepared by Democrat Donna Howard of Austin. An additional 13 representatives signed the letter.

Many other environmental issues will be considered this session include improvements in funding for state parks, the transfer of 15 state parks to the historical commission, and questions regarding the Public Utility Commission and wind power. A legislative attack on the Trans Texas Corridor, which has generated substantial opposition from rural voters, is expected by one local representative, as are attempts to persuade the Texas Department of Transportation to restore federally funded enhancement grants.

The legislature will meet for 140 days, and as many as 5,000 bills might be filed. The legislature’s website has complete information, including a way to track the status of legislation.