HUNDREDS OF BILLS ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES FILED
By Ella Tyler
Last Friday, March 9, was the deadline for bills to be filed in the Texas Legislature. The Sierra Club’s Donna Hoffman reports that the environmental groups’ lobbyists are still analyzing the new bills (30% of all bills are filed at deadline) and are working to pick out the key ones.
As a general rule, no bills may be passed until the filing deadline, but some of the high profile bills have been through committee hearings in either the House or Senate.
One very important matter, a vacancy on the three-member Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, was resolved by the Senate’s unanimous approval of H. S. “Buddy†Garcia of Austin to serve on the commission. Garcia’s term will expire August 31, 2011. Garcia has been a special assistant to the governor on Texas/Mexico issues, working on trade, water and wastewater, and sales of electricity to Mexico. He was legislative director for former Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr.
The Senate passed a bill allowing state regulators to review TXU Corp.’s pending sale.
Here are some of the bills that environmental groups are following:
The House Committee on Business and Industry heard HB 9, by Rep. Myra Crownover, which proposes a statewide smoking ban on Monday, but left the bill pending in committee. Senator Rodney Ellis is sponsoring an identical bill, SB 368.
HB 6, which eliminates the cap on the use of the “sporting goods tax†for parks, was reported out of the House Committee on Culture, Recreation and Tourism on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the chair of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, Joseph B. C. Fitzsimons, and the Chair of the Historical Commission, John L. Nau, III, sent a letter to the committee chair stating that they had agreed that 25 historic sites should be transferred to the Historical Commission. The letter notes that there had not been public input on the list of properties to be transferred and that public input should come through the legislative process.
The Park People organized a group of Houston activists to visit the legislature last week to show their support for increased park funding. George Bristol, president of the Texas Coalition for Conservation, says that the challenge ahead is obtaining appropriation committee approval for the Texas Parks and Wildlife’s budget request.
HB 3, which relates to the management of water resources including the protection of instream flows and freshwater inflows was reported out of its committee.
Several representatives from Houston are sponsoring bills that put forward various actions for TCEQ to take to reduce ambient levels of toxic contaminants, and to create greater access to information of “toxic air†spots. The bills are: HB 2722 by Rep. Senfronia Thompson, HB 2475 by Rep. Scott Hochberg, HB 2890 by Rep. Hubert Vo, HB 440 & HB 2363 by Rep. Ana E. Hernandez and HB 1740 by Rep. Ellen Cohen. The Texas League of Conservation Voters is supporting these bills.
These bills are also included in the “Cheaper, Cleaner, Cooler Legislative Plan†from Public Citizen, Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, and SEED Coalition.
Other bills on the “Cheaper, Cleaner, Cooler†list are: SB 860 by Ellis & HB 2320 by Gallego, which are identical bills relating to a two-year moratorium on authorizations for certain coal-fired electric generating facilities; a variety of bills requiring more efficiency from utilities; and several bills requiring more efficient appliances, offering sales tax exemptions for energy efficient products, purchasing power management software for state agencies, and funding weatherization programs.
The plan also includes a variety of bills regarding more efficient buildings and better enforcement of building codes. Support for more efficient buildings also comes from the U.S. Green Building Council, Houston Chapter, which is encouraging its members to write their representatives to express support for SB 899. This bill relates to high-performance, sustainable design and construction standards for new or renovated state buildings, public school facilities, and higher education facilities.
Texas Campaign for the Environment works on trash & recycling issues. Its key bills are: HB 3758, HB 2714 and SB 1324, which require electronics producers to take back their products for proper recycling and disposal. Dell and HP support these bills. The Texas Campaign is lobbying to have televisions included in the bills, because TVs also have many toxic components. The group expects that many TVs will be trashed when all broadcasts are in high definition.
The group also supports HB 3599, which restores the right to a public meeting when new waste facilities are proposed and HB 3388/SB 1864, which beef up the permit review process for trash permits.
The group Environment Texas is tracking bills about air pollution, water flows, renewable energy, global warming and other issues. Some of the bills on its list are HB 231, which provides that property owners’ associations cannot restrict individuals’ legal installation of renewable energy technology; HB 344/SB 124, which implement a low-emissions vehicle program corresponding to Phase II of a program of the same nature in California; and HB 722, which establishes a global warming task force.
This is the 80th regular session of the Texas Legislature. It will end on May 28, 120 days after it began. The governor may call special sessions of the Legislature, but the agenda is limited to items on his call. To find out anything that you want to know about the Texas legislature, go to . To find out who your legislators are, see .
This is just a sample of the bill that relate to the environment that have been filed. At this time, the groups named here are focused on bills they are supporting rather than bills they will oppose. The groups listed here are CEC member groups or work with CEC member groups. Many other groups also work on legislation. The Citizens’ Environmental Coalition does not endorse or oppose any of these bills.
Environment Texas
Public Citizen
Lone Star Chaper, Sierra Club
SEED Coalition
US Green Building Council
Texas League of Conservation Voters
Texas Campaign for the Environment