The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved penalties totaling $1,310,268 against 58 entities at its meeting on August 23. The largest penalty was $700,000 against Valero Refining-Texas, LP, in Harris County for 16 violations, including exceeding emissions limits, failure to properly report emission events, and failure to prevent nuisance conditions.
By Charles Stillman, Citizens League for Environmental Action Now Lacking leadership from the federal government, cities and local municipalities have taken it upon themselves to confront the issue of climate change in their own communities.
By Ella Tyler The Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention recently released a report concerning the ways Harris County and the city of Houston handle citizen complaints about air pollution. In 2004, more than 2,000 citizen complaints were made.