SRC-MWN S.C.R. 23 77(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   S.C.R. 23
77R3112 NBH-DBy: Brown, J. E. "Buster"
Natural Resources
3/16/2001
As Filed


DIGEST

The reduction of pollution and the protection of the environment are
matters of great state and national concern, and both the state and the
federal government bear responsibility for actions in this regard; ideally,
this mutual concern and shared responsibility should manifest itself in a
collaborative partnership to reduce pollution and protect natural
resources. However, while both state and federal governments share these
goals, differences have arisen regarding the most effective approach to
environmental problems and specific pollution reductions and environmental
protection efforts. These differences reflect a state-federal relationship
that relies less on mutual development of policy and coordination of agency
efforts and more on a command-and-control approach that focuses exclusively
on state implementation of federal regulations, thus denying Texas the
flexibility it needs to protect its natural resources and environment as
effectively as possible.  The current approach instituted by the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to limit pollution at the
state level through the use of a federally mandated permitting process has
proven to be moderately successful at reducing pollution, but it is also a
process that is burdensome and costly to both the states and the regulated
facilities. In Texas, the burden of enforcing federal regulating and
monitoring compliance with required permits falls primarily on the Texas
Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC); however, the overly
prescriptive approach that the federal government has taken gives TNRCC no
input in the development of these regulations and little flexibility,
either in interpreting regulations or in the way it is required to enforce
them.  Alternative paradigms are available, including outcome-based
assessment methods that allow the state to direct its efforts to measuring
the actual reduction of pollution and identifying and targeting offending
facilities rather than expending limited agency resources simply monitoring
each facility's compliance with its permit. States should be given greater
latitude to implement innovative regulatory programs and other pollution
reduction methods that vary from the current top-down model that requires
states to adhere strictly to the federally mandated permitting process.
TNRCC should take a leadership role in these efforts and work as closely as
possible with the EPA and other national environmental associations to
establish a working relationship that would give states a greater voice in
the decision-making process and allow them greater flexibility in the
implementation of federal environmental programs. Such a relationship would
benefit individual states and the federal government by streamlining
current environmental programs, making them more effective and reducing the
overall costs of environmental regulations. 

PURPOSE

As proposed, S.C.R. 21 proposes the following resolution:

 That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby respectfully urges
the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission to expand its
coordination efforts with the United States Environmental Protection
Agency, the Environmental Council of the States, and other national
associations to increase flexibility for the state in the implementation of
federal environmental regulations. That the Texas secretary of state
forward an official copy of this resolution to the executive director and
to the chairman of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission.