By:  Brown                                            S.C.R. No. 22
 1-1                        SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-2           WHEREAS, The reduction of pollution and the protection of the
 1-3     environment is of great concern to both the federal government and
 1-4     the Texas Legislature; and
 1-5           WHEREAS, To protect its natural resources and environment as
 1-6     effectively as possible, Texas needs greater flexibility in its
 1-7     implementation of federal regulations; and
 1-8           WHEREAS, The current command-and-control approach instituted
 1-9     by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to limit
1-10     pollution at the state level through the use of a federally
1-11     mandated permitting process has proven to be moderately successful
1-12     at reducing pollution, but it is also an overly prescriptive
1-13     process that is unduly burdensome and costly to both the states and
1-14     the regulated facilities relative to the results achieved; and
1-15           WHEREAS, Alternative paradigms are available, including
1-16     outcome-based assessment methods that allow the state to measure
1-17     the actual reduction of pollution rather than simply monitoring
1-18     each facility's compliance with its permit; and
1-19           WHEREAS, States should be given greater latitude to implement
1-20     innovative regulatory programs and other pollution reduction
1-21     methods that vary from the current model, which requires states to
1-22     adhere strictly to the federally mandated permitting process; and
1-23           WHEREAS, Providing this flexibility would allow states such
1-24     as Texas to tailor appropriate and effective approaches to
 2-1     state-specific environmental problems rather than expending
 2-2     resources to ensure compliance with one-size-fits-all regulations
 2-3     that place an inordinate emphasis on procedural detail; now,
 2-4     therefore, be it
 2-5           RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
 2-6     hereby respectfully urge the United States Environmental Protection
 2-7     Agency to provide maximum flexibility to the states in the
 2-8     implementation of federal environmental programs and regulations;
 2-9     and, be it further
2-10           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state  forward official
2-11     copies of this resolution to the administrator of the United States
2-12     Environmental Protection Agency, to the president of the United
2-13     States, to the speaker of the house of representatives and the
2-14     president of the senate of the United States Congress, and to all
2-15     members of the Texas delegation to the congress with the request
2-16     that this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional
2-17     Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of
2-18     America.