1-1     By:  Brown                                            S.C.R. No. 22
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 8, 2001; February 12, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
 1-4     April 30, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 4,
 1-5     Nays 0; April 30, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                        SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-7           WHEREAS, The reduction of pollution and the protection of the
 1-8     environment is of great concern to both the federal government and
 1-9     the Texas Legislature; and
1-10           WHEREAS, To protect its natural resources and environment as
1-11     effectively as possible, Texas needs greater flexibility in its
1-12     implementation of federal regulations; and
1-13           WHEREAS, The current command-and-control approach instituted
1-14     by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to limit
1-15     pollution at the state level through the use of a federally
1-16     mandated permitting process has proven to be moderately successful
1-17     at reducing pollution, but it is also an overly prescriptive
1-18     process that is unduly burdensome and costly to both the states and
1-19     the regulated facilities relative to the results achieved; and
1-20           WHEREAS, Alternative paradigms are available, including
1-21     outcome-based assessment methods that allow the state to measure
1-22     the actual reduction of pollution rather than simply monitoring
1-23     each facility's compliance with its permit; and
1-24           WHEREAS, States should be given greater latitude to implement
1-25     innovative regulatory programs and other pollution reduction
1-26     methods that vary from the current model, which requires states to
1-27     adhere strictly to the federally mandated permitting process; and
1-28           WHEREAS, Providing this flexibility would allow states such
1-29     as Texas to tailor appropriate and effective approaches to
1-30     state-specific environmental problems rather than expending
1-31     resources to ensure compliance with one-size-fits-all regulations
1-32     that place an inordinate emphasis on procedural detail; now,
1-33     therefore, be it
1-34           RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
1-35     hereby respectfully urge the United States Environmental Protection
1-36     Agency to provide maximum flexibility to the states in the
1-37     implementation of federal environmental programs and regulations;
1-38     and, be it further
1-39           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state  forward official
1-40     copies of this resolution to the administrator of the United States
1-41     Environmental Protection Agency, to the president of the United
1-42     States, to the speaker of the house of representatives and the
1-43     president of the senate of the United States Congress, and to all
1-44     members of the Texas delegation to the congress with the request
1-45     that this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional
1-46     Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of
1-47     America.
1-48                                  * * * * *