1-1 By: Brown S.C.R. No. 23 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 are matters of great state and national concern, and 1-9 both the state and the federal government bear responsibility for 1-10 actions in this regard; ideally, this mutual concern and shared 1-11 responsibility should manifest itself in a collaborative 1-12 partnership to reduce pollution and protect natural resources; and 1-13 WHEREAS, However, while both state and federal governments 1-14 share these goals, differences have arisen regarding the most 1-15 effective approach to environmental problems and specific pollution 1-16 reductions and environmental protection efforts; and 1-17 WHEREAS, These differences reflect a state-federal 1-18 relationship that relies less on mutual development of policy and 1-19 coordination of agency efforts and more on a command-and-control 1-20 approach that focuses exclusively on state implementation of 1-21 federal regulations, thus denying Texas the flexibility it needs to 1-22 protect its natural resources and environment as effectively as 1-23 possible; and 1-24 WHEREAS, The current approach instituted by the United States 1-25 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to limit pollution at the 1-26 state level through the use of a federally mandated permitting 1-27 process has proven to be moderately successful at reducing 1-28 pollution, but it is also a process that is burdensome and costly 1-29 to both the states and the regulated facilities; and 1-30 WHEREAS, In Texas, the burden of enforcing federal 1-31 regulations and monitoring compliance with required permits falls 1-32 primarily on the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission 1-33 (TNRCC); however, the overly prescriptive approach that the federal 1-34 government has taken gives TNRCC no input in the development of 1-35 these regulations and little flexibility, either in interpreting 1-36 regulations or in the way it must enforce them; and 1-37 WHEREAS, Alternative paradigms are available, including 1-38 outcome-based assessment methods that allow the state to direct its 1-39 efforts to measuring the actual reduction of pollution and 1-40 identifying and targeting offending facilities rather than 1-41 expending limited agency resources simply monitoring each 1-42 facility's compliance with its permit; and 1-43 WHEREAS, States should be given greater latitude to implement 1-44 innovative regulatory programs and other pollution reduction 1-45 methods that vary from the current top-down model that requires 1-46 states to adhere strictly to the federally mandated permitting 1-47 process; and 1-48 WHEREAS, TNRCC should take a leadership role in these efforts 1-49 and work as closely as possible with the EPA and other national 1-50 environmental associations to establish a working relationship that 1-51 would give states a greater voice in the decision-making process 1-52 and allow them greater flexibility in the implementation of federal 1-53 environmental programs; and 1-54 WHEREAS, Such a relationship would benefit individual states 1-55 and the federal government by streamlining current environmental 1-56 programs, making them more effective and reducing the overall costs 1-57 of environmental regulation; now, therefore, be it 1-58 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas 1-59 hereby respectfully urge the Texas Natural Resource Conservation 1-60 Commission to expand its coordination efforts with the United 1-61 States Environmental Protection Agency, the Environmental Council 1-62 of the States, and other national associations to increase 1-63 flexibility for the states in the implementation of federal 1-64 environmental regulations; and, be it further 2-1 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward an 2-2 official copy of this resolution to the executive director and to 2-3 the chairman of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. 2-4 * * * * *