Lack of transparency among issues Texas environmental officials need to improve upon, commission finds

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality should continue to exist — but it needs to be a tougher, more transparent regulator. That’s the conclusion of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, a Legislature-created body responsible for evaluating state agencies and recommending whether they should be eliminated, continued or reformed. While the Sunset Commission said in a new staff report that the TCEQ “performs admirably,” the commission also noted the agency needed to address a lack of transparency, how it conducts water oversight and how it holds rule violators accountable. On June 22, the 12-member Sunset Commission will hold a public hearing in Austin for people to comment on the recommendations. The commission will then finalize its recommendations and propose them to the Texas Legislature in January. Prior to the hearing, people can submit input on the Sunset Commission’s website.

Among the biggest issues with the TCEQ, according to the Sunset Commission, was a need to provide more opportunities for meaningful public comment — the lack of which the commission said fosters public distrust and confusion. That confusion also stems from misunderstandings about what the TCEQ has authority over. For example, the TCEQ regulates emissions and discharges of specific pollutants by industrial facilities, but not emissions from mobile sources, such as vehicles or airplanes. The agency also has regulatory authority over equipment and procedures required at a facility to prevent and track emissions, but does not regulate procedures for occupational safety or safety equipment. To address such issues, the Sunset Commission recommended clarifying the requirements for public meetings on permits before and after the TCEQ publishes a final draft permit. The TCEQ also should develop a document that explains how it makes decisions regarding so-called affected person cases, such as someone who lives near a concrete batch plant and complains to the TCEQ about its pollution.