SB16, SB 545 and SB 541 are on the House Major State Calendar today. As we’ve said on this site repeatedly, this is great news. However, midnight tonight is the deadline for the House to pass Senate bills on second reading. The Alliance for a Clean Texas asks all Texans who want clean air and clean energy to call their representatives immediately and ask them to vote for these three crucial bills.

In the final six days of the 81st Session, the Alliance for a Clean Texas urges all Texas lawmakers to take up clean air, renewable energy, green jobs and other important environmental issues that will make our state healthier and more sustainable. There are still many opportunities for the Texas Legislature to act on behalf of all Texans. It’s time to put the health and future welfare of our state first and make the commitment to clean air and clean energy by passing these three bills.

The challenge: not only is time short (there are only seven days left in the session and 36 hours until all Senate Bills must pass 2nd reading in the House) – the Texas House has come to a virtual standstill over the last four days. The time has come for all Texans to ask their representatives to put aside the partisan issues that are keeping them from taking up the business of our state. There are many extremely important issues that remain undecided at this time. The Alliance for a Clean Texas believes that clean energy is one of the crucial issues that the House must take up before the midnight deadline tomorrow.

Texans want to breathe cleaner air. They want their water to be used sustainably. They want their state to remain a world leader in energy innovation and production. They want their children to grow up to in a state where the jobs of the 21st century economy are plentiful. They want to be proud of their state – for its historic leadership in energy, for its great gifts of natural resources, and for its unique ability to lead our nation (and our world) into a cleaner, healthier future.

Call your representative right now. Ask her or him to vote for both solar bills. To stop stalling. To take action. This person is your representative in Austin. It’s time for all of us to act on behalf of our state. As we all know, what we do in Texas matters. Let’s show the world that Texas is ready to lead the way.

On the renewable energy bills front, SB 545 has been sent to the House Calendars committee. SB 541 has beed reported favorably by the House Committee on State Affairs; the committee report has not yet been filed. ACT has two urgent recommendations on behalf of these bills:

1. ACT urges the House Calendars Committee to place SB 545 on the calendar for Major State Affairs at its next meeting.
2. ACT urges the House Committee on State Affairs to take all necessary steps to have the committee report on SB 541 in the House Calendars Committee before its next meeting.

Two more ACT high priority bills are poised to move to the next step. HB 821 (producer TV takeback recycling) was heard in Senate Business and Commerce yesterday afternoon and passed out on a 9-0 vote.  It is now eligible for the Senate Intent calendar; ACT will continue to follow this bill and let supporters know if and when calls to the Lieutenant Governor’s office might be needed.

Finally, SB 184, Senator Watson “no regrets” greenhouse gas bill was reported favorably from House Environmental Regulation yesterday. The next step for this bill is for the committee report to be sent to the House Calendars Committee.

The next step for these three bills is to be placed on the House calendar. ACT urges the members of the House Calendars committee to place SB 545, SB 16 and SB 541 on the calendar before Sunday (the deadline for Senate bills to be heard in the House). The people of Texas expect their lawmakers to take bold action on energy this session. The Texas Legislature could make the 81st Session an historic one for the development of the next great Texas energy industries. While many traditional energy businesses and their allies oppose these bills, the people of Texas know that for Texas to be as strong in the 21st century as it has been in the 20th, it needs to stay ahead of the curve on all energy development.

Another ACT high priority bill reaches the next step in the legislative process tomorrow morning. HB 821, the producer TV takeback bill, will be heard in the Senate Committee of Business & Commerce tomorrow morning. An unusual committee referral (most recycling and landfill bills are referred to Senate Natural Resouces), ACT hopes that the members of Senate B & C can see the value of this timely bill that will help keep more lead, mercury and other hazardous materials out of our landfills.

ACT will continue to follow these bills and post updates on their progress. To receive action alerts from ACT, please sign up for our email list. And to follow bill progress in real-time, sign up to follow ACT on Twitter.

Representative Anchia’s trio of energy efficiency bills remain a top priority. By passing these, the House will enable Texas to adopt a set of efficiency measures that will help lower emissions by decreasing the overall demand for electricity.

Energy Efficiency:

Renewable Energy:

Clean Air:

To receive updates on the debate and votes, follow ACT on Twitter. To receive action alerts on ACT priority legislation, join our mailing list. ]]> http://www.acttexas.org/2009/05/12/important-bills-on-house-calendar-today-may-12/feed/ 0 http://www.acttexas.org/2009/05/11/important-bills-on-house-calendar-today-may-11/ http://www.acttexas.org/2009/05/11/important-bills-on-house-calendar-today-may-11/#comments Mon, 11 May 2009 17:17:03 +0000 Lize Burr http://www.acttexas.org/?p=972 The following bills are on the General State Calendar today for second reading. Each of the bills addresses an ACT 2009 legislative recommendation.

Energy Efficiency:

Renewable Energy:

Clean Air:

To receive updates on the debate and votes, follow ACT on Twitter. To receive action alerts on ACT priority legislation, join our mailing list.

Houston Chronicle, May 5, 2009

Yesterday, The Houston Chronicle published “The Short Arm of the Law.” Normally, the ACT website does not comment on the articles listed in the left column of the homepage. However, this editorial describes the state of clean air enforcement and protection in Texas as well as anything we have read during the 81st Session. We strongly recommend that you read the it in its entirety.

The editorial board commends Environment Texas and the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club for their successful suit against Shell Oil for over 1,000 “upset” emissions at its Deer Park refinery. A landmark settlement of $6 million was announced in Houston on April 23rd. (Environment Texas and the Sierra Club plan to spend this money cleaning Houston’s air.)

Where, you might wonder, was the state’s official enviro-cop unit, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality? It turns out that the TCEQ knew good and well about Shell’s illegal releases. (Environment Texas director Luke Metzger says that the environmental groups found out about them by combing the agency’s own database.) But the TCEQ leveled only light fines, and it didn’t force Shell to mend its ways. [emphasis added]

TCEQ knew. They knew about the upset emissions because they were tracking them. They knew that these emissions were in violation, so they fined Shell Oil. But the fines were too small to make a difference to such a profitable company and the TCEQ did not require Shell to fix the problem. (The settlement requires Shell to reduce upset emissions by 80% over the next three years.

Every Wednesday for the past two months, the House Committee on Environmental Regulation has held public hearings. Every Wednesday, at least one bill is heard that would make the TCEQ do a better job of protecting Texans’ health. Bills have been heard that would strengthen the permitting process, improve air monitoring technology, or require the agency to comply with federal law. And every Wednesday, industry representatives oppose these bills, saying they would impose an unfair burden on business.

Thanks to The Houston Chronicle for drawing attention to this suit, this settlement and the agency that isn’t doing what it should to protect the health of all Texans. Now it’s up to the 81st Legislature to make the TCEQ a stronger, more effective agency that will work with us to keep our air clean.

BE IT RESOLVED, That the Texas Medical Association (TMA) urges our state, local, and federal government leaders and legislators to act promptly and aggressively to reduce the health burden of pollution from vehicular, diesel, air toxics, and NAAQS criteria pollutant emissions.

TMA is to be applauded for adding its authoritative voice to the growing medical consensus that legislative action is necessary to protect the health of Texas citizens.

Right now, Texas medical organizations are joining together and calling for action. Last week, Health Professionals for Clean Air (a member of The Alliance for a Clean Texas) released its Consensus Statement on Reducing the Health Burden of Air Pollution in Texas. The following medical specialty societies have already endorsed the consensus statement:

• Texas Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• Texas Chapter of the American College of Cardiology
• Texas Chapter of the American College of Physicians
• Texas College of Emergency Physicians
• Texas College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine
• Texas Pediatric Society

Additionally, five other leading societies are currently reviewing the consensus statement (including the Texas Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Society).

With four weeks left in the session, the Texas medical community has given the 81st Legislature a prescription: pass legislation that will reduce air toxics, vehicular emissions, mercury emissions, and improve overall air pollution “by basing air quality standards principally on human health.” This week is crucial for clean air legislation: SB 16 – Senator Averitt’s omnibus clean air bill – is still in House Environmental Regulation. (There’s a committee meeting this afternoon upon adjourment.) Additionally, the school bus idling bill (HB 4208), the school siting bill (HB 1839), the enhanced air monitor technology bill (HB 4581) and the comprehensive emissions database bill (HB 3582) have all been reported out of committee and should be on the House calendar.

Today, members of the ACT Clean Air team will testify on SB 16, HB 721, HB 3590, HB 4081, HB 4083, HB 4085 and SB 1472. (There are also mercury thermostat bills recycling on the agenda that are supported by ACT organizations.)

Representative Donna Howard’s HB 721 addresses one of the more difficult challenges in the fight for clean air: keeping affected counties (areas that are designated as having poor air quality under the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan but have not yet reached non-attainment status) from going into non-attainment. Translation: cities such as Waco, Austin and San Antonio are not in the same category for air quality monitoring and measures as are Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston, but they’re on what amounts to a watch list. All three cities and surrounding counties are fighting to keep from going into non-attainment. However, the permitting process in affected areas currently does not require assessing the cumulative impact of proposed power plants on the area’s ozone level.

SB 16 has measures that will require cumulative impact analysis for any new power plants proposed to be built in non-attainment areas – an absolutely necessary tool for these areas which are at risk of losing federal highway funds as the result of non-compliance with federal clean air standards. However, what’s missing in the Texas clean air picture are better permitting rules that will help other cities keep their air quality from deteriorating.

There’s a real irony at work here: a city must have a severe air quality problem before it qualifies for the type of measures that could have kept its air quality from deteriorating in the first place. And at that point, the things it must do have become far more costly and difficult than they would have been if the factors that were contributing to the ozone problem had been addressed before reaching this critical point.

ACT strongly supports HB 721 because it would require power plant permits in affected areas to include air quality impact analysis. Additionally, HB 721 would allow public review and comment on ozone air quality impacts analysis.

(Isn’t an ounce of prevention supposed to be worth a pound of cure?)

There was some good news on the clean air front last week: several bills that will help clean Texans’ air passed out of committee and go to the House floor. Three are worth noting. HB 4581 by Representative Hochberg has the distinction of being the first bill to be passed out of committee the same week it was heard. HB 4581 would require TCEQ to use “advanced technology” to monitor emissions. ACT strongly supports this bill.

Additionally, two bills out of the House Committee on Public Education will protect the health of Texas school children. Representative Patrick’s HB 4208 is the school bus idling bill. (You may remember that an identical bill was sent to Governor Perry in 2007. You may also remember that the governor vetoed this bill.) HB 4208 is such a common sense bill that it’s almost impossible to believe that it actually requires legislation: school districts would implement no-idling policies that will both clean the air around schools and save districts money.

The other bill – HB 1839 – is also by Representative Donna Howard (who, along with Representatives Burnam and Farrar, is quickly becoming one of the 2009 clean air champions in the House). This bill would require school districts to develop school siting plans that include assessing environmental factors. The Texas Association of School Boards has worked on this bill, making sure it is not burdensome for districts to implement.

It’s likely that Representative Cook, chair of Environmental Regulation, will have the committee vote of some of the 93 bills still pending in committee. Every ACT update now ends with the same warning: time is running short in the 81st Session. Check back on the ACT website (or follow ACT on Twitter) to stay up to date on the progress of clean air legislation.