Article
Source: Law360
Article
07.18.13
This article was originally published in Law360 on July 18, 2013.
This year’s Texas Legislative session included significant changes on the environmental and energy front. Here, we focus on three new Texas laws with the potential to have significant beneficial impacts to the state’s energy industry.
Texas Reclaims Greenhouse Gas Permitting Authority from EPA (HB 788
In a reversal of the state’s prior refusal to develop a greenhouse gas emissions permitting program, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) now has been charged with developing and implementing a permitting program for new or modified industrial GHG sources. Presently, this authority resides with region 6 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In 2011, Texas refused to set up a state-level GHG permitting program consistent with the EPA’s new source review/prevention of significant deterioration permitting regulations — the only state to do so. The EPA responded by assuming GHG permitting authority for Texas. The result has been a bifurcated and protracted air-permitting process for Texas industry: EPA region 6 processes GHG emissions permits, and the TCEQ handles all other air authorizations.
Download: New Texas Laws Will Boost The State's Energy Industry