The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com July 25, 2000 By Michelle Mittelstadt , The Dallas Morning News WASHINGTON - The quiet handoff that occurred in the 1990s when states took over much of the day-to-day enforcement of federal pollution control statutes is proving a bust in Texas and elsewhere, environmentalists say in a new study. The Washington-based Environmental Working Group, in a report being issued Tuesday, said hundreds of known major violators of the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act went uninspected by the states during a two-year period. "Failing to inspect known violators of environmental laws is the policy equivalent of letting criminals out on parole, but not requiring them to check with their parole officers," the research group said. The Environmental Protection Agency "has lost control of environmental law enforcement, and in the absence of strong federal oversight many states have gutted environmental enforcement programs," the report found. Federal and state regulators disagreed with the conclusion that a "fundamental breakdown" has occurred in the enforcement of federal environmental statutes that date to the 1970s. "That's absolutely, categorically not true," Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner said. "We do come in and we do oversee what the states are doing." Texas ranked first nationwide in failure to conduct inspections of major Clean Water Act violators during fiscal 1998 and 1999, the study said, citing its analysis of inspections data collected by the federal government. Texas ranked eighth in noninspections of high-priority violators of the Clean Air Act, the report concluded. The executive director of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission bitterly denounced the findings, calling them "wholly unfair" and "false." "It's really frustrating for me, because once again, Texas is going to suffer an unwarranted blemish on its environmental record," said Jeff Saitas, referring to the steady drumbeat of election-year reports that have been critical of Texas' environmental record under Gov. George W. Bush, the Republican presidential hopeful. Low marks for Texas Mr. Bush's Democratic rival, Vice President Al Gore, often singles Texas out as the nation's most polluted state. Houston last year surpassed Los Angeles to take the title as nation's smoggiest city, and Texas ranked No. 1 nationwide in the number of days with unhealthy ozone levels. The governor has promoted voluntary compliance by industry, often saying the state can't regulate or sue its way to clean air and water. Mr. Bush has touted his program encouraging voluntary emissions reductions by industrial polluters as an innovative approach to cleaner air. More than a third of Texas' industrial air pollution comes from "grandfathered" power plants and facilities exempt from state controls since 1971. Two years ago, the governor won commitments from dozens of the grandfathered companies to curb pollution voluntarily. "You finally had a governor who stood up and got Texas industry to respond. I led," he said. The latest criticism directed at Texas' environmental record was flatly rejected by Texas natural resource officials, who said the Environmental Working Group report was flawed. Commission spokesman Patrick Crimmins said a partial review showed that Texas had inspected at least 17 of the 73 facilities significantly noncompliant with the Clean Water Act that Environmental Working Group said had gone uninspected. "We are in fact protecting the environment here," Mr. Saitas said, noting that the state will perform 8,000 wastewater facility inspections and 5,000 air-quality inspections this year. "Just last week, I had to release the plan to clean up Houston's air," he added. "And I argue strongly that that's the most aggressive plan we've ever had in this state, and arguably some of the measures are the most stringent ever contemplated in this nation." Activists concur While Texas environmental and citizen-activist groups didn't vouch for the Environmental Working Group's data, they embraced the report's conclusions that state enforcement has been lax and that the EPA must improve its oversight of state enforcement efforts. They seized on the report to buttress their campaign to force major changes in the TNRCC, which is being scrutinized by a state commission that periodically reviews state agencies and recommends to the Legislature whether they should continue, be changed or abolished. The Sunset Advisory Commission, in a May report, favored the TNRCC's continued existence - but said the agency must make significant changes to cut pollution. "TNRCC has acquiesced to heavy pressure from industry to do less enforcement, to allow industries more self-policing, more get-out-of-jail-free cards," said Erin Rogers of the Public Interest Sunset Working Group, which is lobbying for changes in the agency. "They are not doing adequate inspections." Her group wants TNRCC to abandon announced inspections and move away from practices allowing companies to audit themselves for compliance with anti-pollution laws. Mr. Saitas defended the procedures as helpful to the environment and industry alike. "The objective...is to have compliance with the laws. It's not necessarily to rack up the most fines that you can," he said. Back to Texas state page
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