EPA Tells Texas To Clean Up Its Act

When I was in school there were rules, and I remember that I hated them. Well, I hated them when I wanted to do something else. When I was little, it was simple stuff- like I wanted to stay outside longer for recess, or I wanted to be able to run around instead of stand in line or sit in my desk. Everybody wants that. Then I got older and I started to think that the rules were there just to control me, and I figured out sophisticated arguments for why I should not have to follow certain rules, more than once invoking the Bill of Rights, or even something a teacher had said a few minutes prior as backing for my argument. For the most part, though, I was just against rules and wanted to poke holes in them- make my own, or have none at all.

Then I got older, actually, I became a teacher, and I realized that the rules are there for good reason, and that things just work better if everybody follows them for the most part. They aren’t important enough to get in fights over, but they serve the purpose of keeping everyone on the same page and making sure (trying to make sure) that people are not getting an advantage or special treatment over others. Of course, that happens anyway, but the rules go a long way toward making sure that things are on an even playing field, and I like that.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency likes that too, which is why they have decided to tell Texas pollution regulators that the flexible permits they have been issuing since 1994 don’t meet Clean Air Act standards. So, um, stop issuing them. They’ve been giving them out to refineries, chemical plants and power plants for over 15 years now. George W. Bush didn’t become governor until 1995, so he didn’t start the trend, but he sure wasn’t going to stop it. And there would be no EPA pressure during his presidency, so they have had a nice 15 year window with Bush himself pretty much protecting their right to flaunt the laws of the land.

"EPA is disapproving the permit program after determining that it allows companies to avoid certain federal clean air requirements by lumping emissions from multiple units under a single 'cap' rather than setting specific emission limits for individual pollution sources at their plants," said the EPA.

The TCEQ is the Texas agency charged with implementing the federal Clean Air Act under EPA supervision. The commission has long been criticized as being lax in regulating the state's petrochemical infrastructure.

TCEQ, the Texas agency charged with upholding the Clean Air Act in Texas, says that they are doing just fine. said the flexible permits complied with the Clean Air Act.

"The Flexible Permitting Program has contributed to improved air quality in Texas, and if the state is prevented from using the program, air quality could actually suffer," -- TCEQ Chairman Bryan Shaw

If the EPA Clean Air Act standards are implemented, air quality could actually suffer? This is a no brainer.

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