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29-794: The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality ( TCEQ ) is the environmental agency for the state of Texas . The commission's headquarters are located at 12100 Park 35 Circle in Austin . The fourth-largest environmental agency in the United States (and the third-largest state environmental agency, behind the US Environmental Protection Agency , the California EPA , and the New York DEC ), it employs about 2,780 employees, has 16 regional offices, and has

58-511: A $ 420 million operating budget for the 2016 fiscal year. The history of natural resource protection by the State of Texas is one of gradual evolution from protecting the right of access to natural resources (principally surface water) to a broader role in protecting public health and conserving natural resources for future generations of Texans. Natural resource programs were established in Texas at

87-458: A large used- tire dump located in his San Antonio House district. The abandoned tires often contain mosquitoes , flies , snakes , and small animals, and is difficult to spray with insecticides . Lujan first visited the site years earlier when he was a firefighter ; he concluded that conditions have worsened and that the site is a fire hazard, and he implored action by the state. The Office of Compliance and Enforcement enforces compliance with

116-631: A majority of seats in the House. Texas' legislative districts are an example of gerrymandering ; however, requirements in the Texas Constitution are more strict than other states. The Speaker of the House of Representatives has duties as a presiding officer as well as administrative duties. As a presiding officer, the Speaker must enforce, apply, and interpret the rules of the House, call House members to order, lay business in order before

145-438: A probe into the refusal. The TCEQ posted a letter it received from the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and its response, on its Harvey webpage. The TCEQ has three full-time commissioners, who are appointed by the governor, to establish overall agency direction and policy, and to make final determinations on contested permitting and enforcement matters. The commissioners are appointed for six-year terms with

174-682: Is clean air, clean water, and the safe management of waste." The Office of Air oversees all air-permitting activities. The office also implements plans to protect and restore air quality in cooperation with local, regional, state, and federal stakeholders. It tracks progress toward environmental goals, adapting plans as necessary. The Air Quality Division works to protect and restore air quality through four programs: Air Implementation Grants, Air Industrial Emissions Assessment, Air Modeling and Data Analysis, and Air Quality Planning. The Air Permits Division processes air permits and authorizations for facilities that, when operational, would emit contaminants into

203-435: Is justified by the complexity of certain regulatory and directorial tasks, and the drawbacks of political interference. Some independent regulatory agencies perform investigations or audits , and other may fine the relevant parties and order certain measures. In a number of cases, in order for a company or organization to enter an industry, it must obtain a license to operate from the sector regulator. This license will set out

232-404: Is powered and driven by a sense of corporate social responsibility amongst the advertising industry." Regulatory agencies deal in the areas of administrative law , regulatory law , secondary legislation , and rulemaking (codifying and enforcing rules and regulations, and imposing supervision or oversight for the benefit of the public at large). The existence of independent regulatory agencies

261-593: Is primarily a ceremonial position, but does, by long-standing tradition, preside over the House during its consideration of local and consent bills. Unlike other state legislatures , the House rules do not formally recognize majority or minority leaders. The unofficial leaders are the Republican Caucus Chairman and the Democratic House Leader, both of whom are elected by their respective caucuses. Republicans currently hold

290-547: Is the primary custodian of all legal documents within House. Additional duties include keeping a record of all progress on a document, attesting all warrants, writs, and subpoenas, receiving and filing all documents received by the house, and maintaining the electronic information and calendar for documents. When there is a considerable update of the electronic source website, the Chief Clerk is also responsible for noticing House members via email. The committee structure below

319-472: Is valid for the 88th Legislature (numbers in parentheses are the number of committee members; under House rules 1/2 of each committee's membership is determined by seniority and the remaining 1/2 by the Speaker of the House, excluding Procedural Committees the membership of which are wholly chosen by the Speaker). In addition to these committees, there are also six joint committees composed of members of both

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348-706: The Los Angeles Times reported that TCEQ and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had refused NASA 's offer to collect air-pollution data in Harvey's aftermath, wherein NASA would have flown a DC-8 over Houston to identify up to 450 chemical compounds. Michael Honeycutt of the TCEQ and EPA responded to the press that the TCEQ's ground-level analysis, "which found few problem areas,"

377-856: The Food and Drug Administration in the United States and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom ; and, in the case of economic regulation , the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets and the Telecom Regulatory Authority in India . Regulatory agencies may be a part of the executive branch of the government and have statutory authority to perform their functions with oversight from

406-489: The State Capitol in Austin . The leadership for the 88th Legislature is as follows: The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer and highest-ranking member of the House. The Speaker's duties include maintaining order within the House, recognizing members during debate, ruling on procedural matters, appointing members to the various committees and sending bills for committee review. The Speaker pro tempore

435-574: The House and receive propositions made by members, refer proposed legislation to a committee, preserve order and decorum, recognize people in the gallery, state and hold votes on questions, vote as a member of the House, decide on all questions to order, appoint the Speaker Pro Tempore and Temporary Chair, adjourn the House in the event of an emergency, postpone reconvening in the event of an emergency, and sign all bills, joint resolutions, and concurrent resolutions. The administrative duties of

464-546: The Speaker include having control over the Hall of the House, appointing chair, vice-chair, and members to each standing committee, appointing all conference committees, and directing committees to make interim studies. The Chief Clerk is the head of the Chief Clerk's Office which maintains a record of all authors who sign legislation, maintains and distributes membership information to current house members, and forwards copies of legislation to house committee chairs. The Chief Clerk

493-845: The Texas Legislature moved to make natural-resource protection more efficient by consolidating programs. In 1991, it combined the Texas Water Commission and the Texas Air Control Board to create the first version of the TCEQ, known as the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission until fall 1993. Sunset legislation passed by the Texas Legislature in 2001 changed the agency's name to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and continued

522-586: The advice and consent of the Texas Senate. A commissioner may not serve more than two six-year terms, and the terms are staggered so that a different member's term expires every two years. The governor also names the chairman of the commission. The current commissioners of the TCEQ are Jon Niermann (chairman), Catarina Gonzales, and Bobby Janecka. "The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality strives to protect our state's public health and natural resources consistent with sustainable economic development. Our goal

551-540: The agency until 2013. During the special session of the 81st Legislature (2009), legislation was adopted amending the 2013 date to 2011, when the agency was continued for an additional 12 years and subject to review in 2023. In 2017, the TCEQ had around 500 people assisting in the response to Hurricane Harvey . During and long after the event, the agency kept the public informed by posting air-monitoring data in near real time, status of public water systems, and other information on its Hurricane Harvey webpage. In March 2019,

580-410: The atmosphere. The division does this through two major air-permitting programs, New Source Review permits and Title V federal operating permits. The Office of Water oversees all aspects of planning, permitting, and monitoring to protect the state's water resources. The Office of Water is responsible for the implementation of these major programs: The office implements federal and state laws related to

609-413: The conditions by which the companies or organizations operating within the industry must abide. Regulatory regimes vary by country and industry. In the most light-touch forms of regulation, regulatory agencies are typically charged with overseeing a defined industry. Usually they will have two general tasks: In the event that the regulated company is not in compliance with its license obligations or

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638-444: The environment. In 2018, country recording artist Cody Johnson teamed up with the agency to produce a public service announcement that encourages protection of the state's natural resources. Regulatory authority These are customarily set up to strengthen safety and standards, and/or to protect consumers in markets where there is a lack of effective competition . Examples of regulatory agencies that enforce standards include

667-697: The law, the regulatory agency may be empowered to: In some instances, it is deemed in the public interest (by the legislative branch of government) for regulatory agencies to be given powers in addition to the above. This more interventionist form of regulation is common in the provision of public utilities , which are subject to economic regulation . In this case, regulatory agencies have powers to: The functions of regulatory agencies in prolong "collaborative governance" provide for generally non-adversarial regulation. Ex post actions taken by regulatory agencies can be more adversarial and involve sanctions, influencing rulemaking , and creating quasi-common law. However,

696-533: The legislative branch. Their actions are often open to legal review . However, some regulatory bodies are industry-led initiatives rather than statutory agencies, and are called 'voluntary organisations'. They may be not-for-profit organisations or limited companies. They derive their authority from members' commitments to abide by the standards applied by the regulator, for instance as the UK's Advertising Standards Authority says "The self-regulation system works because it

725-417: The regulation of aboveground and underground petroleum storage tanks, generation, treatment, storage, and disposal of municipal, industrial, low-level radioactive, and hazardous wastes, and the recovery and processing of uranium and disposal of byproduct. It also oversees state cleanup of contaminated sites. In the summer of 2016, Texas State Representative John Lujan called upon the commission to clean up

754-407: The roles of regulatory agencies as "regulatory monitors" provide a vital function in administering law and ensuring compliance. Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature . It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no term limits . The House meets at

783-418: The state's environmental laws, responds to emergencies and natural disasters that threaten human health and the environment, oversees dam safety, and monitors air quality within Texas. In addition, the office oversees the operations of 16 regional offices and one special-project office across the state. TCEQ spearheads Take Care of Texas, a personal-responsibility campaign to help Texans decrease their impact on

812-406: The turn of the 20th century, motivated initially by concerns over the management of water resources and water rights. In parallel with developments in the rest of the nation, and at the federal level, state natural resource efforts broadened at midcentury to include the protection of air and water resources, and later to the regulation of hazardous and nonhazardous waste generation. During the 1990s,

841-409: Was the best approach. The TCEQ argued that the NASA data would have been too high in the air to be relevant to people on the ground, and would have overlapped with their own data and been "confusing" or conflicting. The decision resulted in controversy, with opponents arguing the extra data would have been a boon for research and assessing public threats. On March 7, 2019, Congressional Democrats launched

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