Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has issued only a handful of
fines to companies that are violating air quality standards. That’s the charge being
made by environmental groups in Texas and contained in a report issued by the
Environmental Integrity Project and Environment Texas. In the report they allege
that the TCEQ imposed fines on only about three percent of the 24,839 unauthorized
air pollution incidents from 2011 to 2016. The report notes that even self-reported
figures taken from state records show that more than 500 million pounds of air
pollution has been released during industrial malfunctions and maintenance, but
only $13.5 million in fines have been levied. In 2016, there were only 20 penalties
issued even though there were over 3,700 pollution events.
The TCEQ has responded by saying that it follows all federal and state
environmental standards. That claim became the catalyst that prompted Texas’
environmental advocates to file a lawsuit against the EPA.
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