Environmentalists want state officials to finally reinstate the environmental regulations Gov. Greg Abbott suspended nearly seven months ago as Hurricane Harvey bore down on southern Texas.

And they made their voices heard in a Wednesday letter to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

"The mission of (TCEQ) is 'to protect our state's public health and natural resources consistent with sustainable economic development,' " the letter reads. "Suspension of rules leads to noncompliance by the regulated community, which thwarts the mission to protect public health."

TCEQ officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The environmental groups who signed the letter include Public Citizen's Texas Office, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services and the Turtle Island Restoration Network. Read the full letter here.

On Aug. 28, three days after Harvey began pummeling the Houston area, Abbott suspended many environmental regulations relating to air pollution, wastewater and fuel standards for vehicles.

"We believe that many of the rule suspensions were never appropriate," the letter states.

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The governor's Harvey disaster declaration suspended environmental reporting and record-keeping rules as well as liability for unauthorized emissions for the duration of the disaster declaration, an order most recently renewed on March 16. A spokesman for the state environmental agency said the suspensions apply only when rules would hinder disaster response.

But nearly seven months have passed, environmentalists say, and it's time to hold these companies accountable once again.

"There may be serious public health consequences to leaving these suspensions in place. If they aren't needed anymore, they should be ended now," Adrian Shelley, director of Public Citizen's Texas office, said in a Wednesday news release.

Alex Stuckey covers science and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.