Abbott lifts post-Harvey suspension of environmental regulations

Shell Deer Park refinery is one of the plants that reported major pollution releases during and after Hurricane Harvey. (Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle ) Shell Deer Park refinery is one of the plants that reported major pollution releases during and after Hurricane Harvey. (Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle ) Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Staff / Houston Chronicle Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Staff / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Abbott lifts post-Harvey suspension of environmental regulations 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

Almost seven months after Hurricane Harvey bore down on southeast Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott's office has lifted the suspension of environmental regulations he put in place in the early days of the storm, a move environmentalists called long overdue.

"It was an ill conceived, bad idea from the start," said Ilan Levin, an attorney with the nonprofit Austin-based Environmental Integrity Project. "It did nothing useful (and) it sowed confusion among industries."

TCEQ spokeswoman Andrea Morrow said in an email that the decision to lift the suspension "was the culmination of weeks of review and discussion between the TCEQ and the governor's office to determine the best course of action."

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The governor's decision comes just weeks after the Houston Chronicle and the Associated Press published a series on the government's inaction following more than 100 toxic spills on land, in water and air during and after Harvey, even though documents show that benzene, vinyl chloride, butadiene and other known human carcinogens were among the dozens of tons of industrial chemicals released throughout Houston's petrochemical corridor and surrounding neighborhoods and waterways.

The news organizations found that only a handful of the industrial spills had been investigated by federal regulators and Texas regulators say they have investigated 89 incidents statewide. Testing by state and federal regulators of soil and water for contaminants largely was limited to Superfund toxic waste sites.

Environmentalists made their opinions known on the matter earlier this week, sending a letter to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality demanding the rules be enforced again.

"There was little justification for suspending these environmental and health rules in the first place, but certainly none seven months later," said Luke Metzger, Environment Texas' executive director who signed the letter. "I'm glad Gov. Abbott recognized that and, hopefully, not too much damage was done by his writing polluters a blank check."

RELATED STORY: Environmentalists call on state to lift environmental regulations suspension post Harvey.

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.

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.

On Thursday, James Person, assistant general counsel in the governor's office, sent an email to TCEQ agreeing that it was time to lift the suspension.

"The TCEQ now asserts that the suspension is no longer necessary," Person wrote. "Based on the TCEQ's assertion and our office's review, the Office of the Governor hereby grants TCEQ's request to terminate the temporary suspension of those rules."

The governor's office declined to comment Friday.

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With the rules suspended for almost seven months, environmentalists say the damage already may be done.

"The state, basically, shot itself in the foot," Levin said. "It will be hard for the state to collect penalties from companies that may have egregious violated the laws because the first thing their lawyers will do is hold up governor's order as their shield."

It also means that some "bad actors" could have used the suspension to continue to circumvent the law long after the storm, Levin added, though he believes most Houston industries reported releases as they would have if the rules had not been suspended.

"I think that if a company is trying to circumvent the law or to avoid having to report, then, yes, the governor's order could help that bad actor. I think the order could invite some companies to pollute with impunity," he said. "It'll eventually come out ... (but) at this point, we don't know."

The Chronicle and AP's reporting found that a number of companies continued to report toxic releases even as Abbott's suspension was in effect in part because federal laws also require reporting pollution. But the state did little independent monitoring at spill sites to verify whether those Harvey reports were accurate.

Morrow said TCEQ still will evaluate the Harvey-related incidents "as part of conducting routine investigations in areas impacted by the hurricane."

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