Public Citizen Testimony in Support of HB 1682 — Creation of an Environmental Remediation Fund
Public Citizen Testimony in Support of HB 1682 -- Creation of an Environmental Remediation Fund
To: Chairman Brooks Landgraf and the Members of the House Committee on Environmental Regulation
CC: Vice-Chair Claudia Ordaz, Rep. Rafael Anchía, Rep. Keith Bell, Rep. Ben Bumgarner, Rep. Penny Morales Shaw, Rep. Tom Oliverson, Rep. Ron Reynolds, Rep. Steve Toth
Via hand delivery and by email.
From: Adrian Shelley, Public Citizen, ashelley@citizen.org, 512-477-1155
Re: HB 1682, environmental remediation fund – Public Citizen testimony in support
Dear Chairman Landgraf and Members of the Committee:
On behalf of our approximately 30,000 members in Texas, Public Citizen appreciates the opportunity to testify in support of HB 1682 relating to the disposition and use of the state’s portion of civil penalties recovered in suits brought by local governments for violations of certain laws under the jurisdiction of, or rules adopted or orders or permits issued by, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
We support HB 1682 because:
- It creates an environmental remediation fund.
- It deposits a certain amount of civil penalties into the fund.
- The fund can be used for projects with local environmental benefit.
HB 1682 puts certain civil penalties into an environmental remediation fund.
This bill creates a special environmental remediation fund that will issue grants for counties and municipalities for environmental remediation projects. This fund would function similarly to the supplemental environmental project (SEP) program that allows companies to put half of an administrative penalty into a local environmental benefit project. Examples of SEPs include collection events to dispose of items such as tires and household hazardous materials, or an electrification program to replace gas powered equipment.1
SEPs are available for administrative penalties issued under Water Code Chapter 7, Subchapter C.2 HB 1682 would create a similar program for civil penalties issued under Water Code Chapter 7, Subchapter D. At present, civil penalties are divided as follows:
- First $4.3 million of civil fine: half to the state, half to the local government that brough suit.
- Any amount over $4.3 million: to the state.
Right now, the state’s portion of fines goes into the general revenue fund. HB 1682 would put half of the state’s portion of the civil penalty into the special environmental remediation fund. This would mean that for penalties up to $4.3 million, 25 percent of the penalty would go into the fund and that for any amount beyond $4.3 million, 50 percent of the penalty would go into the fund.
Environmental remediation funds provide direct community benefit.
Environmental remediation funds function best with local input. HB 1682 would allow counties and municipalities to apply for grant funding for specific projects. The TCEQ would develop criteria for awarding grant funds. We imagine the program would function similarly to the SEP program. We recommend preference be given to projects that are in the same communities as the polluters whose civil penalties are deposited into the fund. This will ensure that the communities who suffer under the burden of pollution benefit from collected fines.
This bill could be expanded to include more civil suits.
HB 1682 as drafted applies to civil suits brought by local governments. The Texas attorney general has the right to preempt civil actions brought by local governments.3 It’s not clear if the bill would apply to a civil penalty secured by the attorney general after he or she preempted a civil suit brought by a local government.
We recommend clarifying that penalties collected in this manner should include the deposit into the environmental remediation fund. We also recommend that civil penalties secured by the attorney general in a civil suit brought pursuant to Water Code Sec. 7.105 include the deposit into the environmental remediation fund. This could be accomplished by striking the words “by a local government” from Water Code Sec. 17.107(a).
The largest environmental penalties are secured by the attorney general.
The attorney general secures the largest environmental penalties from polluters. In a recent example, AG Ken Paxton secured more than $100 million in penalties from TPC Group, which was responsible for a massive explosion in Port Neches in November 2019.4 Adding civil penalties from AG actions into the environmental remediation fund would increase the size of the fund and the opportunity to fund beneficial projects.