The State of Texas gets a new water discharge bill. Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill to allow the discharge of oil and gas produced water into rivers and streams but at the same time gave new powers to the State’s Commission on Environmental Quality.
The power had previously been with the Texas Railroad Commission which is similar to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
The bill was an effort to reduce paperwork and delays and allows those seeking the discharge permits to go to one agency rather than two commissions.
Oil and gas companies, under the bill, will have the ability to discharge “certain pollutants into the waters of Texas.”
The Sierra Club fought the bill contending it only allows the dumping of wastewater “from oil and gas operations into our state’s streams, rivers, reservoirs, and bays.”
But the bill also gives the TCEQ additional power to “ensure that certain water and effluent discharged into the water in Texas meet established water quality standards,” according to Rep. Lozano’s stated intent.
The state retained some authority through the TCEQ over an EPA program that, at the TCEQ, is called the Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System back in 1998 but that authority didn’t include oil and gas.
The legislation takes effect on September 1st.
