Environmental Insider News articles from August 1999

Environmental Insider News archives from August 1999

Clinton Signs Chemical Safety Information Law.
August 14, 1999... Fears voiced by the FBI, the National Security Council, and others that terrorists might use sensitive "worst case scenario" information on industrial plants, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had proposed to post on the Internet,...

Public Citizen Bops Barton.
August 14, 1999... U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R, Ennis), who chairs the House Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power, on August 4 handed out draft copies of his "Electricity Competition and Reliability Act," which he says "represents a compilation of what other...

Tanking Low-Flow Toilets?
August 14, 1999... Rep. Barton is also one of 82 cosponsors of HR 623, the Plumbing Standards Improvement Act of 1999, which would repeal a federal mandate, slipped into the 1992 Energy Policy Act, which limits toilet size to 1.6 gallons per flush and showerhead...

Double Trouble for FKP.
August 14, 1999... Facing heavy "El Nino" rains and the possibility of a breach in the walls of a containment pond, a Pasadena company, FKP, Inc., in late January 1998 sought TNRCC approval for a proposed controlled discharge into the Houston Ship Channel of 6.7...

Is USFWS Stealing TPWD $$.
August 14, 1999... Accused on misappropriating and mismanaging two federal excise taxes earmarked for supporting state sport fish (Dingell-Johnson) and wildlife management (Pittman-Robertson) programs, officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, at a July...

Texas Tidbits.
August 14, 1999... *** Railroad Commission Chairman Tony Garza and TNRCC Commissioner John Baker announced an innovative partnership between their agencies to fund additional oil and gas well plugging by the state. Under the joint effort, TNRCC will provide $1.6...

Cherry Blossoms.
August 14, 1999... The Chemical Manufacturers Association on August 5 unveiled an Internet-based system it says will make more industry production and environmental, health, and safety (EHS) data available to the public. The website, dubbed ChemicalGuide.com, is...

Williams, Matthews Plan Longer RRC Careers.
August 28, 1999... Railroad Commissioners Michael Williams, who was appointed to fill the unexpired term of current State Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander, and Charles Matthews, first elected to his post in 1994, are both planning to seek extensions of their...

High-Profiling the RRC.
August 28, 1999... Commissioner Williams, acting as the RRC's point person on regulatory reform, also took credit for proposing several recent revisions to the RRC's regulatory framework he says will save Texas oil and gas operators another $6.3 million per year....

TPJ Report Blasts TCC.
August 28, 1999... A new report from Texans for Public Justice and the U.S. PIRG Education Fund seeks to give political significance to the fact that members of the Texas Chemical Council released 187 million pounds of toxic wastes into the Texas environment in...

Toughening Up TMDL's.
August 28, 1999... The latest White House initiative on the environment, dubbed Clean Waters Across America, promises to have significant impacts on regulated entities and nonpoint sources in Texas. Newly proposed EPA rules beef up Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)...

Two EPA Officials Indicted.
August 28, 1999... A federal grand jury on August 25 indicted two EPA officials on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Marc M. Radell, of EPA's Region 3 Office of Regional Counsel in Philadelphia, and Claudia Johnson,...

Texas Tidbits.
August 28, 1999... *** EPA on August 27 announced it had permanently revoked its approval of an asbestos removal training program conducted by Dallas-based ECU Environmental Services. Region 6 Administrator Gregg Cooke explained that ECU had sold asbestos...

Cherry Blossoms.
August 28, 1999... *** The Baton Rouge Advocate on August 23 reported that Louisiana may again become the center of the environmental justice debate. Keith McCoy, environmental quality director for the National Association of Manufacturers, related that he...