Environmental Insider News articles from October 2001

Environmental Insider News archives from October 2001

SB 5 Funds, I/M Programs in Jeopardy.
October 6, 2001... We are still working on confirmation (during the UT-OU game day, it is unlikely we will get it until Monday) on the details, but it appears that a state district judge has granted an injunction that blocks collection of the new $225 fee on...

Whitman Launches Pen Pal Program in El Paso.
October 6, 2001... EPA Administrator Christie Whitman visited an El Paso elementary school on Thursday to kick off a new EPA program aimed at encouraging children to learn more about protecting the environment by collarborating with other children from across the...

Medical Incinerator Emissions Guidelines.
October 6, 2001... EPA on October 1 both proposed approval and took a conditional final direct action approving the Texas 111(d) Plan submitted by Governor Perry on June 2, 2000, to implement and enforce the Emissions Guidelines for existing...

Superfunding an Old ICBM Base.
October 6, 2001... TNRCC will conduct a public meeting at 7 pm on November 8 in Tuscola to answer questions regarding its proposal to add the Materials Recovery Enterprise, Inc., site to the state superfund list. The 11.47-acre property, which MRE operated as a...

Fee Halt May Not Kill SIP.
October 8, 2001... As promised, we have an update of our story regarding the injunction issued last week that bars collection of the $225 verification fee for "out-of-state vehicle identification number verifications" on all used cars brought into Texas [Section...

Still More on the Fee Fallout.
October 12, 2001... Both EPA officials in Dallas and TNRCC officials in Austin are reassuring everyone that the State Implementation Program is in very fine shape, thank you, despite some recent legal setbacks that have stripped funding from a major initiative -...

I/M Debate: Who Will Chicken Out?
October 12, 2001... State vehicle inspectors have thrown down the gauntlet to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission and state lawmakers - work with us on inspection fees or we just might (a) not sign up under the new state program, leaving Texas high...

Vehicle Testing a Vital Part of Anti-Pollution Effort.
October 12, 2001... By Robert J. Huston, Chairman Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission Texans are increasingly aware of the vital importance of air quality to our health, our children's health, our economy and prosperity, and our way of life....

Emissions Impossible: How History Is About To Repeat Itself.
October 12, 2001... By Bill Bandy and Ed Martin Texas State Inspection Association This article responds to an article, "More Effective Vehicle Testing is a vital part of anti-pollution effort", written by TNRCC Chairman Robert Huston, The Texas...

EPA Proposes OK of TNRCC FOP Program.
October 15, 2001... EPA on October 11 announced its intention to grant full approval of the operating permit program submitted by TNRCC, as revised in June 1998 and June 2001. The two revisions responded to notices of program deficiency issued by EPA on June 7,...

Waste Board Needs Two.
October 15, 2001... Folks have until October 26 to submit nominations to TNRCC to fill two vacancies on the Municipal Solid Waste Management and Resource Recovery Advisory Council. Needed are two general public representatives - one whose term will expire August...

TERP Guidelines, Criteria Okayed.
October 15, 2001... At the October 12 work session, the two Commissioners approved, with a few changes, new Guidelines and Criteria for the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan, created by Senate Bill 5. The guidelines address incentive grants for on-road and non-road...

White Leads Parade of Female Appointments.
October 16, 2001... As many had been expecting for several days, Texas Governor Rick Perry on Monday officially appointed Texas Water Development Board member Kathleen Hartnett White to fill a gaping hole at Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission left by...

EPA Touts Cogeneration, aka CHP.
October 16, 2001... On the same day that EPA made available to the public a preliminary draft of its pending guidance on Source Determinations for Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Facilities under the Clean Air Act's New Source Review and Title V programs, EPA...

Oh, Yeah - EPA OK's HGA SIP (for now).
October 16, 2001... While it is a big deal that EPA Regional Administrator Gregg Cooke, Texas Governor Rick Perry, Houston Mayor Lee P. Brown, and a host of dignitaries got together to celebrate the signing of the Houston-Galveston attainment plan, it will be a...

I/M Fee Increase "Not Enough," Says TSIA.
October 24, 2001... Working late into the night on Tuesday, TNRCC staffers hammered out revisions to proposed rules governing the vehicle inspection and maintenance program that included raising the fee for the Accelerated Simulation Mode (ASM-II) test from $22.50...

EPA Whistle Blower Has New Day in Court.
October 24, 2001... EPA Region 4 employee and reputed whistle blower Sharyn Erickson [see June 14, 1998, EI NEWS for background] is back in the news, as she continues her battle against alleged harassment and retaliation by her supervisors. Erickson, based on her...

April 2003 for TMDL, NPDES Rules.
October 24, 2001... EPA has announced an effective date of April 30, 2003, for revisions to its Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) regulations that were published in the Federal Register on July 13, 2000....

Rice Gets More Gravy.
October 24, 2001... Rice University is one of seven universities which, together with one nonprofit entity, have received EPA Science To Achieve Results (STAR) research grants totaling $3.5million to study invasive species in the United States. Invasive species,...

Landfilling Lead-Based Paint Waste.
October 24, 2001... EPA has taken a giant step toward accelerating the pace of lead-based paint removal from residences, a move that will be even faster if no one files objections to the direct final rule announced on October 23 [at 40 CFR Pars 257 and 258, RIN...