Op-Ed: Hold TCEQ accountable

Statement

Written by Congressman Michael Burgess

Published by Denton Record-Chronicle on June 20, 2010

When it was brought to my attention last month that an internal audit showed that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) failed to inform local officials in a timely manner of new air quality data collected at sites in North Texas, I took issue.

On April 30, at my request, TCEQ officials briefed me in my Lewisville office on concerns I was hearing from North Texans on air quality.

I specifically asked whether any air quality data showed abnormal results or should be cause for alarm. I asked, "Are there any red flags?" I was told there were none. Unfortunately, that response was not accurate.

Now there are questions that TCEQ needs to answer, and the public is right to demand accountability.

Why did TCEQ present its initial air quality testing results to local officials when an audit showed that management was aware that the results were "technically accurate" but also "inaccurate and misleading"?

Why were results from a second round of testing, which revealed different levels of certain compounds than the first round of testing, not presented to local officials in a timely manner?

Why did TCEQ officials wait weeks after finding out this data was suspect to come forward and correct their earlier statements?

And why did it take an internal audit being made public for TCEQ to come clean?

I demand accountability also, which I why I am calling for an investigation to dive deeper and hold TCEQ responsible for any missteps it may have made.

The Record-Chronicle's editorial "Burgess steps up, then backs off" stated that the paper believed an investigation by the Texas attorney general was appropriate -- and so did I.

However, if TCEQ were to come under legal scrutiny, the AG would be the agency's counsel. The AG's website states, "… the Office of the Attorney General serves as legal counsel to all boards and agencies of state government."

This creates an inherent conflict of interest, and would call into question the validity of an investigation by the AG.

The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, however, is comprised of 10 bipartisan state representatives and senators and two public members, appointed by the speaker of the House and lieutenant governor.

These individuals, with the exception of the two public members, as the Record-Chronicle's editorial put it, "answer ultimately to the people" -- they are held accountable to Texas voters when they are up for re-election.

The Texas Sunset Commission reviews each state agency every 12 years, and this is TCEQ's year for a review. The Sunset Commission accepts comments from the public and will hold a public hearing on TCEQ in December.

I have submitted a letter to the members of the commission outlining my concerns with TCEQ, and I encourage all North Texans to do the same.

Public comments may be submitted to the Sunset Commission by going to http://www.sunset.state.tx.us/question.htm.

You can view the letter I sent to the commission by going to http://bit.ly/aU2FZK or visiting my website, http://burgess.house.gov.

I have also requested to testify before the commission.

I have every confidence in the Sunset Commission to conduct a thorough review of TCEQ, and am confident in the state regulatory agencies' ability to fulfill their responsibilities and ensure the safety of Texans.

I believe the system the state has had in place since the Sunset Commission was created in 1977 serves Texans well, and I have full faith in the commission's review process.

Where I do not have faith, however, is in the ability of the nakedly political U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to have the best interests of Texans in mind if that federal agency were to take control of this and other statewide issues.

Not only has the EPA proved itself to be driven by political and ideological motives, but in many instances, the agency has come across as incompetent and unreasonable.

For instance, a March 2010 Inspector General Report on the EPA found an alarming number of areas where the EPA has failed to fulfill its current duties.

The Office of Water alone had unimplemented recommendations dating back to 2002. I am currently awaiting a response from that office following a hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Committee where I asked the EPA why so many obligations within the agency have been ignored.

A takeover by the EPA, which clearly has trouble handling its current responsibilities, would be the worst-case scenario for Texas.

I am committed to ensuring the safety of North Texans. Issues relating to urban gas drilling in the Barnett Shale have been present since I began my tenure as a U.S. congressman in January 2003, and my staff and I have been actively involved and monitoring the situation.

We have kept in constant contact with local and state officials, and my staff has been present at every town hall event or local forum of which we have been aware.

It is of utmost importance that the air we breathe is safe, and it is TCEQ's duty to ensure this. The agency must be held accountable.

DR. MICHAEL BURGESS, R-Lewisville, represents the 26th Congressional District of Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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