“Voluntary emissions reduction” was hardly a pioneering concept when Gov. George W. Bush introduced it as part of his legislative program in 1999. In fact, the so-called voluntary reduction program to address the state’s air pollution problems codified during the 1999 legislative session as part of Bush’s effort to prove that “business and a healthy environment can coexist” has long been touted by the governor and his allies in the Lege as a business-friendly alternative to the tougher sanctions pushed by Democrats and environmental activists.
So-called “grandfathered” plants those already in operation when the Clean Air Act was signed by Richard Nixon in 1971 were exempted from permitting requirements; state officials believed the plants would be modernized or shut down over time. Many such facilities remained unpermitted by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission in 1997, when the governor announced that a number of grandfathered plants would begin to reduce their emissions voluntarily. In exchange, the plants would continue to be exempted from state regulatory standards.
A year after the implementation of the voluntary reduction program, an Environmental Defense Fund report (conducted with industry cooperation) found that only three plants statewide had significantly reduced emissions; meanwhile, grandfathered plants continued to spew more than 900,000 tons of pollution into Texas air. Two years later, when Bush signed legislation allowing grandfathered facilities to win TNRCC permits by setting up voluntary reduction programs using “Best Available Control Technology” (a standard which may be modified depending on the “age and useful life” of the grandfathered facility), many of those plants remained unpermitted. Still, Bush remained a true believer in voluntary reductions, predicting that the legislation, SB 766 from this year’s Lege session, would “significantly reduce” pollution produced by grandfathered facilities.
But since very few parameters exist to guide companies into the voluntary permitting process, companies will essentially be allowed to write the rules they will follow. The new law’s only enforcement tool included over Bush’s objections is a provision to triple the fees on the largest grandfathered plants each year until they bring their facilities into the permitting process. But because that provision only affects about eight facilities statewide, the policies promoted by Bush will almost certainly ensure that grandfathered plants continue to emit tons of unregulated pollutants into Texas’ air and water for years to come.
This article appears in September 3 • 1999.