TX State Environmental Regulators Facing 34% Budget Cut, Up To 295 Job Cuts

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Texas' environmental regulators, some of whom are already under fire from green groups for not doing enough to keep air and water pollution in check, are bracing for deep cuts as lawmakers hash out the next biennium's budget.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality faces a possible cut of about $295 million, or 34 percent, and could lose 295 full-time employees. The Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry, could see a 16 percent cut. Other agencies with some environmental functions also face the ax: Cuts are coming to the General Land Office (perhaps 45 percent, though the agency's oil-spill responsibilities will take a much lesser hit) and the Soil and Conservation Board, which regulates pollution from agricultural operations (as much as 44 percent), among other agencies.

The reductions have yet to make their way through the legislative mill, where the amounts could change, and they are also in line with what other agencies face. Nonetheless, this represents a significant setback for environmental regulators who are already under fire from environmentalists for not doing enough to keep pollution in check.

Jim Marston, the Texas head of the Environmental Defense Fund, said the cutbacks are only the latest blows to the regulatory agencies. Some of them "haven't had enough staff for years," he said. Some programs (like the TCEQ's underground injection program, which monitors mining-related injections into the earth) might as well be given over to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, he said — something that industry undoubtedly fears.

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http://www.texastribune.org/texas-environmental-news/environmental-problems-and-policies/texas-environmental-regulators-face-deep-budget-cu/