The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has requested the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) take the necessary steps to reissue Clean Water Act discharge permits to sewage treatment plants and industrial facilities in Texas.
The summary of the EPA press release:
The TCEQ has a significant number of draft Clean Water Act discharge permits which have not been issued pending resolution of various concerns raised by EPA. Of the 80 discharge permits of concern, a large number of these draft permits have been delayed due to issues regarding the toxicity of the discharges. EPA is concerned that, in some cases, expired permits continue to authorize toxic discharges. With its action, EPA is requesting that TCEQ issue the overdue discharge permits within six months so that the cleanup and conservation of the state’s waters can proceed.
The TCEQ quickly put out a statement saying it had been cooperating with the EPA to resolve the problems and already had two proposals on the table.