House Bill (HB) 3 and Senate Bill (SB) 3, 80th Legislature, 2007, require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to adopt by rule appropriate environmental flow standards for each river basin and bay system in the state. The adoption schedule, as amended, requires environmental flow standards for the river and bay systems consisting of the Sabine and Neches Rivers and Sabine Lake Bay, and the Trinity and San Jacinto Rivers and Galveston Bay to be adopted by June 1, 2011.
To comply with HB 3/SB 3, TCEQ staff is proposing the creation of new 30 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 298, Environmental Flows, Subchapter A, Sabine and Neches Rivers and Sabine Lake Bay; and Subchapter B, Trinity and San Jacinto Rivers and Galveston Bay.
TCEQ is holding a rule stakeholder meeting to obtain input from the public on the rulemaking required by HB 3/SB 3.
The rule stakeholder meeting will be held on Thursday, August 12, 2010, at 1:00 p.m., at TCEQ’s Offices at 12100 Park 35 Circle, Building E, Room 201, Austin, Texas.
The rule stakeholder meeting will be webcast at http://www.texasadmin.com/tceqs.shtml
Please note that this is an opportunity to provide informal comments to staff prior to the formal rulemaking process. A formal public rule hearing and comment period is planned for December, 2010.