State House Natural Resource Committee meets March 5; county residents urged to engage
Ellis County residents interested in the issues involving municipal utility districts and the application of biosolids to agricultural land are encouraged to listen to the March 5 meeting of the state House Natural Resource Committee as it meets in Austin. A live video broadcast of this hearing will be available at https://house.texas.gov/video-audio/. (A tape also will be available for later viewing on the state's Texas Legislature Online website).
The meeting begins at 8 a.m., and electronic comments relating to agenda items can be submitted online at https://comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c390. Comments will be accepted through the duration of the meeting.
The meeting agenda describes the meeting as an “organizational committee hearing” and lists the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, and the Texas Water Development Board as under its jurisdiction. For this meeting, the committee will hear invited testimony only.
The committee, which is chaired by state Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, has the following members (the names are linked to each member’s official Texas House of Representatives webpage, where contact information is available if submitting a comment after the meeting ends):
• Armando Martinez, D-Weslaco, vice chair
• Trent Ashby, R-Lufkin
• Jeff Barry, R-Pearland
• Cecil Bell, R-Magnolia
• Brad Buckley, R-Salado
• Caroline Fairly, R-Amarillo
• Erin Elizabeth Gamez, D-Brownsville
• Josey Garcia, D-San Antonio
• Mary E. Gonzalez, D-Clint
• Ramon Romero Jr., D-Fort Worth
• Denise Villalobos, R-Corpus Christi
• Erin Zwiener, D-Driftwood
In an email that was circulated amongst MUD opponents in Ellis County, local political activist Kathy Ponce encouraged residents to engage with the committee through the online commenting portal.
“Everyone needs to get their comments submitted in regards to MUD issues, the biosolids waste issue, waste water management issues, and any other issues deemed suitable,” Ponce wrote, noting other water issues are also on the agenda.
In the email, a copy of which was forwarded to ITKE, Ponce also asked that people request a public hearing for HB 1674, which would add language to current law relating to what are termed “forever” chemicals, i.e., perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances that can be contained in certain agricultural products. The bill would expand current law to govern the presence of PFAS in biosolids.
As of March 5, the bill, which was filed by Helen Kerwin, R-Glen Rose, and jointly authored by Andy Hopper, R-Decatur, and Penny Morales Shaw, D-Houston, had not formally been assigned to a committee, but it would come under the Natural Resources Committee’s purview.
An identical, companion bill was filed by Kevin Sparks, R-Midland, in the state Senate; SB 886 has been assigned to that chamber’s Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee.
“We have failed to make our voices heard in the Texas House in regards to the local issues/concerns with TCEQ,” Ponce wrote in encouraging action. “This is our chance to rumble a little.”
For more information on the 89th Legislature, visit Texas Legislature Online.
Written by Jo Ann Livingston/ITKE.
