Say NO to EPA Limits on Public Participation

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants to allow state agencies like the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to eliminate public notice, public comment, and contested case hearings for many sources of air pollution.

TCEQ is known as the “Reluctant Regulator” because it consistently fails to consider the needs of communities across Texas and works to limit public transparency and meaningful public input.

Public participation is one of the few tools everyday Texans have to defend themselves, and once it goes, the TCEQ won’t even have to bother with performative, bare-minimum efforts to include the public. This rule transforms the “Reluctant Regulator” into an indifferent regulator.

Every resident of this state should be worried about this shameless surrender to polluters. We need your help to defend public participation and to tell the EPA that our communities will not be silenced.

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I strongly oppose the EPA's proposed rule that would allow states to determine the level of public participation for minor source air quality permits. In Texas, the public already faces significant barriers to meaningful participation in the permitting process and further reducing these opportunities would weaken transparency, accountability, and achievement of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Minor source permits, including those for concrete batch plants, rock crushers, and synthetic minor New Source Review facilities, can have substantial cumulative impacts on nearby communities.

Public participation is an essential safeguard that allows residents to raise site-specific concerns, identify potential permit deficiencies, and provide local knowledge that may not otherwise be considered. Rather than reducing public involvement in the name of efficiency, the EPA should strengthen minimum federal public participation requirements and ensure that state agencies cannot use expedited permitting at the expense of community health, clean air, and meaningful public engagement.

Sincerely,

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