An Indian goat herder displays a goat to customers at an animal market in the Old Quarters of New Delhi. Here in Texas, an new bill could make property owners liable if they hurt a goat or sheep that wanders onto their property.
Goats and sheep with wanderlust in Texas could find a little more protection from a new bill making its way through the legislature.
The bill, HB 1819, by Rep. Kyle Kacal, R-Bryan, would make a property owner liable for killing or brutalizing goats or sheep that trespass onto their property due to an insufficient fence.
Bob Turner, a former representative, lifelong sheep rancher and member of the Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers Association, said it’s about time two of Texas’ more profitable, cloven hoofed animals are protected by the same rules that cattle, horses and donkeys have enjoyed for decades.
Keep an eye on these notable bills passing through the legislature this week.
This week, a bunch of bills that could affect everything from Texas’ energy and environment to the names of state regulatory agencies will be heard at the Capitol. We’ve compiled a short list of the bills that would have an impact on energy and environment in the state for you to keep an eye on, along with some of our earlier reporting on these issues.
Photo courtesy of Justin Sullivan and Getty Images
A new bill could require fracking companies to mail a list of the ingredients in their fracking fluid to residents living near a proposed well.
Under legislation considered at the Capitol this week, hydraulic fracturing companies in Texas could soon be mailing a list of “fracking” fluid ingredients to residents near oil and gas wells.
House Bill 448, authored by Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, would require drilling companies to mail a list of the ingredients they plan to use in the fracking fluid to residents living within 500 feet of the proposed well.
An oil refinery in Texas City, Texas. A new bill could help streamline the greenhouse gas permitting process.
Update: HB 788, which would put greenhouse gas permitting into the hands of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), passed out of the House this week. No amendments to the bill were added. Mike Heim, a Texas oil and gas executive, previously told the House Natural Resources Committee that moving the permitting process to the TCEQ could bring millions of dollars to the state. Opponents said the bill strips the public’s power to contest a pollution permit. The bill now heads to the Senate Natural Resources Committee.Â
Time is money in the energy industry, and oil and natural gas executives say the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, is wasting their time. In particular, they say the EPA takes too long to issue greenhouse gas permits.
Mike Heim, President and Chief Operating Officer of Targa Resources and President of the Gas Processors Association, a natural gas trade association, testified in favor of the bill. He said the slow permitting process has affected his bottom line.
“If I had known it would have taken this long to get a permit, I probably would have gone to Louisiana and built my plant over there,” Heim said. “I’ve lost $90 million worth of revenue in a year waiting for this (permit) that I will never recoup.”
A new Texas bill could make sure towns are reporting low water supplies to authorities.
New legislation could plug the leaks in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) reporting requirements for municipalities running low on water. Right now, a water utility can be nearly tapped out, and it still isn’t required to report the problem.
Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, has filed a bill, HB 252, that would require water utilities to report to the TCEQ if they have less than 180 days of water left. A six-month buffer would give the TCEQ time to help find alternative sources of water.
“Many [water utilities] have come in in an emergency situation where they were reporting they had less than 45 days, and at that point it is pretty hard to work with them to try to find a new source,” said Linda Brookins, Director of the Water Supply Division at the TCEQ, at a House Natural Resources Committee Meeting earlier this week.
And those who kindly opposed the legislation were native seed distributors themselves.
While the distributors were glad the state government is championing the native seeds cause, some weren’t sure these bills would be the right way to tackle a native seed supply-side gap.
Dean Williams, who proclaimed he was voted “most likely to sack seed” as a youth and is now president of 101-year-old Douglass King Seed Company, thought the grant program could have a detrimental effect on the native seed business.
Proponents say the bill would cut down on the red tape of reporting requirements for wastewater utilities.
A new bill could stop a lot of the crying over spilled sewage in Texas.
Lawmakers and critics voiced various concerns about a sewage spill bill at a House Natural Resources Committee meeting Tuesday at the Capitol. The bill, HB 824 authored by Bill Callegari, R-Houston, would put a floor on the size of spills that must be reported by utilities to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
“This is a common sense solution to an issue that I think causes a fair amount of paper work,” said Callegari. “I personally, and I think a lot of you here, have been concerned with some of the red tape, if you will, in this state.”
If the bill passes, most spills below 1,500 gallons would not need to be reported to authorities (by comparison, a standard milk hauling truck holds around 4,000 to 5,000 gallons).
A wastewater treatment plant is inundated by the Yazoo River floodwaters near Yazoo City, Mississippi in 2011. A new Texas bill could loosen the requirements for reporting sewage spills.
Update:On March 5, the sewage spill bill got a hearing at the Capitol. Read about that here.
Sewage spill reporting requirements could become less stringent if a bill filed by Rep. Bill Callegari, R-Houston, passes the legislature.
The spill bill, HB 824, would exempt wastewater treatment facilities from reporting most sewage spills less than 1,500 gallons. (By comparison, a typical milk tanker truck holds between 4,000-5,000 gallons.) The merits of the sewage spill bill and others will be heard at a House Natural Resources Committee meeting tomorrow at the Capitol.
Right now, any amount of sewage spilled by a wastewater treatment facility or water utility must be reported to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
Photo courtesy of ANTONY DICKSON/AFP/Getty Images)
Workers process shark fins drying in the sun covering the roof of a factory building in Hong Kong on January 2, 2013. A new Texas bill could ban shark fin products and sales in Texas.
Update: On March 5, the Senate version of the shark fin bill got a hearing at the Capitol. Read about that here.Â
Early next month, shark fins will bring a rare mix of folks together at the Texas Capitol.
That’s when Rep. Eddie Lucio, D-Harlingen, Hollywood star (and “Friday Night Lights” alum) Kyle Chandler, his daughter and the Humane Society of the United States will meet to tout Lucio’s recently-filed bill that would, if passed, ban shark fin products in Texas.
“Protecting our sea life has become a critical issue in today’s society. We need to prevent our marine life from being harmed,” said Rep. Lucio in a statement.
A fallow deer watches from the cover of a bracken thicket after sunrise during the autumn rutting season at Richmond Park on October 10, 2011 in London, England. New legislation proposed for Texas would help clarify deer breeding regulations.
Deer breeding as a commercial enterprise is expanding in Texas, and breeders say it’s time to firm up the permitting process.
Sen. Tommy Williams, R-Woodlands, filed a bill this month, SB 820, that could overhaul some permitting for breeders. Gilbert Adams, President of the Texas Deer Association, said as breeding businesses grow across the state, permitting and permit-revocation processes need to be clarified.
“It’s a long-term proposition, raising deer …you’ve got to have some certainty in this business,” Adams said. “This gives the breeder some due-process rights that other professions have had for years.”
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