The Senate measure renewing the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission for 12 years passed the Senate on a voice vote. It now goes to a House-Senate conference committee, which will attempt to resolve the differences. He said the measure gives old refineries and factories plenty of time to do the same. You've already had 30 years, but we're going to give you six more. Grandfathered plants are exempt from many environmental rules because they were in existence when Texas enacted its clean-air law in 1971.
Federal law contains a similar exemption.
Grandfathered plants in Texas emit about 884,000 tons of air pollution a year, more than a third of the state's industrial emissions. The state's current program for grandfathered emissions, based on incentives and voluntary compliance, has yielded disappointing results, officials say. Unlike the House, which spent hours debating grandfathered emissions, the Senate passed Mr. Bernsen's amendment with barely a ripple. The only objection came from Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, who said the bill would unfairly require industries upwind of smoggy cities to cut emissions. Mr. Ogden challenged the notion that industrial pollution from rural areas is worsening urban air far away.