The Small Business Advocate, Volume 5, Issue 2, March-April 2000 Page: BACK COVER
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Agency to Ease Air Regs for Very
Small Emission Sources
If your business emits insignificant amounts of air pollutants,TNRCC's new "de
minimis" proposals are for you. De minimis means "very small, insignificant additions
to background concentrations" that "cause no discernable or unacceptable impact to
public health." Under the proposals, facilities with de minimis emissions would be
free from notification, registration, permitting, or otherTNRCC requirements involving
authorization to construct and operate. Eliminating the permitting process for de
minimis facilities will let the TNRCC direct its limited resources to areas of need.
As authorized by the 1999 Legislature,TNRCC has set a de minimis threshold forpreconstruction air permitting and is developing a list of
Stay Up to Date on Rules That May
Affect Your Small Business
Since May 1999, when the 76th Legislature
adjourned, the TNRCC has been busy writing
and implementing rules for more than 160 new
state laws affecting environmental regulation.
Already, the agency has proposed rules to imple-
ment new laws dealing with grandfathered facili-
ties and public participation in permitting.
Currently, the TNRCC is soliciting comments
on a number of proposals with potential to affect
small businesses. These involve a range of sub-
jects, including de minimis air permitting thresh-
olds, private sewage facilities, petroleum storage
tanks, and aquaculture facilities.
You can stay current on proposals and rules
that affect small businesses through our Web
site. Check out the TNRCC's rule-tracking log at
www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/oprd/rulelog.htmi. From
it, you can link to the text of proposed and
adopted rules. .types of operations and rates
of chemical usage that would
qualify facilities as de minimis.
Facilities not on the list
also could qualify for de
minimis status by showing
that their emissions were
below levels listed in the rule
for various contaminants.
These levels are established
by scientific analysis and set
well below those that could
cause any harm. In addition,
facilities could ask the
agency for a case-by-case
determination of their status.
The TNRCC commission-
ers will be reviewing the de
minimis proposals in late
March. If approved for publi-
cation, the proposals will
appear in the Texas Register
and be open for public com-
ment for 30 days. VA Clean Sweep of Cleanup Rules
Cleaning up water or soil contaminated by environmental pollutants can be a
daunting task. However, thanks to the TNRCC's new Texas Risk Reductiort Program
(TRRP), you can be more certain that the cleanup is complete and may have more
flexibility in demonstrating that fact to the TNRCC.
For example, instead of dictating the exact cleanup level and setting requirements
for exactly how that cleanup goal must be reached, the rule provides for (1) a simpler
process to factor in site-specific considerations when setting cleanup levels; and (2)
more latitude for you to manage the contamination in certain situations, which may
lessen your costs compared to a full-scale cleanup.
Under TRRP, almost all environmental contamination is addressed by a single set
of rules, regardless of how the contamination happened.This one set of rules includes
industrial solid waste and municipal hazardous waste, wastewater treatment, and un-
derground injection control programs, as well as the state Superfund and Voluntary
Cleanup programs. Effective May 1, 2000, newly reported cases of environmental con-
tamination that are regulated under these programs must follow TRRP cleanup proce-
dures. On September 1, 2003,TRRP also will apply to cleanups under the petroleum
storage tank program. For further information onTRRP, go to www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/
permitting/trrp.htm, or call 512/239-1023. V
UPCOMING
May 1-3: Austin, TNRCC Environmental Trade Fair and Conference (512/239-3155)
May 2: Texas Environmental Excellence Awards (TEEA) Banquet (512/239-3150)
May 10: Fort Worth, Small Business Advisory Committee
May 23: Dallas, Small Business Advisory Committee
May 25: Beaumont, Golden Triangle Small Business Advisory Committee
June 1: Houston, Small Business Advisory Committee
August 4: Houston, Water Conservation in Landscape and Irrigation (512/239-6333)
(For SBAC information, call 1-800-447-2827.)Free Legal,
Technical Help
from
EnviroMentors
Stymied over environmental regula-
tions? Get free, confidential help from
the Texas EnviroMentor Program.
Some 70 volunteer technical and
legal professionals have signed up to
provide small businesses with a variety
of services from compliance review and
advice to assistance with permit appli-
cations, all free and confidential.The
program is open to independently
owned businesses in Texas with 100 or
fewer employees that are regulated by
theTNRCC.
Technical volunteers have degrees
in engineering or science and five or
more years of full-time experience in
their areas of expertise. Legal volunteers
have law degrees, are members of the
state bar, and have two or more years of
experience practicing environmental
law inTexas.
Sample projects volunteers have
taken on involved:
V helping a cement batch plant
obtain a standard exemption;
V developing a stormwater
management plan for a gas plant;
V suggesting cost-saving modifications
to a metal finisher's hazardous waste
management practices;
V showing an automotive repair
facility how to correctly file
waste reports; and
V developing a regulatory compliance
plan for a wood products facility.
In many cases, the free help would
have cost over $2,000.What's more, this
free advice can help you comply with
regulations that carry costly penalties
for noncompliance.
For more information about Texas
EnviroMentors, call the TNRCC's Small
Business hot line at 1-800-447-2827; or
go to www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/exec/small_
business/txmentor/questOl.htm. VThe Small Business Advocate is published bimonthly
by the Small Business Assistance Program.
Comments or suggestions
for future articles should be sent to:
The Small Business Advocate Editor
Small Business and Environmental
Assistance Division, MC 106
Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission
P.O. Box 13087
Austin, Texas 78711-3087
Toll Free 1-800-447-2827
(All calls are confidential)
Fax: 512-239-1065
Web Site: http://www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/
exec/small business
The TNRCC is an equal opportunity/aformative action employer. The agency does
not allow discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex,
disability, age, sexual orientation or veteran status. In compliance with the
`pkt'oAmericans with Disabilities Ant, this document may be requested in
alternate formats by contacting the TNRCC at s512)239-0028, Fan 239-
4488 or 1-800-RELAY-TX (TDD), or by writing P.O. Box 13087, Austin,
. TX 78711-3087.
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Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. Small Business and Environmental Assistance Division. The Small Business Advocate, Volume 5, Issue 2, March-April 2000, periodical, March 2000; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1623541/m1/2/?rotate=180: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.