On January 15, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved Texas's request to manage its own program for regulating specific oil and gas wastewater discharges under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). This means the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) can now issue permits and ensure compliance for oil and gas discharges on land and up to three miles offshore. The EPA will still oversee discharges beyond three miles offshore and any oil spills under the Oil Pollution Act. During the approval process, the EPA considered public comments, some of which supported the transfer of authority due to TCEQ's expertise, while others raised concerns about potential biases and environmental impacts.
Simple Explanation
The EPA said Texas can be in charge of checking and giving special permissions for some of the water related to oil and gas activities in the state, but the EPA still checks on things far out in the sea past three miles and big spills. Some people liked this because Texas knows a lot about these things, but others were worried it might be too friendly with the oil companies.