The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has approved penalties totaling $1,450,788 against 88 regulated entities for violations of state environmental regulations, the agency said in a Sept. 10 news release.
Most of that total came from the commission’s Sept. 9 agenda meeting, where commissioners approved $1,344,862 in penalties against 52 regulated entities, according to the release. The agency’s executive director separately approved $105,926 in penalties against 36 entities on Sept. 8.
The commission-level actions were concentrated in water and air cases. TCEQ said agreed orders were issued in 19 municipal wastewater discharge cases, 12 air quality cases, eight public water system cases, four industrial wastewater discharge cases, two Edwards Aquifer cases, two multi-media cases and two petroleum storage tank cases.
Three default orders were also issued, the agency said, covering one petroleum storage tank case, one utility case and one case involving an entity without certification.
Penalty rounds of this kind are a regular feature of the commission’s enforcement work, and the agency publishes the results after each agenda meeting. TCEQ said agenda items from the Sept. 9 meeting can be viewed on its website.
The agency’s most recent previous enforcement announcement, issued Aug. 26, reported penalties totaling $2,012,293, according to TCEQ’s news listing. A round announced Aug. 12 totaled $2,005,457.
TCEQ said its next agenda meeting is scheduled for Sept. 23. Meetings are streamed live on the agency’s Agenda Meeting Webcasts page, and archived meetings are posted to the TCEQ YouTube channel. Victoria Cann is listed as the media contact for the release.