Environment

Texas, Puerto Rico and other communities hit by major natural disasters have been waiting for over a year to receive their shares of $16 billion in grant funding approved by Congress.

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With the damage from Hurricane Harvey in mind, lawmakers approved two bills aimed at better preparing the state for natural disasters.

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House Bill 1325 would legalize hemp and hemp-derived extracts like CBD oil as long as they contain no more than 0.3% of tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive element in marijuana known as THC.

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After a day of testimony, lawyers from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office, the Lower Colorado River Authority, and Inland Environmental and Remediation agreed that the company will begin cleaning up its Altair site.

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Democratic state lawmakers filed multiple bills this year to require the state to prepare for a warming planet. None of them have been scheduled for public hearings.

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For the past year, an influential conservative think tank has lobbied to make wind and solar projects ineligible for a popular local property tax abatement program. A measure to do that has stalled, but renewable advocates are watching for last-minute changes to other legislation.

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A bill designed to encourage Texas manufacturers to use more recyclable materials won final approval Monday. It comes as China and India have implemented policies restricting the import of plastics and other materials.

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The Senate Committee on Water and Rural Affairs took public testimony on a bill that would strengthen state oversight of above-ground tanks that hold hazardous hydrocarbons.

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In the first major policy rollout of his presidential campaign, O'Rourke focuses on one of the most dominant issues in his party.

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Hemp is a cousin of the marijuana plant, but it contains low levels of the psychoactive element in marijuana known as THC. The House's bill will now go to the Senate.

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In the latest episode of our podcast about the 86th Legislature, Evan Smith talks to state Rep. Chris Paddie, who chairs the House Energy Resources Committee, about the impact of oil and gas activity on the Texas economy, the downside of the upside, and what the future holds.

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This is the first legislative session since the storm devastated the Texas Gulf Coast in August 2017. Several measures are afoot to aid in recovery and mitigate the effects of future disasters.

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The memorial is about 100 yards away from where the fertilizer plant once stood and has a reflecting pool surrounded by 15 plaques — one for each person who died.

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Residents near Altair began complaining that Skull Creek reeked of chemicals. The Texas attorney general's office says a local company is to blame.

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Oil and gas companies have complained that protests and court cases have slowed construction of pipelines needed as U.S. fossil fuel production expands.

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In recent weeks, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has swiftly sued two companies over major fires at their Houston-area plants. It's a dramatic departure from the state's usual approach to environmental enforcement.

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Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Executive Director Toby Baker told a special panel of state senators on Thursday that first responders are still actively managing an incident at a Houston-area petrochemical facility that began last month.

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For years, Diane Wilson has tried to get Formosa Plastics Corp. to stop discharging plastic pellets from its sprawling petrochemical complex on the Central Texas coast. This week, she's getting her day in court.

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Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an environmental lawsuit against Intercontinental Terminals late Friday seeking tens of thousands of dollars in damages.

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The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said that at the maximum levels detected, the benzene levels could cause headaches and nausea, but no long-term effects. State Rep. Briscoe Cain has called for an investigation into the incident.

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