HOUSTON—A state lawmaker advised members of the Texas Pipeline Association (TPA) Jan. 11 against complacency simply because the Trump administration is oil-and-gas friendly.

“There are things that are certainly friendly about this administration but we may not always have a friendly administration,” state Sen. Brian Birdwell, the Republican chairman of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Economic Development, told TPA members gathered for the association’s annual meeting.

In particular, Birdwell wants to preserve the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP), run by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The program offers grants to encourage eligible individuals, businesses and local governments to reduce emissions from vehicles and equipment. The funds can be used to purchase new equipment or upgrade existing equipment.

Birdwell acknowledged that most of the low-hanging fruit of emissions targets has already been picked but he insisted that it is important to keep the program going for big-picture reasons.

“My view of why we need to continue TERP is not because of air quality, per se, but I will tell you it’s because, one way of the other, we’re still going to be on the hamster wheel, sitting in that cage, running on that hamster wheel,” Birdwell said. “I would much rather the state of Texas decide at what speed and rate we’re going to run on that hamster wheel than vacate TERP and have the [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] tell us what speed we’re going to run on that hamster wheel.

“Either way, I’m on the same battlefield but only one of those options means I’m in charge of the speed and pace at which we’re doing that,” he said. “So that’s a self-determination, self-governance and freedom-of-maneuver question.”

Birdwell’s committee is responsible for oversight of oil and gas, TCEQ environmental issues like air and water quality, and economic development issues that range from hotel occupancy taxes to permitting or registration requirements.

While he supports expedited permitting in principle, Birdwell questioned whether it is always appropriate. He suggested that TCEQ might need to beef up staffing or manage personnel differently to vet requests.

“One of the things that I learned is that expedited permitting is something we want to continue but has become such the norm that when everything’s a priority, nothing’s a priority,” he said.

Joseph Markman can be reached at jmarkman@hartenergy.com or @JHMarkman.

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