Today Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott filed a legal challenge against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to disapprove of Texas' flexible air permitting process, which leaders in Texas including Gov. Rick Perry have said is crucial to Texas' economic success and air quality improvement.

Abbott's petition for review can be viewed here.

The flex permitting program, which has been in place since 1994, allows emitters to allocate emissions on a facility-wide basis rather than by source point, allowing producers to raise emissions in one area of a facility and lower them in others, granting them more flexibility to meet the clean air standards. The EPA rejected the program on July 15, 2010 on the grounds that it did not fit well into the regulatory framework of the federal Clean Air Act.

The AG's office filed today's challenge against the EPA on behalf of TCEQ in "an effort to defend the state's legal rights and challenge improper overreach by the federal government," according to a release from the AG's office. EPA Spokesperson Joe Hubbard issued the following statement to LSR today in response to the AG's action:

In a Senate District 22 executive committee meeting called today in Waco by Republican Party of Texas Chairman Steve Munisteri, eight county Republican chairmen from the district unanimously nominated Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) as the Republican candidate in the upcoming November election for the seat formerly held by Kip Averitt.

Last month, Birdwell won a runoff against former Sen. David Sibley to finish out Averitt's term.

From a Republican Party of Texas press release:

When is money in the budget not exactly money in the budget? When it's dedicated.

Some moneys that are included in the revenue estimate calculation for the state can only be spent for certain purposes, possibly adding another hurdle to Texas' upcoming budget challenge, based on discussions earlier today in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government, chaired by Rep. John Otto (R-Dayton).

The subcommittee met to discuss general revenue-dedicated funds and the Constitutional Debt Limit.

There are currently 265 dedicated account balances which total just under $3.7 billion, Legislative Budget Board analyst Stewart Shallow told the committee. The largest is the System Benefit Fund at $671 million, and the Emissions Reduction Plan with $515 million.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst today announced he is changing around some committee chairmanships in the state Senate, effective immediately.

New chairmanships include:
*Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) at Natural Resources;
*John Carona (R-Dallas) at Business and Commerce;
*Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) at Transportation and Homeland Security;
*Chris Harris (R-Arlington) at Jurisprudence;
*Bob Deuell (R-Greenville) at Nominations;
*Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) at Select Committee on Veterans Health. ...

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With relatively few fireworks (pardon the Fourth of July pun), the Sunset Advisory Commission adopted Sunset recommendations with a few modifications to the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, and the Texas Department of Insurance, among others.

During TDI deliberations, the panel voted down a proposed modification to move away from the current system of file and use for insurance carriers, towards a system of prior approval.

Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-McAllen) recommended, as expected, to move away from the file-and-use system at TDI, under which insurance carriers are allowed to file their insurance rate increases with the department and then use them withou having to wait for approval. Hinojosa wanted to move away from that back to a prior approval system.

Specifically, ...

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The Texas Supreme Court has issued a stay in the ongoing case in which the Democratic Party is attempting to prevent the Green Party from being placed on the ballot for the general election in Texas in November. The stay means that the Supreme Court is suspending the ruling of Travis County District Court Judge John Dietz while the Supreme Court investigates the matter.

The Green Party was able to file their statewide candidates with the Secretary of State as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling. “If Bill White wants to debate … about corporate contributions in general, of which we understand the Democrats have taken millions in corporate money, we’ll be happy to talk about their ties to Microsoft and AT&T all day long,” Green Party attorney David Rogers told LSR.

“I think it’s obvious that the court has decided that this is a serious issue of law and needs to be carefully considered,” Rogers said.

Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie issued the following statement in response to the ruling:

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Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced final disapproval of the flexible permit program that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) had submitted for inclusion in its clean-air implementation plan.

The EPA has taken criticism from Texas regulators for not having taken action on this or other air permitting programs since they were first submitted to the EPA in the 1990s.

TCEQ Commissioners on June 16 approved changes to the Texas flexible air permit rules, in order to address EPA's concerns that the Texas program does not comply with federal Clean Air Act requirements. EPA's disapproval today does not apply to those changes, which will be opened up for public comment from July 2, 2010 through August 2, 2010.

Brian Birdwell has won the runoff against David Sibley in the special election race to round out the unexpired term of now-retired Sen. Kip Averitt (R-Waco).

Birdwell's victory comes despite being outraised and outspent by fellow-Republican Sibley. Turnout was down compared to the original runoff May 8, when 29,851 votes were cast. Tonight 24,351 votes were cast. Ellis County flipped to Birdwell tonight. He also carried Hood and Johnson counties. Sibley, not surprisingly, carried McLennan. Birdwell got 14,198 votes (57.87 percent), and Sibley 10,333 (42.12 percent).

Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler), a major figure among grassroots conservatives who cared enough about the Republican Party of Texas platform to attend its June 11 meeting, at 7:10 this morning filed the paperwork to challenge Joe Straus for Speaker in the next legislative session.

"I thought the election for speaker last session was a farce … a sham," Berman told LSR, recounting that eleven House Republicans, whom he characterized as "liberal to moderate," decided on Straus and then brought his name to the House Democrats. In order to persuade the Democrats to go along with Straus, the Republicans promised that no pro-life, anti-illegal immigration, or voter ID bills would come to the House floor, Berman said.

"Rep. Berman's facts are inaccurate," said Straus spokesperson Tracy Young, Straus' press secretary. "The Speaker has made no deals with anyone." ...

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Tomorrow the special election runoff for Senate District 22 will be held to finally decide who will represent the district that includes McLennan, Johnson, and Ellis counties among others for the remainder of now-retired Sen. Kip Averitt's (R-Waco) unexpired term. David Sibley, former Senator for SD 22, and retired Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell, both Republicans, are vying for the seat.

Eight-day contribution and expenditure reports were filed last week for the race. Here is a quick look.

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