The Texas Supreme Court has to decide whether the city of Houston can implement local rules to regulate pollution.
Two city ordinances require industrial polluters to register with Houston in an effort to “plug gaps in environment enforcement” left by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, according to the Texas Tribune.
Attorney Robert Higgason, arguing for the city, says that the city ordinances remain within the spirit of the Texas Clean Air Act.
An assortment of large industrial companies, such as ExxonMobil, the Dow Chemical Company, and ConocoPhillips, has sued the city to strike down the ordinances.
An amicus brief jointly filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers in support of the industrial companies claims that the precedent would allow other cities in Texas to take similar action. That would “[undermine] important state policies and [impose] significant burdens on Texas’s citizens.” The chamber accuses Houston of trying to “undermine the Legislature” in a “self-aggrandizing attempt to meddle in matters of statewide concern.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott opposes the Houston ordinances.
A 2013 ruling by the First District Court of Appeals supported Houston’s actions, finding the local regulations not to be prohibited by the state legislature.
