Texas Environmental Law Book

In 1993, the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section of the State Bar of Texas and representatives of West Publishing Company began discussions about the possibility of developing a book on Texas environmental law. The Section agreed to provide funding and support for development of the project. The Section solicited volunteers to prepare the various chapters. In 1997, this project culminated in the publication of the first edition of these volumes. In the years since publication, there have been many significant changes in the law, necessitating that a second edition be prepared. The Section again solicited volunteers. These volunteers, often relying on the work of their predecessors, produced these two volumes.

The purpose of this work is to provide useful information about the practice of environmental law in Texas not only to practitioners of environmental law, but to other practitioners, and not only to attorneys, but to environmental consultants, corporate environmental managers, and private citizens.

This work contains seven parts, which comprise thirty-four chapters. New to this edition are chapters on Brownfields and Indoor Air Quality. These volumes represent a collection of individual works that have been written and edited in accordance with general guidelines developed by the Section and West.

Part One provides the regulatory framework for environmental law in Texas, including an overview and discussions of Texas environmental agencies, administrative procedures, and enforcement. Part Two discusses pollution statutes, focusing on Texas programs, although providing background on federal programs, because federal programs either apply directly or are implemented by the state in accordance with federal guidelines. In Texas, as elsewhere, the state has developed its own programs, which supplement, as well as implement, the federal programs. Part Three addresses other environmental programs, some of which have federal analogs, including water resources, conservation and land use, and hazard communication.

Part Four deals with the regulation of specific substances, which may be governed by a number of different state and federal programs and which include radioactive materials, medical waste, PCBs, and Used Oil. Part Five focuses on the regulation of specific activities of particular concern in Texas, including, for example, agriculture, oil and gas, mining, border issues, and recycling. Part Six addresses private causes of action in the environmental area, including torts, inverse condemnation and takings, and citizen suits/citizen remedies. Finally, Part Seven addresses topics of general interest to environmental practitioners and to others involved in Texas environmental issues, including environmental management systems, environmental aspects of business transactions, insurance, and ethics.

The Section hopes that this work will be of benefit to the public and solicits comments from its readers.

The editors would like to thank the authors of each of the chapters for the significant amount of time and effort they devoted, Leila Johnson for her administrative contributions to the project, and Nancy Saint-Paul for her final editing.

Jeff Civins
Jimmy Alan Hall
Mary K. Sahs

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