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Resident urges commission to endorse bill requiring TCEQ to report garbage by jurisdiction
Summary
Barbara Combs asked the commission to endorse legislation to restore and refine Texas Commission on Environmental Quality reporting so local jurisdictions can see garbage tons per capita by jurisdiction of origin rather than a consolidated landfill total.
A resident who signed up for public communication asked the commission to consider endorsing legislation that would require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to report garbage per capita by jurisdiction of origin.
Barbara Combs told the commission she previously worked on legislation to have TCEQ track garbage per capita. She said that data appeared in the agency’s 2022 annual report but was later removed. "Garbage per capita is very similar to how we measure water conservation as gallons per capita," Combs said. She suggested a small change to TCEQ’s reporting instructions — adding the words "jurisdiction of origin" — so counties and cities that send waste to consolidated landfills can see how much tonnage they contributed instead of seeing only a single consolidated total for the landfill.
Combs said a bill she worked on went through legislative council last year but was not carried and asked the commission whether it would consider endorsing the legislation. She also said she had recently emailed commission staff with supporting materials and said she would distribute them to other commissioners.
The commission chair said staff and commissioners would circulate the materials for review; no formal endorsement was made at the meeting.
