The Wise Report
Henry M. Wise, P.G.
6/26/2011
The Governor has signed
all of the legislation that I've been watching that have been sent to him. This
includes the budget for the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists (TBPG)
for the next two years. We will need to be vigilant in watching for all
attempts to either eventually sunset or combine the TBPG with other Boards. There
has been a proposed study to combine several boards in the next legislative
session (2014).
Colonel Hess will be
retiring as Executive Director of the TBPG soon. The TBPG is currently looking
for a replacement. Colonel Hess has done an excellant job at the TBPG and we
all owe him a debt of gratitude. He will be a hard man to replace. It has been
suggested by numerous persons that the next Executive Director should be a
Registered Professional Geoscientist. This is because much of the preliminary
leg work involved in setting up the TBPG has been accomplished. It would be
most helpful if the next Executive Director could converse with both the
legislature and the general public on subjects that are important to geologists.
While persons of Colonel Hess's caliber are excellant in the initial phase of
setting up a board, the board has matured and it's needs have therefore
progressed to where a PG as Executive Director would be beneficial.
I thought I'd already
posted this one, but have been informed that I haven't, so here it is, late
though it may be. The TBPG has recieved Advisory Opinion Request
AOR #5 (2011).
Requestor: Kevin Almaguer, P.G.
Re: Is the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Petroleum Storage Tank (PST)
Division contributing to violations of the Geoscience Practice Act? Also, do
companies have to be Geoscience/PE Firms to perform environmental geoscience
work and submit reports to the TCEQ Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP) and
Industrial Hazardous Waste-Corrective Action Program? Still, what does the
definition of public mean?
Any interested person
may submit written comments concerning this Advisory Opinion Request and Draft
Opinion to: Charles Horton, Deputy Executive Director, P.O. Box 13225, Austin,
Texas 78711, or by e-mail to chorton@tbpg.state.tx.us or by fax to (512)
936-4409. Comments must be submitted no later than 30 days from the date of the
posting in the Texas Register. Please reference Advisory Opinion Request
#5.
Draft Opinion
Is the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Petroleum Storage Tank (PST) Division
contributing to violations of the Geoscience Practice Act?