The Wise Report

 
The Wise Report
Henry M. Wise, P.G
May 29, 2011
 
Matt Cowan, with the Texas Association of Professional Geoscientists (TAPG) has informed me that the House and Senate have passed the final State budget and the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists (TBPG) is fully funded. Now we await the Governor’s decision as to sign the budget as is, or line-item veto us. That should be by June 15, 2011. On an optimistic note, this week the Governor appointed three people to the Surveyors Board and he has previously appointed two new people to the TBPG. With both of our boards being “replenished” it appears that we may not be subject to a line item veto.
 
Matt also reports that the effort to rename and reorganize the Rail Road Commission is dead. It now appears that Warren Chisum will be actively seeking an appointment to the Commission, filling one of the two seats being vacated (Ames and Williams). 
The TBPG and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) have entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to protect the public from unqualified or substandard geoscience services. The MOA can be found at: https://tbpg.state.tx.us/moa.htm.
The annual update of the Tier 1 PCL tables is now available on the TRRP PCLs web page at http://www.tceq.texas.gov/remediation/trrp/trrppcls.html.
 
A brief list of this year's changes is included in the Updates sheet in the toxicity and chemical/physical properties file. Please also note the following information regarding this year's changes to the PCL tables:
 
RS-ESL values have been rescinded by the Toxicology Division as more scientifically rigorous methods are available for the derivation of inhalation toxicity factors which impact the setting of regulatory standards (i.e., TRRP PCLs). Consequently, there are no RS-ESLs to serve as a source of inhalation toxicity factors for TRRP, and RS-ESLs have been removed from the Toxicity Factors table (see the 2011 Tox Factors Updates sheet for changes to toxicity factors). If inhalation may be the driving exposure pathway for a chemical in a particular instance (e.g., groundwater-to-air or subsurface-soil-to-air for Class 3 groundwater) but no inhalation toxicity factors are listed in the TRRP Toxicity Factors table, contact the TCEQ using the process described at http://www.tceq.texas.gov/remediation/trrp/pclrequests.html to request that an inhalation toxicity factor and PCLs be derived. For questions on toxicity factors, contact the Toxicology Section at 877-992-8370 or tox@tceq.texas.gov.
 
Asbestos has been removed from the Tier 1 residential and commercial/industrial tables of soil PCLs. This action is the result of the withdrawal of the inhalation unit risk factor (URF) from the TRRP toxicity factors table, which ultimately means there will no longer be risk-based exposure levels (RBELs) or PCLs for asbestos. The URF is withdrawn because the URF is based on one particular type of asbestos fiber, and current science suggests a chemical-specific approach for asbestos may be most appropriate. Current science also suggests that asbestos should be evaluated on a site-by-site basis. Contact your TCEQ Project Manager if asbestos is, or may be, a chemical of concern at your site.
 
The soil organic carbon-water partitioning coefficient (Koc) values for glyphosate are currently under review and have therefore been temporarily removed from the Koc Values for Ionizing Organic COCs table. Contact your TCEQ Project Manager if glyphosate is, or may be, a chemical of concern at your site.
 
The Aquatic Life and Human Health Surface Water RBEL tables were revised based on changes to the Texas Surface Water Quality Standards.
I've been compiling a list of proposed bills that may be of interest to geologists. If you have any that I have missed, let me know and I'll include them. Filing of proposed bills has begun and here's the ones I'm currently watching. All new items, updates, or bills passed and signed by the Governor are in bold:
 
HB-377, by McClendon, Relating to the expenditure of money from the general revenue fund for rail projects. 4/26/2011 – Referred to Transportation & Homeland Security. For more information go to: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/history.aspx?LegSess=82R&Bill=HB377
 
HB-444, by Creighton, Relating to notification of applications for permits for certain injection wells. "If an application is received in proper form for a permit for an injection well to dispose of industrial and municipal waste and the proposed location of the injection well is in the territory of a groundwater conservation di