NEW BUSINESS

This meeting is a work session for discussion between commissioners and staff. No public testimony or comment will be accepted except by invitation of the commission.

1. Discussion of two agency reports on enforcement actions for various media including agriculture, air, industrial and hazardous waste, municipal solid waste, occupational certification, petroleum storage tanks, public water supply, water quality, and multi-media. Anne Dobbs (Enforcement Division) presented this item. No action taken.

2. Consideration of issues related to the drought conditions. John Hofmann (Executive Assistant to Commissioner Baker), Ken Petersen (Office of Water Resource Management), and James Kowis (Office of Policy and Regulatory Development) presented this item. No action taken on this issue. Chairman McBee requested that this item be added as a standing item until further notice.

3. Consideration of issues related to the agency’s Strategic Plan, Legislative Appropriations Request, operating budget, and performance partnership grants. Glenn Shankle (Deputy Executive Director), Machelle Pharr (Chief Financial Officer), and Jeff Grymkoski (Financial Division) presented this item. Additional changes will be made to the Chairman’s Statement in the Legislative Appropriations Request to describe potential funding needs for items that may go beyond normal funding and to clarify exceptional items that are based on federal mandates. This item was posted on the August 19 regular agenda for further consideration.

4. Consideration of activities associated with State Implementation Plans and the proposed Regional Clean Air Strategy. Herb Williams (Office of Policy and Regulatory Development) presented this item. The first regional clean air strategy meeting will be held on August 25, 1998 to consist of an update on regional modeling and other types of air quality analyses and focus on control strategy development issues.

5. Consideration of the agency's implementation of legislation enacted by the 75th Texas Legislature including the agency's efforts to work with the Interim Legislative Committees. The commission may also meet in closed meeting to receive legal advice regarding these matters, or any of the above matters, as authorized by Section 551.071 of the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551 of the Government Code. Any commission action, decision, or vote on these matters will be made in open meeting in accordance with Section 551.102 of the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551 of the Government Code. David Duncan (Intergovernmental Relations) gave an update on upcoming legislative hearings. He also indicated that his division is working on getting an RFP proposal to do witness resource training for the upcoming legislative session. Chairman McBee commended David for his hard work and provided his good wishes in his new endeavor.

6. Planning for the next Commissioners’ Work Session. John Hofmann (Commissioner Baker’s Executive Assistant) and Dan Eden (Commissioner Marquez’s Executive Assistant) presented this item. The SIP Issue item was added to the September 14 work session, and the Drought issue was added as a “Standing item.” The Dallas SIP issue was added to the tracking chart with its schedule “To be determined.”