Texas is moving to tighter control of chemical tanks following multiple explosions

Deer Park, Texas, the residents were sheltered. Shut down the Houston Ship Lane. Toxic materials leaked during the Harvey storm. And just last month, seven people were wounded in the fire of Corpus Christi.

These are the accidents that some Texas legislators have in mind as they press for new standards on over-the-ground chemical storage tanks during the forthcoming legislative session.

The recent fire in Corpus Christi began in the oil tank. Another fire at a leaking tank farm at a petrochemical plant in Deer Park shut down the ship's channel in March 2019, creating a massive plume of smoke that could be seen miles away. And during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the floods triggered explosions at Arkema's chemical power plant and destroyed storage tanks that leaked thousands of gasoline gallons.

Two bills, one from State Rep. Mary Ann Perez, D-Pasadena, and another from Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, will challenge the State Environmental Agency to lay down tighter guidelines on the structural integrity of these overground tanks in chemical plants, refineries, electrical power plants or other extensive storage facilities.

The bills will instruct the Texas Environmental Quality Commission to set tighter requirements for tanks in flood-prone areas, storm surges, and hurricanes. But the law mostly leaves the details to the TCEQ—a change that Democrats hope would eliminate the most formidable resistance from the industry but is less palatable to environmentalists who have also criticized the TCEQ for being too industry-friendly.

Few state laws currently apply to tanks, and none of them require construction requirements to ensure that tanks can withstand powerful hurricanes or severe flooding.

The law is written with an eye to these severe weather events, a growing concern among scientists and officials across the state as increasingly powerful storms, energized by a warming ocean, battering the Texas Gulf Coast, where many of the tanks are housed.

The impacts of climate change are real. Our systems will have to be upgraded to withstand these additional strains.

Following the failure of similar legislation to gain much traction during the last legislative session, the sponsors of the bills hope that the foundations have been laid for both the Legislature and the chemical, oil, and gas industries to give the bills a chance of survival when the legislature returns to session later this month. And environmental advocates argue that recent high-profile chemical disasters should have drawn the attention of lawmakers.

The legislators, Republicans or Democrats, have seen an abundance of disasters and errors. Legislators recognize the need to do something—whether it's more inspections and enforcement, a new penalty policy, or new legislation. The events are going to happen. Something has to be accomplished.

Laws of Industry

The TCEQ itself has also posted the problem in the last year. During the September work session for TCEQ Commissioners, Toby Baker, the Agency's Executive Director, was disappointed by the Agency's limited ability to control plants before an accident occurs—the Agency may sanction companies for pollution from an explosion after the case. Still, fines do little to avoid them in the first place.

He said the department was blamed for accidents even though it had no power to interfere, such as the Intercontinental Terminals Co. fire in 2019, when a leaking tank farm on a petrochemical plant set off, shut down the Houston ship channel, and provided shelter orders.

Frankly, we had to respond to the failures in the process of safety, which are actually outside the scope of our authority. The underlying challenge we face is that we are not a process safety regulator. We're controlling pollution. We're regulating discharges. We contain waste.

Although Texas already has a long list of storage tank books, including the need for strict design requirements and plans to avoid leaks, they only apply to underground tanks. They are intended to prevent pollution of underground aquifers. The above-ground storage tanks are excluded from the rules.

Companies may face penalties for discharges or spills from over-ground tanks that damage the environment. Still, TCEQ clarified that its regulations do not include any spill planning or prevention steps (other states, such as California, specify that companies must prepare above-ground tank spill prevention plans and apply certain engineering practices to prevent spills).

This means that the prevention of chemical disasters in Texas falls mostly within the framework of the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration's occupational safety requirements. However, according to the TCEQ, some Federal Clean Air Act provisions can apply in some situations.

Most commonly, however, overground tanks, which often contain harmful and flammable chemicals, are designed to industry specifications, specifically the American Petroleum Institute, the largest oil and gas trade organization in the United States.

The API lists hundreds of design requirements that businesses should meet for overground storage tanks, but there is no penalty for not complying with the standards. And industry rules do not account for extreme weather events that have become more frequent in recent years. That's why environmental and public interest organizations in Texas argue that these requirements aren't enough.

The roofs collapsing from too much rain were not necessarily the industry's fault because the standards they built were not designed to withstand Hurricane Harvey.

API did not respond to whether its members would be open to new state rules for over-ground tanks in Texas.

Many look forward to working with TXOGA [Texas Oil and Gas Association] and local authorities to identify the most effective approach to ensuring that safety and environmental protection protocols are in place to prevent incidents.

The Texas Oil and Gas Association, a powerful state-owned industrial organization, said protection was a priority but did not comment specifically on whether it would oppose the bills.

TXOGA ensures that the numerous regulations and standards for over-ground storage tanks are sufficient to maintain these tanks' safety and environmental protection.

Not much can be done in the Storage Tank Regulation Legislature if there is significant industry resistance.

Many want to sit down with industry partners and try to find a happy medium, something they can all agree on.

Will Bills get help from the GOP?

Bills would also need support from Republicans, who have majorities in both the House and the Senate.

Some Republicans—including State Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, the expected new Speaker of the House—have seen first-hand the effects of chemical explosions in their districts. Thousands of its constituents were evacuated in Phelan's district the day before Thanksgiving in 2019 when multiple blasts shook the TPC Group plant in Port Neches. A plant processing unit containing liquid butadiene used for rubber started leaking and turning into a vapor, caught fire, and exploded, causing injuries to three employees on site.

We need to identify how these events could have been prevented. Legislative action can be used to ensure that plants and refineries provide workers and local communities' safety.

Phelan's transition spokesperson, Enrique Marquez, said that Phelan believes that industrial and employee protection is essential to Texans' health and the state economy's growth.

Phelan supports appropriate steps to ensure that staff, neighborhoods, and facilities remain secure and that there is a transparent mechanism of accountability when things go wrong.