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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the United States |
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Constitution places clear limits on the power of the federal |
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government, but officials in Washington, D.C., have grown ever |
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bolder in usurping powers rightly belonging to the states, |
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particularly regarding the regulation of hazardous waste, water, |
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and clean air and the regulation of the production, exploration, |
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drilling, development, operation, transportation, and processing |
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of oil, natural gas, petroleum, and petroleum products; and |
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WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: |
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"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, |
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nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States |
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respectively, or to the people"; the powers reserved to the State of |
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Texas and its citizens are those powers as they were understood in |
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1845, when Texas was admitted to statehood, excluding amendments; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Similarly, the Ninth Amendment to the constitution |
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prohibits the federal government from violating or infringing on |
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rights not specifically enumerated in the constitution and reserves |
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to the people of Texas certain rights as they were understood at the |
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time that Texas was admitted to statehood, excluding amendments; |
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the guarantee of those rights is a matter of contract between the |
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people and the State of Texas and the United States as of the time |
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that the compact with the United States was agreed on and adopted by |
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Texas and the United States; and |
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WHEREAS, In the U.S. Constitution, the power to regulate |
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interstate commerce is delegated to the federal government; at the |
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time of our nation's founding, this power related to the buying and |
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selling of products made by others, and sometimes land, as well as |
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associated finance and financial instruments, and navigation and |
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other carriage, across state jurisdictional lines; this interstate |
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regulation of "commerce" did not include regulation of agriculture, |
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manufacturing, mining, malum in se crimes, or land use; neither did |
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it include activities that merely "substantially affected" |
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commerce; and |
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WHEREAS, The nation's founders had no intention of giving the |
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federal government authority to regulate intrastate commerce, and |
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no such power is delegated to the federal government in the |
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constitution; therefore, under the Tenth Amendment, the regulation |
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of the environment in the State of Texas is delegated to the State |
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of Texas, as is the regulation of production, exploration, |
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drilling, development, operation, transportation, and processing |
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of oil, natural gas, petroleum, and petroleum products that |
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originate and remain inside the State of Texas, and which have not |
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been proven and adjudicated by the Texas or federal courts to |
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specifically be causing, or to have caused, quantifiable harm to |
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any persons or places beyond the borders of Texas; now, therefore, |
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be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby express its opposition to federal regulation of hazardous |
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waste, water, and clean air and of the production, exploration, |
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drilling, development, operation, transportation, and processing |
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of oil, natural gas, petroleum, and petroleum products in the State |
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of Texas; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the 82nd Texas Legislature finds that each |
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state environmental agency and each state agency with limited |
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environmental responsibilities, within its areas of environmental |
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jurisdiction, should to the extent deemed necessary cooperate with |
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federal environmental agencies in the regulation of hazardous |
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waste, clean air, and water and of the production, exploration, |
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drilling, development, operation, transportation, and processing |
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of oil, natural gas, petroleum, and petroleum products, but should |
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not be required to enforce federal laws or regulations relating to |
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such environmental regulation; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
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the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of |
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Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
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members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
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this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |