Records Appraisal Report:
Natural Resource Conservation Commission
Office of the General Counsel Speeches and Papers
Contents of this report
Agency Contact | Record Series Review
Internal links to series reviews
Speeches and papers
Archival finding aid
Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission: An Inventory of Records at the Texas State Archives, 1990-2001
September 7, 2001, Laura Saegert, Appraisal Archivist
Agency Contact
This agency contact information was current at the time of the report but may have changed in the interim. Please call (512-463-5455) for current contact information of the agency's records manager or records liaison for these records.
Melissa Lucas, Administrative Assistance to the General Counsel
Records Series Review
Records Series Review
Series Title: Speeches and papers
Obsolete record series? No
Ongoing record series? Yes
Annual accumulation: less than 0.5 cubic ft.
Agency holdings:
The Office of the General Counsel holds files from 1996-ongoing, comprising less than 1 cubic foot.
Description:
This series contains speeches and papers of Geoffrey S. Connor, General Counsel of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), dating 1996. The files contain papers written by Mr. Connor and/or by his staff, speeches, an outline of a speech, annotated drafts of papers, correspondence with conference organizers, agenda, programs from conferences or seminars, notes, and research materials. The papers were presented at law conferences, such as the 8th Annual Environmental Law Superconference (1996) and the 1996 Annual Environmental Law Course (a two-day law seminar). Speeches include one given to the Rotary Club in San Marcos and two speeches given at law seminars or conferences. Issues discussed in the papers and speeches include regulatory reform at the TNRCC, procedural changes, rules enforcement, the role of the General Counsel, and the hearing process for environmental law cases at TNRCC and the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
Purpose:
This series documents agency functions and policies of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission as reflected in papers and speeches written by the General Counsel or his staff.
Agency program:
In 1991, the 72nd Legislature passed Senate Bill 2, 1st Called Session in an effort to consolidate the state regulatory programs for air, water and waste. This began a two-year process of consolidation, culminating with the creation of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission in 1993. In accordance with Senate Bill 2, sections of the Texas Department of Health dealing with solid waste, drinking water protection, and wastewater treatment were transferred to the Texas Water Commission (TWC) by March 1, 1992. On September 1, 1992, the Texas Water Well Drillers Board and the Texas Board of Irrigators were abolished and those functions transferred to the TWC. On September 1, 1993, the Texas Air Control Board and the Texas Water Commission were abolished and those functions were consolidated to form the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. The Texas Water Commission became the core of the TNRCC and the TWC's three full-time commissioners automatically became the commissioners of the TNRCC. In 1999, the Legislature transferred the functions of the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority to the TNRCC.
The primary goals of the TNRCC are to protect public health and safety and the environment by reducing the release of pollutants and contaminants, regulating the management and disposal of waste, and expediting the cleanup of contaminated sites. The agency also manages the state's water resources by enforcing compliance with state and federal clean air and water laws.
The agency is divided into eight major offices: the Office of Administrative Services, the Office of Air Quality, the Office of Compliance and Enforcement, the Office of the Executive Director, the Office of Legal Services, the Office of Policy and Regulatory Management, the Office of Waste Management, and the Office of Water Resource Management.
The General Counsel of the TNRCC is the chief legal advisor and the chief ethics officer for the agency. The general counsel also provides legal assistance to the commissioners for their review of permits, proposed enforcement actions, rules, and other matters. The general counsel also manages the administrative affairs of the commissioners' office.
Arrangement:
Chronological by the date the speech or paper was presented.
Access constraints: None
Use constraints: None
Indexes or finding aids required for/or an aid to access? None
Problems: None
Known related records in other agencies: None
Previous destructions:
Destruction requests on file in the Archives and Information Services Division of the Library and Archives Commission were checked for these files and none were found for this series or for equivalent or related series.
Publications based on records: None
Internet pages based on records: None
Series data from agency schedule:
Title: Speeches and papers
Series item number: 1.1.040
Agency item number: 1310.09
Archival code: R
Retention: 4
Archival holdings:
None in the holdings of the Archives and Information Services Division of the Library and Archives Commission.
Texas Documents Collection holdings: None
Gaps: No records before 1996 are present in the Office of the General Counsel
Appraisal decision:
The papers and speeches reflect regulatory reform at the TNRCC, procedural changes, rules enforcement, the role of the General Counsel, and the hearing process for environmental law cases at TNRCC and the State Office of Administrative Hearings. I recommend the speeches and papers be appraised from this office as archival. I also recommend we keep the original copies of the speeches and papers, annotated drafts, and one copy each of the conference programs where the speeches or papers were presented. We can discard the correspondence with the conference organizers, notes, and research materials.
Note: This series was appraised as archival by the Archives Appraisal staff in September 2001 and files were transferred to the Archives shortly thereafter.