In February of last year, Congress appropriated $4.383 billion to Texas through Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds explicitly to rebuild and mitigate against future storms. Almost one year later, Texas cannot begin to utilize this important funding because HUD has not published the rules governing use of the money (i.e., the projects they […]
Sand miners plan to gather in Austin on February 4th and 5th to meet with legislators for their annual TACA Days. TACA stands for the Texas Aggregate and Concrete Association. It represents sand miners. They hope to beat back regulation of the industry that could help protect areas like Lake Houston from excessive sedimentation. They […]
As we saw in a previous post, Army Corps regulations stipulate that a developer must prove there is a need for his/her project before destroying wetlands. Further, the Corps assumes that the developer has done due diligence in assessing market conditions. “Has Romerica Investments done due diligence? Is this project needed?” In my opinion, the […]
Romerica Investments, LLC has applied for a permit to build a high-rise development in the floodplain of the San Jacinto River. They call the proposed development the Kingwood Marina Project. Because it involves adding 12 feet of fill material to the floodplain of the San Jacinto River, the Army Corps of Engineers has become involved. […]