5/5/25 – A proposed Federal rule change by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) concerning threatened and endangered species could make floodplain development easier.
Changing Definition of ‘Take’
The rule change would limit the Endangered Species Act’s power to protect habitat by deleting the word ‘harm’ from the explanation of what it means to ‘take’ a member of an endangered species.
The definition (page 3, paragraph 12) says, “The term ‘take’ means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.”
‘Harm’ is the only word in that definition applying to habitat. As NPR reported, “For decades, federal agencies have interpreted ‘harm’ broadly, to include actions that modify or degrade habitats in ways that impair endangered species’ ability to feed, breed or find shelter.”
And in the north Houston area, floodplains provide prime habitat.
Bald Eagle over the West Fork San Jacinto in Kingwood.
Many environmentalists point to habitat loss as the major cause of species loss. They also point to habitat protection as the reason for animals, such as bald eagles, being removed recently from the Endangered Species List.
But if the proposed rule change is adopted, only actions that directly hurt or kill actual animals, not the habitats they rely on, would remain covered by the act.
And that could make floodplain development easier because many threatened and endangered species live near water, imposing additional burdens on developers.
Why the Proposed Change?
The Federal Register says, “The existing regulatory definition of ‘harm,’ which includes habitat modification, runs contrary to the best meaning of the statutory term ‘take.’”
But the definition of ‘take’ has included ‘harm’ for 50+ years. So, clearly this rule change is politically motivated. And in fact, this is the USFWS’s response to Executive Order 14192 of January 31, 2025.
The introduction to the executive order states that the “ever-expanding morass of complicated Federal regulation imposes massive costs on the lives of millions of Americans, creates a substantial restraint on our economic growth and ability to build and innovate, and hampers our global competitiveness.”
Any Change Would Not Be Immediate
Congressman Dan Crenshaw’s office provided this map showing the nine steps necessary in adopting such a rule change.
People born before the Endangered Species Act became law in 1973 may remember the precipitous loss of bald eagle habitat. They may also remember how protection of that habitat helped bring the species back. At one point, there were fewer than 500 nesting pairs in the entire lower 48 states – an estimated 99.5% population collapse.
It’s unclear how the change of this definition in the Endangered Species Act will affect eagles. Eagles are no longer on the endangered species list. But they are protected under other laws, such as the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, also administered by USFWS.
Impact in the San Jacinto Watershed, Floodplains
The Endangered Species Act has hugely affected the oil and gas industry, mining, and land development – all staples of the local economy. So, locally, opinions on this proposed rule change may be sharply divided.
But we also should recognize that many people choose to live in the north Houston area because of the proximity to nature and the abundant wildlife found here. Some of it has survived for the last 50 years because of the Endangered Species Act.
If you would like to add your voice to this debate, here are instructions for submitting a public comment. The page also includes a lengthy discussion of pros and cons from different points of view.
The Federal Register indicates that the public comment period on the proposed rule change will remain open through May 19, 2025. So far, people have submitted more than 26,000 comments.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/5/25
2806 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/EagleInFlight.jpg?fit=1200%2C818&ssl=18181200adminadmin2025-05-05 19:43:592025-05-05 19:49:55Proposed Federal Rule Change to Endangered Species Act Could Make Floodplain Development Easier
5/4/25 – A bill by State Rep. Charles Cunningham (HB 1532) that would create a Lake Houston Dredging District has passed overwhelmingly in the House and moved to the Senate. The bill received 114 Yeas and 19 Nays in the House, but has yet to pick up traction in the Senate.
Perhaps no other bill is as important to the future of NE Harris County as this one. Please contact Senator Brandon Creighton who represents the Lake Houston area and ask him to sponsor HB1532 in the Senate.
Dredge used in Emergency West Fork Dredging program by Army Corps after Harvey
What HB1532 Would Do
Here is the engrossed version of HB1532. Engrossed means that it incorporates amendments added to the bill in the House before passage. So, it is the latest version as of this writing.
Lake Houston supplies water for more than 2 million people in the Houston region. But sediment buildups from sand mines and new development upstream continue to plague it. And that, in turn has contributed to widespread flooding.
Such sediment buildups have reduced the capacity of Lake Houston by almost 10% as the region’s population has grown by more than 500%.
Texas Water Development Board and US Census Bureau
While dredging since Hurricane Harvey has helped remove some of the sediment in the headwaters of the lake, we need a long-term, ongoing maintenance program to address new sediment that continues to come downstream with ever major rain.
The Committee Substitute of HB 1532 seeks to address this issue by creating the Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District. It will provide dredging and maintenance operations in the area that improve water flow and reduce sediment buildup.
A five-person board would govern the district:
One director appointed by the Houston City Council
Two appointed by Houston Public Works
One appointed by the Mayor
One appointed Harris County Commissioners Court
Dredging could take place only in Harris County; Montgomery County is not affected. The Lake itself; East and West Forks of the San Jacinto; Luce Bayou; and Caney Creek are all in bounds.
The District could also sign inter-local agreements with cities such as Humble, to address sediment in its channels that lead to the lake. However, the District could not charge other entities for the dredging it does under such inter-local agreements.
Provisions in the bill prohibit the District from degrading water quality in the Lake. And the District would have to obtain permission from Houston Public Works before doing any dredging.
Financing
The District could NOT levy taxes or charge a fee. But it could issue bonds secured by district revenue.
The bill authorizes the legislature to fund the district’s activities but caps appropriations at $25 million per fiscal year until September 1, 2027.
The bill requires the District to study methods of financing and to make the study’s results available to the public. Early talk around financing focused on beneficial uses of sediment removed from the lake and its tributaries.
For instance, the District could sell the spoils to developers who need to raise slabs or build up areas. Spoils could also be used in projects such as the Ike Dike or road improvements.
Please Help
HB 1532 does not:
Raise taxes
Levy fees
Affect people outside of Harris County
HB 1532 would:
Make the people and businesses of the Lake Houston area safer
Help restore the capacity of Lake Houston and its tributaries
As long as surrounding counties keep sending sediment downstream, the least they can do is support HB 1532.
Please email Senator Brandon Creighton or call his office at (512) 463-0104. Please ask him to sponsor HB 1532 in the Senate. It will only take a minute!
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/4/25
2805 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/SJR_288_016-e1746401725896.jpg?fit=1100%2C504&ssl=15041100adminadmin2025-05-04 19:03:392025-05-04 21:06:01Ask Sen. Creighton to Support Lake Houston Dredging District Bill
5/3/25 – A well-intentioned bill that just moved from the Texas House to the Senate could have dire unintended consequences in certain circumstances. One of the unintended consequences is increased flood risk.
State Capitol Building in Austin. Your future flood risk could depend on what happens here.
Bill Purports to Make Housing More Affordable
HB23 (and nearly identical companion bills SB2354 and HB2977) give developers the ability to privately hire engineers to approve the developer’s plans as a substitute for review by cities or counties. The intention: to speed up approvals of everything from plats to permits, thus lowering the costs of housing.
However, the bills are also a recipe for conflict of interest. It doesn’t take much imagination to see why. Moreover…
Corners could be cut that endanger public safety.
Neighbors would have no way to protest new developments that could adversely affect their property values.
And that’s only one barrel of the shotgun. The second barrel? Potential interaction with a law passed in 2023.
Land once promised as parks could be turned into apartments.
Forests could be leveled.
High-density development could clog quiet residential streets.
Increased stormwater runoff could increase flood risk.
The combination of HB23 and the 2023 ETJ law would remove governmental accountability and oversight from development. It would be like going to a basketball game without referees. The results might not be so pretty.
Homes could flood repeatedly because assumptions about floodplains and flood elevations fundamentally changed without oversight.
HB23 purports to make housing more affordable. But it also fundamentally changes the balance of power between developers, neighbors and government. It takes government out of the equation, leaving neighbors without protection.
An Amendment Could Help
If HB23 survives the Senate, at a minimum, the Senate needs to add language to HB23 (or one of its companion bills) that prevents developers from bypassing government reviews for plats and re-plats by removing their land from a city’s ETJ.
If a developer wants to re-plat land, that’s fine. But make them go through a government review that lets adjoining property owners and their HOAs have their voices heard.
As it stands, HB23 and its companion bills stifle protest.
The bills would also make government unaccountable.
How You Can Help
At this point in the legislative session, it looks like HB23 has a better chance of success than its companion bills. I am against HB23 and its companion bills as they stand.
At a bare minimum, they need to include amendments that preclude re-platting land without government approval.
If you agree, during the next commercial break email the authors of these bills:
Legislation should create predictable outcomes, not unintended consequences.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/3/25
2804 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/capitole_1024.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=17681024adminadmin2025-05-03 20:51:412025-05-04 12:27:59Unintended Consequences of Legislation Could Increase Flood Risk
Proposed Federal Rule Change to Endangered Species Act Could Make Floodplain Development Easier
5/5/25 – A proposed Federal rule change by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) concerning threatened and endangered species could make floodplain development easier.
Changing Definition of ‘Take’
The rule change would limit the Endangered Species Act’s power to protect habitat by deleting the word ‘harm’ from the explanation of what it means to ‘take’ a member of an endangered species.
The definition (page 3, paragraph 12) says, “The term ‘take’ means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.”
‘Harm’ is the only word in that definition applying to habitat. As NPR reported, “For decades, federal agencies have interpreted ‘harm’ broadly, to include actions that modify or degrade habitats in ways that impair endangered species’ ability to feed, breed or find shelter.”
And in the north Houston area, floodplains provide prime habitat.
Many environmentalists point to habitat loss as the major cause of species loss. They also point to habitat protection as the reason for animals, such as bald eagles, being removed recently from the Endangered Species List.
But if the proposed rule change is adopted, only actions that directly hurt or kill actual animals, not the habitats they rely on, would remain covered by the act.
And that could make floodplain development easier because many threatened and endangered species live near water, imposing additional burdens on developers.
Why the Proposed Change?
The Federal Register says, “The existing regulatory definition of ‘harm,’ which includes habitat modification, runs contrary to the best meaning of the statutory term ‘take.’”
But the definition of ‘take’ has included ‘harm’ for 50+ years. So, clearly this rule change is politically motivated. And in fact, this is the USFWS’s response to Executive Order 14192 of January 31, 2025.
The introduction to the executive order states that the “ever-expanding morass of complicated Federal regulation imposes massive costs on the lives of millions of Americans, creates a substantial restraint on our economic growth and ability to build and innovate, and hampers our global competitiveness.”
Any Change Would Not Be Immediate
Congressman Dan Crenshaw’s office provided this map showing the nine steps necessary in adopting such a rule change.
We are in the early stages of this process.
People born before the Endangered Species Act became law in 1973 may remember the precipitous loss of bald eagle habitat. They may also remember how protection of that habitat helped bring the species back. At one point, there were fewer than 500 nesting pairs in the entire lower 48 states – an estimated 99.5% population collapse.
It’s unclear how the change of this definition in the Endangered Species Act will affect eagles. Eagles are no longer on the endangered species list. But they are protected under other laws, such as the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, also administered by USFWS.
Impact in the San Jacinto Watershed, Floodplains
The Endangered Species Act has hugely affected the oil and gas industry, mining, and land development – all staples of the local economy. So, locally, opinions on this proposed rule change may be sharply divided.
But we also should recognize that many people choose to live in the north Houston area because of the proximity to nature and the abundant wildlife found here. Some of it has survived for the last 50 years because of the Endangered Species Act.
A case in point would be the bald eagle, which can be seen regularly along the shores of the San Jacinto. And where Ryko is planning on building 7,000 homes on 5,500 acres just upstream from Kingwood.
How Do You Feel?
If you would like to add your voice to this debate, here are instructions for submitting a public comment. The page also includes a lengthy discussion of pros and cons from different points of view.
The Federal Register indicates that the public comment period on the proposed rule change will remain open through May 19, 2025. So far, people have submitted more than 26,000 comments.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/5/25
2806 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
Ask Sen. Creighton to Support Lake Houston Dredging District Bill
5/4/25 – A bill by State Rep. Charles Cunningham (HB 1532) that would create a Lake Houston Dredging District has passed overwhelmingly in the House and moved to the Senate. The bill received 114 Yeas and 19 Nays in the House, but has yet to pick up traction in the Senate.
Perhaps no other bill is as important to the future of NE Harris County as this one. Please contact Senator Brandon Creighton who represents the Lake Houston area and ask him to sponsor HB1532 in the Senate.
What HB1532 Would Do
Here is the engrossed version of HB1532. Engrossed means that it incorporates amendments added to the bill in the House before passage. So, it is the latest version as of this writing.
Lake Houston supplies water for more than 2 million people in the Houston region. But sediment buildups from sand mines and new development upstream continue to plague it. And that, in turn has contributed to widespread flooding.
While dredging since Hurricane Harvey has helped remove some of the sediment in the headwaters of the lake, we need a long-term, ongoing maintenance program to address new sediment that continues to come downstream with ever major rain.
The Committee Substitute of HB 1532 seeks to address this issue by creating the Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District. It will provide dredging and maintenance operations in the area that improve water flow and reduce sediment buildup.
A five-person board would govern the district:
Dredging could take place only in Harris County; Montgomery County is not affected. The Lake itself; East and West Forks of the San Jacinto; Luce Bayou; and Caney Creek are all in bounds.
The District could also sign inter-local agreements with cities such as Humble, to address sediment in its channels that lead to the lake. However, the District could not charge other entities for the dredging it does under such inter-local agreements.
Provisions in the bill prohibit the District from degrading water quality in the Lake. And the District would have to obtain permission from Houston Public Works before doing any dredging.
Financing
The District could NOT levy taxes or charge a fee. But it could issue bonds secured by district revenue.
The bill authorizes the legislature to fund the district’s activities but caps appropriations at $25 million per fiscal year until September 1, 2027.
The bill requires the District to study methods of financing and to make the study’s results available to the public. Early talk around financing focused on beneficial uses of sediment removed from the lake and its tributaries.
For instance, the District could sell the spoils to developers who need to raise slabs or build up areas. Spoils could also be used in projects such as the Ike Dike or road improvements.
Please Help
HB 1532 does not:
HB 1532 would:
As long as surrounding counties keep sending sediment downstream, the least they can do is support HB 1532.
Please email Senator Brandon Creighton or call his office at (512) 463-0104. Please ask him to sponsor HB 1532 in the Senate. It will only take a minute!
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/4/25
2805 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Unintended Consequences of Legislation Could Increase Flood Risk
5/3/25 – A well-intentioned bill that just moved from the Texas House to the Senate could have dire unintended consequences in certain circumstances. One of the unintended consequences is increased flood risk.
Bill Purports to Make Housing More Affordable
HB23 (and nearly identical companion bills SB2354 and HB2977) give developers the ability to privately hire engineers to approve the developer’s plans as a substitute for review by cities or counties. The intention: to speed up approvals of everything from plats to permits, thus lowering the costs of housing.
However, the bills are also a recipe for conflict of interest. It doesn’t take much imagination to see why. Moreover…
And that’s only one barrel of the shotgun. The second barrel? Potential interaction with a law passed in 2023.
Changing Plats Already Approved
In 2023, the legislature gave developers the right to opt out of a city’s Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ). Once a developer, such as Ryko has left the ETJ, it could change plats at will with the developer’s hired gun running the show. And nearby homeowners would have no recourse or even an opportunity to protest.
The combination of HB23 and the 2023 ETJ law would remove governmental accountability and oversight from development. It would be like going to a basketball game without referees. The results might not be so pretty.
Homes could flood repeatedly because assumptions about floodplains and flood elevations fundamentally changed without oversight.
HB23 purports to make housing more affordable. But it also fundamentally changes the balance of power between developers, neighbors and government. It takes government out of the equation, leaving neighbors without protection.
An Amendment Could Help
If HB23 survives the Senate, at a minimum, the Senate needs to add language to HB23 (or one of its companion bills) that prevents developers from bypassing government reviews for plats and re-plats by removing their land from a city’s ETJ.
If a developer wants to re-plat land, that’s fine. But make them go through a government review that lets adjoining property owners and their HOAs have their voices heard.
The bills would also make government unaccountable.
How You Can Help
At this point in the legislative session, it looks like HB23 has a better chance of success than its companion bills. I am against HB23 and its companion bills as they stand.
At a bare minimum, they need to include amendments that preclude re-platting land without government approval.
If you agree, during the next commercial break email the authors of these bills:
And don’t forget Governor Greg Abbott.
Legislation should create predictable outcomes, not unintended consequences.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/3/25
2804 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.