Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
In the summer of 2018, dozens of residents in Manchester a predominantly Latino neighborhood of Houston where nearly half of the residents have limited English proficiency, according to U.S. census surveys attended a meeting about a refinerys plan to increase pollution emitted in their neighborhood.
Notices for the meeting, held by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, were printed only in English. There werent enough headsets for all the residents who needed to hear a Spanish translation provided by interpreters. Residents left confused or frustrated.
The meeting was one of the main examples cited by environmental groups when they filed a civil rights complaint against the TCEQ, which prompted an investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
After years of allegedly discriminating against Spanish speakers with limited English proficiency, the TCEQ presented its plan to stakeholders this month for translating important agency documents and providing interpreters at public meetings part of an agreement the agency made to avoid potential civil rights violations that could jeopardize some of its federal funding from the EPA.
The TCEQ scheduled a series of public meetings this spring to solicit input on the best way to make its work accessible to communities with limited English proficiency, including millions of native Spanish speakers in Texas. But the plan was already finalized before those meetings began leaving community advocates uncertain whether their input will make a difference.
A TCEQ attorney told the public at a recent stakeholder meeting that the plans are living documents. She also said that the agency already solicited and responded to public comments during a more formal process in the fall when it created a rule requiring companies to provide competent interpretation services at public meetings for environmental permits so people who dont speak English can fully participate. (Companies will have to comply with that rule beginning May 1.)
But Spanish speakers and community advocates say the agency didnt address their biggest concerns, including how competent interpretation will be defined. They say TCEQ has largely ignored calls to ensure that translators and interpreters have the skills to communicate the complex environmental laws and procedures involved in companies permits to emit air pollutants, discharge pollution into water, dispose of hazardous waste and more.
Its important for the agency to allow people who dont speak English to understand its work, advocates say, because the public has a right to question, comment on or protest new sources of pollution in their neighborhoods that may affect peoples health.
Clear standards for translators and interpreters would ensure that people who speak limited English can fully participate, said Shiv Srivastava, a policy researcher with Fenceline Watch, a small environmental advocacy group focused on language access for communities disproportionately impacted by pollution.
In Texas courts, for example, the state must provide a qualified translator to explain legal proceedings to defendants and other participants who dont speak English. The Texas Department of Transportation also guarantees language services at its public meetings and assesses the interpreters competency with specialized terms and concepts in both languages.
Gary Rasp, a TCEQ spokesperson, said the agency has not developed specific standards for interpretation and translation services. The agencys current plan includes a list of acceptable translators, which can include bilingual TCEQ staffers to interpret meetings in real time, or online translation services to translate official agency documents. But community advocates say that could result in subpar translations.
TCEQ is literally trying to do the bare minimum by throwing something through Google Translate, Srivastava said.
TCEQ leaders, though, wanted to move quickly, even if all the details werent worked out.
Sometimes you have to fuel your ship on aspirations alone, TCEQ Commissioner Bobby Janecka said during an August meeting when commissioners approved the rule.
TCEQ Commissioner Emily Lindley agreed. Lets not let perfect be the enemy of the good here, Lindley said. My hope is that during the implementation, the executive directors office will work hard to address a lot of the concerns weve heard.
Amy Browning, an attorney with TCEQs environmental law division, told advocates during a March 3 public webinar that TCEQ will consider the critiques the public brought up during the meeting, which included potential problems with electronic translation services and calls to expand the definition of vital documents to include toxicology risks. However, there is not a formal process to require the agency to respond.
The language access plan is part of TCEQs agreement with EPA to take several actions rather than endure the rest of what would be a lengthy civil rights investigation. The EPA is still monitoring the state agencys efforts. Browning, the TCEQ attorney, told advocates on the March 3 call that EPA has already reviewed the agencys language access plan.
Isabel Segarra Trevio, who helped file the 2019 civil rights complaint against TCEQ when she worked as an attorney for an environmental advocacy group, said that during her five-year stint as a TCEQ staff attorney, she was frequently called upon to do additional work as an interpreter because she was one of the few bilingual attorneys on staff.
This situation repeats itself all throughout Texas, where the agency has reason to know it should provide materials in Spanish and it doesnt, said Segarra Trevio, who is now an assistant county attorney in Harris County.
Segarra Trevio said language barriers go far beyond what the TCEQ has even begun to consider in its policies.
You dont just need an interpreter, you need someone who can really grapple with the technical aspects of these applications and deliver culturally appropriate interpretation, she said.
At the March 3 webinar, the first public meeting to solicit public input on the plan, separate phone lines were available in English and Spanish. Leticia Gutierrez, the government relations and community outreach director at Air Alliance Houston, was on the English line and began to give comments in Spanish: S, buenas tardes, mi nombre es Leticia she began, but was quickly interrupted by the TCEQ moderator.
Im going to stop you there, TCEQ manager Mehgan Taack said. She explained that bilingual participants could not speak in Spanish while on the English phone line.
It is better if you join the Spanish line, or if you can speak in English, Taack said.
In English, Gutierrez asked if she could speak both languages.
I would prefer one or the other, Taack said, and then apologized. Were doing the best with our systems, but theyre still not quite perfect.
Disclosure: Air Alliance Houston and Google have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
