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President’s Message: Honoring Excellence, Living the Commitment

President’s Message: Honoring Excellence, Living the Commitment

When our industry gathered on June 5 at the Galveston Island Convention Center for the TCC-TCA Awards Banquet, I was struck by the spirit in the room. There was pride, there was purpose—and above all, there was a shared commitment to the values that define Texas chemistry: safety, innovation, and service.

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Capitol Chemistry with Mia: 89th Legislature Adjourns Sine Die

Capitol Chemistry with Mia: 89th Legislature Adjourns Sine Die

On Monday, June 2nd, the Texas Legislature “Adjourned Sine Die” bringing the 89th Legislative Session to an official close. At the beginning of the Session, the Governor and both Chambers laid out ambitious goals of sweeping policy changes including huge investments in Texas’ infrastructure to account for the state’s rapid growth.

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Logan’s Legal & Regulatory Corner

Logan’s Legal & Regulatory Corner

In the legal world, June can be a highly anticipated month because the U.S. Supreme Court issues several opinions, which can bring sweeping changes to statutory interpretation or other legal doctrines. You may recall the landmark Loper Bright decision was announced in late June 2024, which overruled the 40-year-old Chevron deference doctrine. For June 2025, there may not be the same type of headline grabbing decision, but there are a few opinions worth noting.

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Greg Abbott Launches $20 Billion Texas Water Plan

Greg Abbott Launches $20 Billion Texas Water Plan

Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed two major bills into law on June 18, launching a landmark $20 billion investment aimed at tackling Texas' growing water shortages. Final funding approval for part of the plan will require voter consent in a November statewide ballot.

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US Chem Employment to Grow Despite Retirement Wave – Deloitte

US Chem Employment to Grow Despite Retirement Wave – Deloitte

Employment in the US chemical industry will continue growing even while it contends with a wave of retirements, the consultancy Deloitte said. The chemical industry grows at a multiple of GDP. As the global economy grows, so will the chemical industry, and that will require companies to hire employees, said Bob Kumpf, managing director at Deloitte. “Society expects us to innovate, whether it’s emerging technologies, whether it’s biotechnology, whether it’s all the downstream applications,” Kumpf said. “This is a growth sector.”

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Smarter Transportation Policies Will Put America in the Driver’s Seat

Smarter Transportation Policies Will Put America in the Driver’s Seat

For the chemical industry, transportation isn’t just a logistical concern; it’s a lifeline. Our industry depends on all modes of transportation to bring in raw materials and deliver finished products to virtually every part of the economy. Last year alone, more than one billion tons of chemical products moved across the country, supporting everything from microchips and cars to medicines and energy all the things we depend on every day.

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Texas leaders broke promises to hold CenterPoint accountable after Hurricane Beryl. Here are 5 takeaways.

Texas leaders broke promises to hold CenterPoint accountable after Hurricane Beryl. Here are 5 takeaways.

As Houstonians sweated through days of power outages in the wake of Hurricane Beryl last year, one culprit emerged: CenterPoint Energy, the region’s primary electric utility. Texas’ most powerful leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, promised that sweeping reforms were coming. But a year later, not much has changed, the Chronicle found.

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PFAS Firefighting Foam Needed for Another Year, Pentagon Says

PFAS Firefighting Foam Needed for Another Year, Pentagon Says

Military bases will seek Congress’ approval to use PFAS-enabled firefighting foam until Oct. 1, 2026, according to recently released briefing materials from the Department of Defense. The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2020—which banned use of the fire suppressant aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) on domestic bases as of Oct. 1, 2024—allowed up to two one-year waivers of the prohibition. But Congress must be updated on the military’s progress.

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Glass Bottles May Contain More Microplastics than Plastic Ones, Scientists Warn

Glass Bottles May Contain More Microplastics than Plastic Ones, Scientists Warn

Drinks sold in glass bottles, like soda, wine, or beer, may contain more microplastic particles than those in plastic ones, a surprising new study published by France's food safety agency suggests.

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EPA Will Revisit Biden-Era Ban on the Last Type of Asbestos Used in US

EPA Will Revisit Biden-Era Ban on the Last Type of Asbestos Used in US

The Environmental Protection Agency told a federal appeals court it will reconsider the Biden administration’s ban on the last type of asbestos used in the United States to determine whether it went “beyond what is necessary.”

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New Study Says to Think Fees, Not Bans, to Reduce Plastic Bag Litter

New Study Says to Think Fees, Not Bans, to Reduce Plastic Bag Litter

A new study suggests plastic bag fees could be more impactful than bans in limiting plastic bag litter on shorelines. And the work published in the journal Science also finds full bag bans are more effective than partial bans. A just-published article examines the impact on bans, partial bans and fees as they relate to reducing plastic bag litter along the nation's waterways. Researchers used a database of cleanup projects created by the environmental group Ocean Conservancy.

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Researchers Convert PET Waste Into Acetaminophen

Researchers Convert PET Waste Into Acetaminophen

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland have discovered a method to turn post-consumer PET waste into acetaminophen. A team of researchers from the University of Edinburgh’s Wallace Lab used genetically reprogrammed E. coli bacterium to convert terephthalic acid into the active ingredient of acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol, a widely used painkiller medication.

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BASF Interview Part 1: Producing More with Less a Key Sustainability Concern

BASF Interview Part 1: Producing More with Less a Key Sustainability Concern

BASF’s Agricultural Solutions division’s senior vice-president of global marketing, Marko Grozdanovic, spoke to Crop Science Market Reporting’s (CSMR) Amritesh Singh Malhan and Robert Birkett about agriculture’s sustainability challenges and the company’s contribution to tackling them.

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Texas Startup Sells Plastic-Eating Fungi Diapers to Tackle Landfill Waste

Texas Startup Sells Plastic-Eating Fungi Diapers to Tackle Landfill Waste

Could baby poop and fungi work together to tackle landfill waste? That's the idea behind a new product launched by an Austin, Texas-based startup that sells disposable diapers paired with fungi intended to break down the plastic.

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Chem Plant Upgrade: Business Receives $5M Grant for Expansion in Killeen

Chem Plant Upgrade: Business Receives $5M Grant for Expansion in Killeen

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a $5.3 million grant for a project to expand a chemical plan in Killeen Tuesday. MGC Pure Chemicals America received the grant from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund, which is an incentive program designed to promote semiconductors.

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Dow Bringing New PE Production in Texas Online

Dow Bringing New PE Production in Texas Online

Dow Inc. is starting up a new polyethylene resin production unit in Freeport, Texas. In an email to Plastics News, a spokesperson with Dow in Midland, Mich., said the firm's Poly-7 PE project "is coming online."

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