Texas Commission On Environmental Quality

The Texas Commission On Environmental Quality Financial Administration Division is a U.S. state government entity based in Austin, Texas, that acts as a prime recipient of federal environmental grants and a prime contractor on small federal permit-fee purchase orders, delivering environmental regulatory services, air and water quality monitoring, and state-level environmental program administration to federal agencies.

TCEQ is not a private contractor competing for work under set-asides or on full-and-open vehicles. It is the state environmental regulatory agency for Texas, functioning as the administering body for EPA-delegated environmental programs and receiving federal pass-through funding to implement state environmental objectives aligned with Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and other federal environmental statutes. The agency operates under primary NAICS 9511 (Administration of Air and Water Resource and Solid Waste Management Programs), reflecting its statutory role as the state's lead environmental protection regulator.

TCEQ's federal footprint splits sharply between two transaction types. Contract awards are small-dollar, routine purchase orders for regulatory compliance fees—air quality inspections, permit fees at federal facilities in Texas, and environmental permitting charges paid by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, the Air Force Reserve Command, and the Army Corps of Engineers. Recent contract examples include a $43,750 purchase order from DCSA (via ENDIST Fort Worth) for permit fees at Georgetown, Granger, and Somerville Lakes (awarded March 1, 2026, through December 31, 2030); a $22,994 annual air quality inspection fee from the Air Force Reserve Command (August 7, 2025); and an $8,750 permit-fee order from the Army Corps of Engineers for Georgetown facilities (December 6, 2024). All contract awards carry full-and-open designation with no set-aside category; combined potential value of recent contracts is under $1 million.

Grant work—which anchors TCEQ's federal relationship—flows almost exclusively from EPA Region 6 and FEMA, delivered as prime recipient of formula grants, project grants, and cooperative agreements supporting state environmental programs. TCEQ recipient activity spans air quality monitoring and data management (PM2.5 network operations, ozone monitoring equipment, ambient air station deployment under Inflation Reduction Act funding), water quality planning and protection (water quality standards development, Total Maximum Daily Load assessments, nonpoint source pollution reduction, underground storage tank leak detection and corrective action), estuary and coastal habitat restoration (Galveston Bay National Estuary Program implementation, seagrass monitoring, nature-based tourism and shoreline restoration under RESTORE Act funding), dam safety (inspections and emergency action planning), Superfund site remediation support, and brownfield assessment and cleanup. Recent major grant awards include a $45.6 million EPA Performance Partnership Grants award (September 1, 2025–August 31, 2027) supporting core environmental program operations across air, water, land, pollution prevention, and chemical safety; a $4.62 million EPA Nonpoint Source Implementation Grants award (CFDA 66.460, September 1, 2025–August 31, 2030) funding watershed protection and BMP implementation; a $1.7 million EPA National Estuary Program award for Galveston Bay ecosystem restoration (CFDA 66.456, September 1, 2025–August 31, 2028); a $16.5 million FEMA National Dam Safety Program award for high-hazard dam rehabilitation (CFDA 97.041, September 24, 2024–September 23, 2027); and a $1.967 million EPA Water Quality Management Planning grant (CFDA 66.454, September 1, 2025–August 31, 2027) supporting comprehensive water quality planning across 25 subaward projects.

Federal customer concentration is led by EPA Region 6 (128 awards, $100 combined potential value) and the Air Force Reserve Command (20 awards, $325 thousand combined potential value), followed by the Army Corps of Engineers Engineering District Fort Worth (35 awards, $238 thousand combined potential value). EPA dominates the grant landscape; the Air Force and Army Corps drive contract fee volume. TCEQ serves 35 distinct federal agencies across 456 recent prime awards (455 prime, 1 sub-award). Activity has moderated in recent years—19 awards in 2022, declining to 3 awards through April 2026—reflecting the episodic nature of grant competitions and fee-based permitting cycles. Twenty-seven awards face ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months, creating recompete exposure for TCEQ and opportunity for competitors pursuing federal environmental grant work in Texas.

TCEQ subawards grant funding to universities, regional councils of governments, conservation nonprofits, and local government entities to execute specialized environmental work. Named sub-recipients include the Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program (seagrass monitoring, coastal watershed management), the University of Texas at Arlington (water quality permitting expertise, underground storage tank inspections), the University of Houston Clear Lake (water quality sampling for national assessment programs), the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the Houston-Galveston Area Council, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service (on-site sewage facility remediation, watershed protection planning), the Galveston Bay Foundation, and the City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department. TCEQ also coordinates with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Railroad Commission of Texas on habitat restoration and abandoned oil well remediation under RESTORE Act funding. The agency acts as pass-through administrator for IIJA-funded air monitoring equipment upgrades and solid waste recycling infrastructure improvement grants to local air monitoring programs and regional councils of governments.