A Texas lawmaker proposes a new bill designed to notify the public in the case of a chemical emergency in much the same way that an Amber Alert warns of a kidnapped child, according to an article in the Houston Chronicle. The bill, proposed by Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, would reportedly create a system that pushes a notification to mobile phones when a chemical incident occurs that would "substantially endanger human health or the environment."
According to the article, decisions regarding chemical alerts are currently left up to various local agencies who may offer conflicting information or fail to provide any notification at all. Under the proposed bill, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality would use reports generated by companies who are required to report toxic releases to trigger an alert in the affected area.
Read more about HB 1927 here.