An editorial in the Sunday, June 10 edition of the Houston Chronicle noted that while state legislators failed to improve air toxics laws this spring, not all the news is bad.

It could have been worse. A bill to prevent cities from using nuisance laws against polluters outside their borders failed to pass muster, leaving Houston free to use that strategy.

Good point. Now that the legislative session is over, let's get back to work. Mayor Bill White has outlined a plan for reducing toxic air pollution in Houston, and we need to move forward with it.

Back in February, the Greater Houston Partnership formed a task force to review White's plans, and City Council agreed to table the topic for 6 weeks. That deadline has long since passed, yet there's no word on the task force's findings.

In a Houston Chronicle article from March 24, the chair of the task force said that threats and stringent ordinances are not the way to clean up our air, and called for voluntary pollution reduction measures.

At the task force's meeting, (Dan) Wolterman outlined a goal to have a voluntary plan by the end of April that would commit the region's major industrial facilities to reducing concentrations of benzene during the next three years.

Wolterman said companies that don't agree to participate or do not adhere to the plan could face fines. Task force member Jane Laping of Mothers for Clean Air expressed skepticism that a plan could be developed in such a short time frame.

"I would really like to see this committee do something, but I don't know if anything is going to come of this by the end of April," (Laping said.)

City Council has given this task force more than six weeks to come back with its comments. It is time for the Council to quit delaying, pass the nuisance ordinance and approve White's benzene reduction plan.

If we can't count on our state legislators and state officials to protect the public from toxic air pollution, then let's give the Mayor the support he needs to do the job.