Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention - Syndicate Laws, regulation & policy feed

Texas asks for another extension of ozone deadline

Laurie H — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 08:27:33 -0700

Houston's first deadline to meet federal health standards for ozone was 1975. Now, 32 years later, we still haven't reached that goal, and Governor Perry is asking the EPA to extend our deadline (yet again) to 2018, according to a Houston Chronicle article by Dina Cappiello.

Texas officially asked the federal government Friday for an extra nine years to meet health standards for ground-level ozone, saying that it would be "practicably impossible" for the eight-county Houston-Galveston region to comply with the law by 2010.

Houston misses 2007 ozone deadline

Laurie H — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 19:15:24 -0700

On Monday, June 4, the air quality monitor at Wallisville Road in Baytown exceeded the 1-hour ozone standard for the second day this year. As a result, the Houston region lost its last hope of meeting the 2007 deadline for attaining the 1-hour standard â€“ or rather, of getting an extension of it.

According to federal guidelines, a region can meet the standard if it has no more than three exceedances in three years at any one monitor. For the period of 2005-2007, Houston blew that chance in the first year. However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took the position that Houston would be eligible for an extension if no monitor in the region exceeded the standard more than once during 2007.

GHASP comments on 8-hour ozone SIP

Meg Healy — Tue, 22 May 2007 21:00:00 -0700

Body

The following comments were submitted by GHASP Research Director Meg Healy to the TCEQ on May 23, 2007, regarding the adoption of the 8-hour ozone SIP.

All agree that additional emission reductions are necessary for attainment of the 8-hour standard in the Houston area. So on December 13, of last year, during the discussion of the proposed SIP, Commissioner Soward raised the question of whether the Commission would be able to add control measures to the plan in response to comments on the proposal. If the process does not allow the Commission to beef up the plan before it is submitted to the EPA, he was concerned that the SIP would be dead on arrival. Plus, the Commission and all the stakeholders will have wasted another five months or more waiting to implement the controls necessary to attain the standard.

Unfortunately, the situation is even worse than he feared. In fact, the document before you today is a step backward from the proposal TCEQ put out for comment last December. Rather than address the issues GHASP and other experts raised concerning the model, TCEQ simply replaced the new modeling data with the work done years ago on the 1-hour SIP. It is absurd to completely ignore all the hard work done by a legion of scientists since TexAQS I, and then complain that there's not enough science to support additional controls. Where's the science showing that all the recommended control measures are not reasonable?

When it comes to addressing the severe ozone problem in Houston, the TCEQ has abdicated its obligation to protect public health. Adoption of this plan as recommended by Staff will, at best, make minor tweaks in a program broadly recognized to be grossly inadequate. In fact, the proposal on its face does not meet EPA's SIP requirements.

The TCEQ has sunk to new depths in avoiding the science that calls out for tighter controls. It is all too obvious that this SIP is shamefully deficient. The ozone problem in Houston is complex, but imminently fixable. As Mayor Bill White of Houston has shown in reducing air toxics emissions, it just takes leadership committed to fixing it.

It's no "giant leap," but it's a baby step for Houston's air

Laurie H — Fri, 11 May 2007 10:12:11 -0700

At last, a decent bit of news from the Texas Legislature. This week, SB 1924 (Gallegos) passed the Senate. Finally, one ofÂ more thanÂ 10 air quality bills introduced this sessionÂ is getting somewhere!

Of course, that's partly because this is the least "offensive" bill of the bunch. It requires TCEQ to report on its efforts to clean up air pollution, but doesn't actually include any new pollution reduction measures.

Which is not to say it isn't a good bill. It is. But it would be even better if it included ambient air quality standards. Unfortunately, all the bills that would have set such standards (including another one by Gallegos) died in committee.

Bonnen won't hear bills unless they pass Senate

Laurie H — Thu, 03 May 2007 07:26:20 -0700

Texas Rep. Dennis Bonnen, chair of the House Environmental Regulations Committee, has said he won't hear any air toxics bills in his committee unless they pass the Senate, according to an article in the Brazoria County Facts.

Passage of Jackson's bill a setback for air quality

Laurie H — Thu, 03 May 2007 07:10:13 -0700

Despite strong opposition from 11 Texas Senators, SB 1317 (Jackson)Â passed the Senate on Wednesday after the third vote. The purpose of the bill is to prevent Texas cities from using nuisance ordinances to address air pollution that impacts their residents, if the pollution originates outside the city limits.

The bill was developed in direct response to the pollution reduction efforts of Houston Mayor Bill White. There's a blog on the Texas Observer that gives his reaction to the passage of the bill.

Cohen speaks up for clean air

Laurie H — Thu, 03 May 2007 07:00:00 -0700

Ellen Cohen has an excellentÂ column in the Bellaire Examiner this week dealing with air quality in Houston. She does anÂ good job of summing up why the Texas Legislature should not allow SB 1317 (Jackson) and HB 3592 (Smith) to become law.

It is one thing for Texas to stand alone among major refining states without ambient air standards, which consider nonfeasance.Â It is quite another for the Legislature to cut off the cityâ€™s ability to control what companies are allowed to spew into our air, which I would consider malfeasance.Â

Businesses should sit down with state leaders and create ambient air standards for all of Texas.

Until that day, they at least should respect a cityâ€™s right to regulate the air.

Support SB 1924, Oppose SB 1317

Laurie H — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 08:57:10 -0700

SB 1924 addresses toxic air pollution

Senate Bill 1924, which requires TCEQ to report its progress on cleaning up the air in communities on the Air Pollution Watch List, has cleared the Senate Natural Resources Committee and been sent to the full Senate. This is a small victory for air quality advocates, who often face an uphill battle in the Texas Legislature. However, the bill urgently needs support from Texas residents.

Please contact your Texas Senator, identify yourself as a constituent, and ask that he or she support SB 1924 (Gallegos). Also, ask for support on SB 1855 (Gallegos) and SB 1906 (Ellis). These identical bills would set enforceable ambient levels for five toxic pollutants. These bills, which are still in committee, will aid TCEQ in its efforts to address toxic air pollution.

Chronicle calls out "pollution defenders"

Laurie H — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 16:05:04 -0700

An editorial that ran in the Sunday, April 22 (Earth Day) issue of the Houston Chronicle criticized several local legislators for attempting to undercut Mayor Bill White's pollution reduction efforts.

However, the same state legislators who consistently vote against tougher air quality standards are eager to take away local governments' tools. State Sen. Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, is pushing SB 1317, which would make municipal nuisance laws inapplicable outside a city's corporate limits. A companion bill in the Texas House is being sponsored by state Rep. Wayne Smith, a Baytown Republican. Both officials represent districts with large industries that emit toxic fumes.

Clean air advocates testify in Austin

Laurie H — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 08:01:03 -0700

On Tuesday, April 17, GHASP staff and other air quality advocates traveled to Austin, Texas for a hearing in the Senate Natural Resources Committee. We were primarily interested in three bills that would affect air quality efforts in Houston - SB 1317, SB 1855 and SB 1924.

We were in good company, too. Mayor Bill White of Houston was at the hearing to testify against Senator Mike Jackson's bill, SB 1317, "relating to prohibiting a municipality from enacting regulations on air pollution that apply outside its corporate limits."

Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention - Syndicate Laws, regulation &amp; policy feed