Anticipated EPA standards will place Austin in nonattainment status
Anticipated EPA standards will place Austin in nonattainment status
Written by Mary Tuma Thursday, 07 January 2010
Central Texans will have to hold their breath one more day to find out if the city they live in meets national air quality standards. Initially slated for Dec. 21, the federal agency postponed the announcement until after the winter holidays and pushed the release date again to Jan. 7.
Legislators, doctors and environmental groups gathered to commend the proposed standards at the Texas State Capitol on Jan. 6. The more stringent regulations, anticipated to be set at 70 parts per billion, would place Austin in “nonattainment” status according to their current levels if they become the official standard in 2010.
The undesirable designation is subject to negative environmental and economic consequences, such as barriers to access federal transportation funds.
Yet, the Sierra Club and lawmakers, like State Representative Eddie Rodriguez, view the new status as an opportunity to improve air quality, help Texans become healthier and halt the development of coal plants, the largest categorical source of ozone in the state.
“We are not where we need to be in terms of safe, clean air,” said Rodriguez. “There has to be a statewide effort and there has to be accountability from the state’s leadership, the Legislature and TCEQ.”
“We should also continue where we left off last session with our bipartisan effort to incentivise energy conservation. We need to make clean energy accessible and affordable to all Texans.”
Rodriguez suggested changing TCEQ’s permitting processes to evade penalties associated with the more protective ozone rule and even retiring the state’s oldest, dirtiest coal plants.
“Central Texas is currently on the edge of nonattainment,” said Eva Hernandez of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. “The tough part is that the number of areas that are nonattainment in Texas are going to double.”
Twice as many counties would hold the status, including El Paso, East Texas/Longview Tyler/Marshall, El Paso, San Antonio and possibly Corpus Christi, Victoria/Goliad, and Waco/Temple. DFW, Houston/Galveston, and Beaumont/Port Arthur are currently in non-attainment of air quality standards.
“TCEQ has really have been a rubber stamp for coal plants and other major industrial sources of air pollution across the state for years,” said Hernandez. “Unfortunately, because of that Texas asthma rates have doubled in the last ten years.”
Austin pediatrician Dr. Don Williams pointed to evidence that suggests ozone pollution reduces lung growth in children and increases problems with asthma control.
“The health effects from coal plants lead to damage to the respiratory cardiovascular, and nervous systems and contribute to four of the top five leading causes of death in the U.S.: heart disease, cancer, stroke, and chronic lower respiratory disease,” said Williams.
The EPA will hold a 60-day public comment period on the proposed ozone rule revision.
If the rule becomes a standard this August the EPA will require the TCEQ to prepare and submit an implementation plan that must drastically reduce ozone pollution.
For previous coverage on Austin's air quality status, read: Austin narrowly avoids penalties for air quality
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January 08, 2010
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