EPA gathered local and state partners to announce its proposed
approval of the Dallas-Fort Worth clean air plan today. Also, EPA
announced that the area achieved the previous 1-hour ozone standard
through the success of earlier plans.
Under the proposed plan, ozone forming pollutants will be
reduced by 88 tons per day—about 40 tons more than the plan
had first proposed.
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Chairman Buddy Garcia
and Regional Administrator Richard Greene joined with community
leaders and businesses within the nine county non-attainment area
to strengthen the original plan.
"That work—a result of the North Texas can-do
spirit—has moved this clean air plan across the goal line and
makes it the first in the nation to gain EPA's proposal for
approval, Greene said.
"Today's announcement shows that once again Texas leads the
nation in developing and implementing innovative programs that
reduce air pollution and improve air quality for all citizens,"
said Garcia.
The clean air plan will improve air quality by more than 55%
over 1999 levels. The plan in combination with previous plans is
resulting in a total of 409 tons per day of ozone pollution
reduction. Dallas-Fort Worth is the first community with a clean
air plan that has been proposed for approval or that meets the
8-hour federal health-based standard for ozone by 2010. The plan
could not have come about without the all-out efforts of local and
state partners.
Of note is the North Texas effort to capture more dollars from
the popular Texas Emissions Reduction Plan, known as TERP, last
spring. In the last six months, the DFW area beat out all other
areas, two to one, with a record setting $84 million in
applications from the $110 million grant budget. Another funding
opportunity is planned for this fall and North Texas is well
positioned to repeat its success. As much as 14 tons per day of
pollution could be cut through the replacement and retrofit of old
diesel engines.
AirCheckTexas brought another $21 million to North Texas to
repair and replace older vehicles which typically produce more
emissions than newer models. This fall, another $21 million will be
available to the DFW area from AirCheckTexas.
"From the outset our phones were ringing off the hook. People
were very interested in this incentive program," said Executive
Director Mike Eastland, North Central Texas Council of Governments
(NCTCOG). "Within the first hour, we realized that the funding
available for these projects was going to be used up very
rapidly."
AirCheckTexas sponsors Senator Kip Averitt and Representative
Dennis Bonnen knew the program would work. North Texas' success
will help guarantee this program is available in the upcoming
years.
"North Texas' success with AirCheckTexas is exactly what we
expected," said Ellis County Judge Chad Adams, immediate past
president of the NCTCOG. "When 6.5 million people benefit from an
idea, things change. We are seeing a lot of changes in the way
North Texas is tackling clean air."
Working with the NCTCOG, Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and Love
Field joined the campaign for clean air by refining estimates of
their operations' pollution emissions. New accurate information
allowed EPA and Texas air quality modeling experts to certify
pollution reductions totaling almost 10 tons per day.
North Texas is also leading the nation to reduce pollution from
power plants in the nine county non-attainment area. All are
subject to the strictest air pollution controls required for either
commercial or municipal power plants in the country. Texas also
committed to restrict the amount of pollution credits, technically
referred to as Discrete Emission Reduction Credits or DERCs,
cutting pollution by 17 tons a day.
New regulations on back-up generators used by business and
industry provided for some air quality improvements, about 1 ton
per day. Other measures improved information used by EPA modeling
experts in evaluating the plan. Better inventories of gas
compressors showed their wide-spread use and resulted in an
increase of 3 tons per day. New regulations adopted to control
emissions from gas compressor engines will further improve air
quality in the region.
"Our goal from day one was to encourage everyone to join an
effort to bring clean air to the Dallas-Fort Worth area sooner than
expected," said Greene. "Had the SIP not been approvable, it would
have resulted in years-long delays in getting the types of
pollutant controls now being put in place."
The Dallas-Fort Worth clean air plan, referred to as the State
Implementation Plan (SIP), will be published in the Federal
Register for public review and comment. EPA will consider all
relevant information submitted during the 30-day comment period and
may modify its decision to approve the plan based on new
information.
EPA's proposed approval is conditional. Texas must finalize
regulations to formally reduce the amount of discrete emission
credits available in the 9 county non-attainment area.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area currently does not meet the federal
air quality standard for ozone, which is a harmful air pollutant.
Ozone forms when emissions from sources such as vehicles and
industry mix with sunlight. On-road and off-road vehicles and
equipment make up about 70% of the ozone sources in the DFW
area.
The AirCheckTexas Drive a Clean Machine Program is designed to
help car owners comply with ozone emissions standards. It targets
the highest polluting vehicles by offering financial incentives to
repair or remove them from roadways, and allows citizens to
contribute to the regional air quality solution.
The Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) provides financial
assistance to offset the incremental costs associated with reducing
emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from heavy-duty diesel engines.
NOx are one of the primary components of ground-level ozone, or
smog. TERP serves as a national model for replacing and
retrofitting older diesel engines and is managed by the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality.
More information is available on our Web site at www.epa.gov/region6.
Actions will be published in the federal register soon and
available for public comment. Documents are available for public
review from the EPA Web site at www.epa.gov/region6.
