Stricter smog rules a challenge for some parts of Texas
January 08, 2010
Originally Posted Here By Jennifer Brumback on January 8, 2010 4:46 PM
New smog standards proposed this week by the US Environmental Protection Agency would be the strictest to date limiting ozone pollution.
For Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth and some other areas of Texas, which still don't meet the old standard, the new regulations would mean finding a way to cut emissions drastically or risk losing federal highway dollars. But sharply negative reaction from the governor and state environmental regulators highlight the long-standing and deep division separating Texas, which supplies the rest of the country with oil, chemicals and gas, from environmentalists pushing for federal minimums that would ensure cleaner air nationwide.
Governor Rick Perry issued a statement saying the regulations are based on flawed science and impose an unfair burden on Texans.
"From cap and tax legislation to regulating CO2 to moving ozone targets, the Obama administration seems intent upon following flawed science down a road that will lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of Texas jobs, while doing nothing more to protect human health."
Meanwhile, Bryan W. Shaw, chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, blasted the proposal as an assault on American independence.
"This EPA decision provides the illusion of greater protectiveness, but with no regard for cost, in terms of dollars or in terms of the freedoms that Americans are accustomed to," Shaw said in a statement.
But environmentalists herald the proposal -- which would reduce the allowable smog level to between 60 and 70 parts per billion, down from 75 ppb set by President George W. Bush in 2008 -- as long overdue.
No matter what, the Obama administration will be looking for more results on clean air from Texas, where Houston and Dallas-Ft. Worth rank at number 7 and 9, respectively, of the most polluted cities by ozone in the US.
Nationwide, EPA estimates the new program will cost between $19 and $90 billion, with the outlay offset by between $13 and $100 billion in health benefits.
The EPA plans to finalize the new standard by August, after holding a series of public hearings including one in Houston on February 2.
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