Areas with Early Action Compacts hit their targets on air
quality
The areas of Austin, San Antonio, and Northeast Texas have
proved that volunteer programs can make a difference in ozone
levels. By the end of 2007, all three areas had successfully
completed the terms of their early action compacts with the
TCEQ.
In this story:
Idea Reaches Fruition
Plans are Homegrown
Three areas of Texas that initiated their own efforts to improve
air quality have reached an important milestone—all met their
goals for reducing ground-level ozone.
The areas of San Antonio, Austin-Round Rock, and Northeast Texas
have been engaged in a three-year program to implement a variety of
clean-air strategies.
Their mission was to lower ozone levels by Dec. 31, 2007, to
comply with the federal 8-hour ozone standard. All of them
succeeded and, by doing so, avoided being designated as
nonattainment by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Once an urban area has been designated as nonattainment for the
8-hour standard, the TCEQ must begin working on a plan to curb
harmful emissions. After it is approved by the commission, the
State Implementation Plan goes to EPA for review. The nonattainment
area then has to comply with various requirements by specific
dates.
Texas already has three nonattainment areas: Houston-Galveston,
Dallas-Fort Worth, and Beaumont-Port Arthur.
But, by having already agreed to an Early Action Compact (EAC),
an urban area stays in the driver's seat, retaining the ability to
design and implement its own action plan for improving air quality,
such as using vanpools and flexible work schedules for commuters or
adding low-emitting vehicles to fleets.
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Idea Reaches Fruition
The concept of an EAC was conceived in Texas. San Antonio was
the first to participate, signing an agreement with the TCEQ and
EPA in December 2002. San Antonio's voluntary enrollment was soon
followed by Austin-Round Rock and Northeast Texas
(Longview-Marshall-Tyler), and all three began to develop plans for
improving air quality.
At the time, the federal 8-hour ozone standard was soon to take
effect, and all three areas were monitoring exceedances of the
ozone standard. The EAC agreements were formally adopted in
2004.
EPA designated the counties of Bexar, Comal, and Guadalupe as
nonattainment-deferred for the 8-hour standard. Under
nonattainment-deferred, the area has a deadline for reaching
attainment; if the deadline is not met, the more stringent
nonattainment requirements take effect. Neighboring Wilson County
agreed to take part in the compact.
For the last three years, each area with an EAC has filed
six-month progress reports with the TCEQ and EPA, detailing the
latest monitoring results and the status of their clean-air
programs. By the end of 2007, preliminary data showed air quality
in each area to be in attainment with the 8-hour ozone standard's
limit of 0.08 parts per million (ppm).
Although no further reporting is required, all three areas have
committed to implement their clean-air programs through 2012.
Meanwhile, EPA recently announced new limits to the amount of
ozone allowed in the air, lowering the maximum allowable
concentration to 0.075 ppm under the 8-hour standard.
All three EAC areas fall short of the new standard. Based on
preliminary 2005-2007 data, 22 counties in Texas are monitoring
over the new standard. EPA expects to designate the nonattainment
counties by 2010 and give those counties three years to develop
plans to meet the new standard.
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Plans are Homegrown
While the idea of creating EACs started in Texas, EPA has put
the program to work in 13 other states. Now almost 40 EACs are in
effect, from Virginia to Colorado.
Under EACs, state and local officials consult with stakeholders
to devise the best means—usually voluntary—of reducing
emissions for that locale. The plans differ from region to region,
but the common challenge is generating community support and the
will to carry out initiatives. Here are some of the programs chosen
in Texas to achieve emission reductions:
San Antonio. The Alamo Clean Air Partnership
encouraged voluntary emission reduction measures in the business
and government sectors—for example, by urging commuters to
carpool, walk, or ride the bus. Under a new San Antonio ordinance,
taxi owners can swap one non-hybrid permit for two permits good
only for hybrid vehicles.
Austin. Travis and Williamson counties
volunteered for the state's annual vehicle emissions testing, which
is mandatory only in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth areas. In
the first year of testing, almost 700,000 vehicles went through the
program. The area is also enforcing local idling restrictions, and
several public institutions, such as the University of Texas, have
agreed to specific emission reductions from power plants. Bastrop,
Hays, and Caldwell counties are also in the EAC.
Northeast Texas. The EAC, including Rusk,
Smith, Upshur, Gregg, and Harrison counties, participates in the
Department of Energy's Clean Cities Program to voluntarily reduce
emissions from onroad vehicles. This includes funding for
propane-fuel vans for local transit agencies. Also, two major
companies near Longview have implemented enhanced leak detection
and repair programs. Eastman Chemical Co. reduced volatile organic
compounds by about 230 tons a year, and Flint Hills Resources
(formerly a Huntsman facility) lowered VOC emissions by about 44
tons a year.
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