Texas Attainment SIP
A number of areas in Texas have poor air quality with on-going ozone
nonattainment problems. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
(TCEQ), formerly known as the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission
(TNRCC), continues to revise its State Implementation Plan (SIP) to address
this nonattainment as required by the EPA under the terms of the 1990
amendments to the Clean Air Act.
Those areas not meeting federal air quality standards are the following:
- Houston/Galveston (HGA) (ozone)
- Dallas/Fort Worth (ozone)
- Beaumont/Port Arthur (ozone)
- El Paso (carbon monoxide, particular matter and ozone)
In addition to these four nonattainment areas, there are five areas that
meet air quality standards (specifically ozone standards) by a slim margin.
These near nonattainment areas are Corpus Christi, Victoria, Austin, San
Antonio, and Northeast Texas.
Houston/Galveston
The Houston/Galveston (HGA) area holds nonattainment status for ground-level
ozone only. Counties affected under this status are Brazoria, Chambers,
Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller. This region
has the greatest point source potential NOx emission reductions..
To achieve the 8-hour ozone compliance goal, the TCEQ has set an 80%
NOx reduction milestone for industrial users. This 80% reduction is evaluated
on a user-by-user basis, and includes many cap and trade options. Therefore,
the actual NOx emission requirements for any specific burner retrofit
will ultimately be determined by a complex plant wide emission calculation.
Attainment Compliance
The HGA area is classified as "severe" and must attain the 1-hour ozone
standard by Nov. 15, 2007 and must attain the 8-hour ozone standard by
June 15, 2010. The 8-hour ozone standard SIP's are due by June 15, 2007.
Once the EPA accepts the SIP's, sources will be monitored throughout
2007 - 2009. The attainment date for the 8-hour ozone standard is June
15, 2010. Attainment in this area is especially challenging, due to the
magnitude of reductions needed for attainment.
Compliance Dates
November 15, 2007: Attain 1-hour standard
June 15, 2007: 8-hour State Implementation Plan due
Throughout 2007 - 2009: Monitoring period
June 15, 2010: Attain 8-hour standard
Dallas/Fort Worth
The Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) area Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical
Area (CMSA) consists of 12 counties: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Henderson,
Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, and Tarrant. Four of these
counties (Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant) have been classified as
nonattainment under the 1-hour ozone standard since 1993.
On April 15, 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued classifications
under the 8-hour ozone standard. In addition to the four "core" counties
listed above, five more counties (Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, and
Rockwall) were classified in nonattainment of the 8-hour standard. Effective
June 15, 2004, the DFW ozone nonattainment area will consist of these
nine counties. The three remaining counties in the CMSA (Henderson, Hood,
Hunt) are classified as attainment for the 8-hour standard.
Along with its classification of areas under the 8-hour ozone standard,
EPA also addressed other aspects of 8-hour attainment in Phase I of its
Implementation Rule, promulgated April 30, 2004. The Implementation Rule
outlines a number of options for areas with outstanding obligations for
an approved 1-hour ozone attainment demonstration, which applies to DFW.
TCEQ staff is currently discussing these options in depth with EPA and
local stakeholders to determine the course of action that makes best use
of the agency's resources while achieving air quality benefits as soon
as possible.
Attainment Compliance
The Dallas/Fort Worth area has until 2007 to demonstrate attainment.
Beaumont/Port Arthur
The Beaumont/Port Arthur (BPA) area holds nonattainment status for ground-level
ozone only. Counties affected under this status are Jefferson, Orange,
and Hardin.
The BPA area is classified "serious" by the EPA and must attain the 1-hour
ozone standard, by November 15, 2005. To reach attainment, BPA needs to
reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) by about 31% to 164 tons per day (tpd).
Attainment Compliance
The compliance schedule for the control of NOx air pollution from point
sources in the BPA area, adopted in 2000, require 2/3 of the reductions
to be obtained by May 1, 2003, and the remaining 1/3 to be obtained by
May 1, 2005. This pertains to utility electric generation, industrial,
commercial and institutional combustion sources and cement kilns (Bexar,
Cormal, Hays and McLennan counties).
El Paso
In 1990, the federal Clean Air Act classified El Paso as a "serious"
nonattainment area for ozone, a "moderate" nonattainment area for carbon
monoxide (CO), and nonattainment for particulate matter (PM). In 1991,
the El Paso PM 10 SIP was adopted, followed by the El Paso CO State Implementation
Plan (SIP) Revision in 1995, and the El Paso Ozone Attainment SIP Revision
in 1996. Since the adoption of these SIP revisions, measures have been
implemented to comply with national air quality standards. For example,
in order to achieve ozone nonattainment, control strategies targeting
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been implemented.
Recent modeling studies show that El Paso could meet national ambient
air quality standards if not for its proximity to Cuidad Juarez, Chihuahua,
Mexico.
In December 2002, the commission adopted changes to the El Paso I/M program
to make on-board diagnostic testing a contingency measure of the El Paso
ozone SIP in support of the maintenance of national ambient air quality
standards (NAAQS). This action was taken based on the El Paso area having
experienced five years with no monitored violations of the ozone standard.
Currently, El Paso is designated nonattainment for PM, carbon monoxide
and ozone. Due to El Paso's cross-border pollution issue, the commission
is currently working with local authorities and the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) to pursue redesignation SIP revisions for all three pollutants.
Resource Links
Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality
United States Environmental
Protection Agency (Office of Air & Radiation)
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