According to a press release from NCTCOG, the air is now cleaner in the North Texas region.
Cleaner than what you may ask. Go ahead – you know you want to ask it.
We’ll the region now has cleaner air than we used to – yet we still have a ways to go. But here’s to all of you who’ve gone the extra step and closed the lids on your paint cans when you’re not using them or paid for that added emissions testing when getting your car inspected.
Region’s Efforts toward Cleaner Air Pays Off
One-Hour Ozone Standard AchievedNovember 1, 2006 (Arlington) – Fifteen years after being identified as having unhealthy levels of ozone, North Texas has reached a significant milestone in the effort to improve regional air quality.
With the end of the ozone season on Oct. 31, the North Texas region has reached attainment of the Environmental Protection Agency one-hour standard for ozone.
In June 1991, the EPA designated Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant counties as nonattainment for ozone under a one-hour air quality standard. The EPA establishes the maximum levels of certain air pollutants, including ozone, to protect public health. When pollution levels in an area exceed that maximum level, the area is designated as “nonattainment.â€
The one-hour standard was replaced by the more stringent eight-hour standard in April 2004. This new standard was put in place after the EPA determined exposure to ozone over an extended period of time is more dangerous than short durations.
Although the measurement has changed, meeting the one-hour standard shows Dallas-Fort Worth is making important progress. During the past ozone season, May 1- Oct. 31, North Texas exceeded the one-hour standard just one day. In addition, no air quality monitors exceeded the standard more than three times within a three-year period, the test used to determine if the designated area is in attainment.
North Texas’ air quality continues to improve with the help of strategies at the local, state and federal levels. The success that this area has experienced to date has been a result of a close working relationship forged among the EPA, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee, a collaboration of local elected officials, private business executives and environmental groups. The committee, which is staffed by the North Central Texas Council of Governments, is focusing on controlling harmful emissions from all sources, including on-road, non-road, area sources and large industries. It then makes recommendations to the state on what regional air quality strategies should be implemented to reach attainment of the EPA’s air quality standards.
Also important in the achievement of the one-hour standard are the projects sponsored and funded by the Regional Transportation Council. The RTC, which serves as the metropolitan planning organization for the North Texas region, has funded and
implemented dozens of emissions-reduction strategies being employed in the region, including mass transit, high-occupancy vehicle lanes, vehicle-inspection and maintenance financial assistance, clean-vehicle technologies, speed-limit reductions, intersection improvements and traffic-signal progression improvements. Further, it has provided funding to the North Texas Clean Air Coalition to encourage businesses and residents to reduce harmful emissions through car and vanpooling and alternative work schedules.
The region celebrates the attainment of the one-hour standard in recognition of the fact that the pollution reduction strategies put in place over the past several years have been effective and because it gives everyone confidence that the region can also meet the new, tougher eight-hour standard.
Unlike previous standards, the new eight-hour rule measures the amount by which the region exceeds the maximum levels of ozone allowed, not the number of exceedances. This provides a better indication of the severity of the region’s air quality. Under the eight-hour standard, the EPA designated nine counties – Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, and Tarrant – as nonattainment for ozone.
To meet this tougher ozone standard, the region is continuing to develop and implement new ways to reduce harmful emissions. Look for detailed information about some of these strategies in coming weeks.
