02-18-2002 Port of Houston Expansion Review Committee Meeting

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_ d~~em rs o~,grams will I~eS ~ U S `: Con- r : , -, '.. ~ _ ~ ' SI v'~ ._: p _ . Morial of _ - d~ to Bush's and other . Cortinued from Page 1A. ~ment. the essence of it." - eve proven .Nitrogen oxides, called NOX for :helping to short, and volatile organic com- U.S. cities. pounds (VOC), are the major ter to pay components of ground-level ozone pollution, sometimes re- challenge ferred to as smog. :publicans Measuring the amount of NOX r an eco- that pours from a tailpipe is done tincludes, , , in auto engineering: laboratories tax cuts using sophisticated equipment. efits. That data can then be applied to an is too traffic in a particular urban area. is asking Randy Wood, deputy director ncies to for environmental policy at the Texas Natural Resource Conser- i group of vation Commission in Austin - by House who is both a mechanical and ~eLay, R- ~eldng to "aerospace engineer -explains .that the Texas Transportation In- ~t in the ,stitute at Texas A&M University Auld allow' has the entire Houston-area road 1 et will g ' systetri "laid out in its computer." Fbr a given route and time of day, :war on he said, the program shows aver- ' oprotect 'age traffic volume speed and mix ' attacks " > of :vehicles..:' The amount;`.. of 1VOX emitted ~,~;; per. mile varies with a vehicle's ;. • speed, Wood said. `For most, he ions .that said, these. emissions bottom out d Impact oi~ew speed limit depends. on length of trip se docu- ~ ie before ~!m 45 to 55 mph and then nse as speed increases.;. For later- pollution control plan. " ected to account for a NOX reduc- i a ear model.vehicles, the rise`is not as steep as for older ones, but it's Stop-and-go driving adds to the problem because all vehicles also tion of about 12 tons a day, the tail i e test about 36 t T cial cpom- there' ~ burn more fuel, and thus pollute p p ons. o- gether; they would achieve about released in com- Several other .factors also go mto the mix, Wood noted more, when accelerating than when running at constant speed 7 percent of the needed reduc- i g ors, law- In general, the lighter a vehicle And aerodynamic drag - t ons, set at 750 to 800 tons a day under the state's air plan s for al- and the smaller and cleaner its,. which, along with inerlaa and Eric- . ed p~_ engine, the less improvement in tion, must be overcome for a ve- In the grand scheme, going :nron's Pollution from a lower speed. hide to move at all - is twice as slower and cleaner may account d wrong- As a group, Wood said, heavy- !n'eat at 70 mph as at 55; Wood for a small ,part of fhe clean air insiders. duty vehicles, including big said. ~ plan, officials admit, but every ton. Lay for trucks and larger pickups and The 55-mph speed limit is part- counts in a plan that -despite risibility .. .sport utility vehicles, release of a two-prong plan ,to cut vehicle these drastic measures -still ~ about 10 times the NOX per mile as -light-duty vehicles which in- emissions,-which the H-GAC esti- . mates produce 24 percent of NOX fall§ 56 tons' per day short of an and ying e h , .elude. cars and smaller icku s P p emissions in there on. ~ needed reductions. The state will scramble to come up with the rest y gat~ons and SUVs. That might seem to imply that The other ron certain to also elicit howls of'complaint from mo- during the next few years. is col- ` regulators should crack down on torists, is a tightened tailpipe test- big commercial trucks, but Wood ing program scheduled to begin Additional covera a online o e board . said these are federally regulated and fall outside;the state agency's May 1. The slower s eed limit is rof- www.houstonchr nicle.com/trattic ck posting of 55- h i P dtb p p mp s gns oa y road d stock - iainina . _ .w ° _- - --- --. _ .. •