1999-02-08 Regular Meeting, Public Hearing and Special Called Workshop Minutes of City Council

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e e WEY WE MUST CLEAN THE REGION'S AIR NOW The HOI.lstun-Galveston region does not meet the current National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ground level ozone; therefore, the region, constituted by Harris, Galveston, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, Waller, Chambers and Liberty Counties, has been designated as a severe non-attainment area by the Environmental Protection Agency, or EP A. The ozone standard was established by EP A to address health concerns associated with ozone, particularly among children and adults with pre-existing respiratory disease. Ozone levels in the Houston-Galveston non-attainment area must be reduced by the year 2007 in order to comply with the federal standard. In addition, if an acceptable plan to reach the standard is not developed by the year 2000, the EP A could halt all federally funded transportation projects, force the implementation of more intrusive emission control measures and place restrictions on new or expanding business in the eight county area. The Challenge Ozone is a colorless gas formed by the chemical reaction of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, and nitrogen oxides, or NOx, in warm, sunny atmospheric conditions. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, or TNRCC, estimates that to comply with the standard we need to make significant reductions in NOx and VOCs emissions by the year 2007. This is a significant challenge that the region must move forward to meet. VOCs and NOx come from four basic sources that we depend upon every day: point sources, such as industry boilers, furnaces and storage tanks; on-road mobile sources, such as cars, trucks and buses; off-road sources, such as boats, construction equipment and all-terrain vehicles; and area sources, such as service stations, dry cleaners and auto paint shops. The continued growth and diversity of our region make the ozone reductions more crucial and challenging, particularly in light of the significant reductions in ozone precursors already achieved. Over the past ten years Harris County grew by over 300,000 residents and growth into the next century will continue. The seven surrounding counties have added almost 250,000 residents since 1990. Our region includes inner city and suburban residents, small business, large industry and agricultural interests. No single county, city or business sector will produce enough NOx and VOC emission reductions for this region to comply with the fecicral ozone standard. Industry executives and yardmen, moms and mayors alike must realize that working together now will allow us to reduce emissions, protect public health, sustain the regional economic growth and avoid harsh federal sanctions.