The Houston Chronicle
www.chron.com

By BILL DAWSON
Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle Environment Writer

September 26, 2000

As now drafted, the state's smog plan for Houston may fall short of meeting the national ozone standard -- and therefore fail to earn needed federal approval, the Environmental Protection Agency said Monday.

EPA officials, in written comments on the state proposal, outlined their "significant legal and technical concerns" about its adequacy.

But the federal agency also struck a conciliatory tone, praising the sizable pollution reductions in the state plan, offering recommendations and "flexibility" for beefing it up and pledging its cooperation.

For instance, the EPA offered to consider approving state commitments for future measures that aren't ready now, such as innovative emission-cutting technologies and new rules for reducing accidental industrial pollution releases.

The plan proposed by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission represents "a tremendous effort to control air pollution and smog in the Houston area," EPA regional administrator Gregg Cooke said in an interview.

Cooke said the EPA letter should not be construed as a threat, but EPA officials needed to detail their preliminary assessment of the smog plan and note the consequences of ultimate federal disapproval.

The EPA letter to the TNRCC did not mention the federal economic sanctions that could result from such disapproval, including a cutoff of transportation funding.

The letter did note, however, that if the state does not submit a plan that meets federal approval by a Dec. 30 deadline, a 1999 court order would compel the EPA to propose its smog plan for the Houston area by October 2001.

TNRCC commissioner Ralph Marquez said it wasn't surprising that the EPA is voicing some concerns about the state plan.

He promised "to work closely with the EPA so that the state of Texas can submit a plan which will receive the federal government's unqualified approval."

Marquez said he was pleased that the EPA listed several upcoming nationwide rules that will help reduce Houston's smog levels and that federal officials are promising to give the state "additional flexibility to make this plan work."

The TNRCC has a little more than two months to change its smog proposal before a scheduled vote by the agency's three commissioners in early December on the final version that Gov. George W. Bush will then send to the EPA.

Apparently, the plan as now proposed is close to the amount of pollution reduction EPA officials believe it needs to bring Houston's ozone levels below the national health standard for that respiratory irritant.

Last year, the EPA said the plan should eliminate about 763 tons of ozone-forming nitrogen oxide from the eight-county Houston region's total projected emissions of 1,052 tons in 2007.

TNRCC officials said this summer that their updated calculations indicated erasing 736 tons would do the job.

They said they believed their plan -- with deep cuts by local industrial plants, a 55 mph speed limit, tougher tailpipe tests and an array of restrictions for other pollution sources -- would slightly exceed that amount, removing 739 tons.

EPA official Guy Donaldson said Monday that the EPA's latest calculations, not included in its written comments, indicate the TNRCC proposal would fall about 20 to 30 tons short of the nitrogen oxide reduction needed to meet the ozone standard by the Clean Air Act's 2007 deadline.

Amid comments packed with dense legal and technical detail, the EPA letter offered observations such as these:

· The TNRCC proposal for a morning ban on gasoline-powered lawn equipment might work better as a voluntary measure.

· The state claims too much pollution-reducing credit for a rule to require an ozone-destroying coating on new air conditioners.

· The EPA is concerned about the level of commitment from many sponsors of proposed voluntary measures to reduce vehicle pollution.