Air Quality in Texas

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Air Quality in Texas
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Air Quality in Texas

• How are air emission regulated
• How does Texas rank against other States
• Where the emissions come from
• What is Texas doing to reduce emissions

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Clean Air Act

• Adopted by Congress in 1970 amended in 1977 and
  1990
• Major components
• 1970 - focused primarily on control of existing
  sources (stationary and mobile) to achieve NAAQS
• 1977 - increased emphasis on regional air quality
  issues, new sources
• 1990 - major focus on regional issues (acid
  deposition, ozone, regional haze), HAPs, permits

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National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

• Goals for air quality
• Objective standards for each of the criteria
  pollutants
• Primary Standards (human health related)
• Secondary Standards (public welfare related)

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Criteria Pollutants

• Nitrogen Oxides (NOx )
• Sulfur Dioxide (SO2 )
• Particulate Matter (PM)
• Ozone (O3)
• Carbon Monoxide (CO)
• Lead (Pb)

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OZONE Is it Good or Bad ?
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OZONE Is it Good or Bad

• In the troposphere it is Bad ( from ground level
  to 10 miles) at high levels to those at risk (
  those with asthma and older adults)
• In the stratosphere it is Good ( from 10 to 30
  miles), it protects us from UV rays

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What is the Limit for Ozone?
One Hour (current)
Eight Hour (New)
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How is Ozone Formed?

• Combination of many source emissions
• NOx from fuel burning equipment
• Volitile Organic Compounds from gasoline, paints,
  solvents, trees,etc.
• React in the heat and sunlight to create ozone

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AQI Colors
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Part Per Billion, ppb 1 ppb 1 tsp / 1.3 MM
gallons of water 1 ppb 1 second out of 32
years.
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Attainment Status

• Attainment - Areas where air is cleaner than the
  standard for a given pollutant
• Non-Attainment - Areas where the NAAQS have not
  been achieved
• Unclassifiable - inadequate data
• Different requirements apply depending on an
  areas attainment status

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Dallas/Fort Worth Non-Attainment Area
Tyler/Longview Near Non-Attainment Area
Houston/Galveston Non-Attainment Area
Austin/San Antonio Near Non-Attainment Area
East Texas Region
Corpus Christi Near Non-Attainment Area
AEP Facilities
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TNRCC also Regulates Emissions

• Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission
  has their own laws and regulations
• Required to be as stringent or more stringent
  than Federal

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How does Texas Rank against other States
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Statewide SO2 Rates per Heat Input(lb./mmBtu)
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Statewide NOx Rates per Heat Input(lb./mmBtu)
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Where do the Emissions come from
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What Are VOCs and Where Do They Come From?
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What Is NOx and Where Does It Come From?
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Some of the pollution is transported in from
other areas.
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Do you remember the Mexico fires of 1998?
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What is Texas doing to Reduce Emissions
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Emission Reduction Requirements

• Electric Deregulation Bill of 1999 (SB7) required
  a 50 reduction in power plant NOx emissions by
  2003.
• Federal requirements on vehicle emissions.

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Annual NOx Rates For the U.S.
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Environmental Pop Quiz
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Which Pollutants come from mobile sources?

• Hydrocarbons
• Nitrogen Oxides
• Carbon Dioxide
• Carbon Monoxide
• Particulates
• Air Toxics
• All of the above

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All of the Above

• Gasoline formulations have changed over the years
  which has almost eliminated the lead in the
  ambient air.
• New standards are reducing the amount of sulfur
  in diesel.

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The combination of nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons
and sunlight causes

• Global warming
• Ozone (smog)
• Stratospheric Ozone Depletion
• Acid Rain

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Ozone

• NOx VOCsunlight ozone
• The highest potential times for ozone to form is
  when the wind is light and the humidity is low.

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Ozone is beneficial to our environment at high
altitudes and harmful at low altitudes
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True

• At high altitudes ozone acts as a shield against
  UV radiation from the sun and can be harmful to
  those at risk at ground level.

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During the last 20 years, average ambient air
levels of NOx, SO2, carbon monoxide and lead
have

• Gone up 10 percent
• Gone up 20 percent
• Not changed
• Gone down

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They have gone down

• Levels of lead have gone down 90
• Ambient levels of nitrogen oxide and sulfur
  dioxides have also been reduced by almost 30

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Which of the following is the biggest polluter of
our air?

• City Bus
• Passenger cars and light trucks
• Power Plants

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Passenger cars and trucks

• Motor vehicles account for about 50 of the air
  pollution nation wide
• There are over 200 million passenger cars and
  light trucks on American roads
• The vehicle contribution is even higher in larger
  cities

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Carbon Dioxide is a pollutant

• True
• False

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False

• Carbon Dioxide is not regulated as a pollutant
• It is necessary to sustain life for plants and
  animals

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Further Reading

• For those interested in more detail, full text of
  CAA can be found at
• http//www.epa.gov/oar/caa/contents.html
• Information about Texas Environmental Regulations
  can be found at
• http//www.tnrcc.state.tx.us