Tag Archives: air quality

Valero will not appeal tax break decision

Good. Valero Energy Corp. has decided not to appeal the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s rejection of its request for a controversial property tax exemption. […] Valero spokesman Bill Day said the company no longer would seek the exemption because … Continue reading

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It’s hard to get beyond coal

The city of Austin is trying, but there are many obstacles along the way. In Austin politics, it’s almost an article of faith that the city must aggressively curb its contribution to global climate change, regardless of what transpires across … Continue reading

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CSAPR stayed

There was some bad news at the end of the year. A federal court ordered [last] Friday that the Environmental Protection Agency’s controversial cross-state air pollution rule be stayed — to the delight of Texas officials and the chagrin of … Continue reading

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TCEQ denies Valero tax break

Good. Texas environmental regulators have rejected Valero Energy Corp.’s request for a tax break that cities, counties and school districts feared would lead to devastating cuts to their budgets. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality denied the request because the … Continue reading

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Luminant and the CSAPR

I have not followed the dustup between energy producer Luminant and the EPA very closely. What I know is that like most other disputes between those who want cleaner air here in Texas and those who don’t is that someone … Continue reading

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New clean air rule from EPA

A new rule from the EPA that seeks to limit pollution that originates in one state but affects others as well should have a big effect on Texas. The rule, which covers 27 states and the District of Columbia, will … Continue reading

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EPA-TCEQ agreement in the works

A compromise is in the works between the EPA and the TCEQ over the controversial “flex permits” that the EPA has deemed not in compliance with the Clean Air Act. “We’re very close,” said Richard Hyde, deputy director of permitting … Continue reading

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Lawmakers ask TCEQ to help plants comply with EPA

This is a good idea. After a lobbying push by oil giants, a bipartisan group of Texas legislators have asked state environmental regulators to quickly solve a permit dispute with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that has left some of … Continue reading

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Coal ash

The Sierra Club would like your help at some EPA public hearings. The EPA has proposed two rules to regulate toxic coal ash, and they’re going to hold only five hearings across the country to hear from citizens. One of … Continue reading

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State sues the EPA again

Round and round we go… Texas has sued the federal Environmental Protection Agency for the second time in six weeks, escalating a feud over the state’s rules for air pollution from refiners and other large industries. State Attorney General Greg … Continue reading

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The Great Texas Clean Up Festival

Looking for something to do Saturday? The Sierra Club has a suggestion. RAY JOHNSTON BAND LOS PISTOLEROS DE TEXAS ROBERT ELLIS & THE BOYS MRS. GLASS Join us on JULY 24TH, from 4-10pm for a day of music and art. … Continue reading

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EPA cracks down further

Here it comes. The Environmental Protection Agency has formally denounced the state’s air-pollution permitting system for some of its biggest industrial plants — and reactions are pouring in. Texas’s system, the EPA said in its release, “allows companies to avoid … Continue reading

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TCEQ versus EPA

This fight between the TCEQ and the EPA, or more broadly between polluters and people who like to breathe, has been coming for a long time. Environmentalists are excited by the EPA’s new aggressive posture and hope it prompts an … Continue reading

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Some people want the EPA to do more

The Sierra Club is taking legal action against the Environmental Protection Agency, saying it has dragged its feet in Texas. The group said EPA officials have missed legal deadlines for action on limiting Texas pollution’s effects on neighboring states; reducing … Continue reading

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The Valero effect

This is just what all of our cash-strapped local budgets need right now. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is not typically a big player in school finance debates. But an upcoming decision by the commission could strike a major … Continue reading

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“Don’t ask, don’t smell”

The Chron takes the TCEQ to task for it’s screw-the-public decision regarding the Lyondell permit. “They’re proposing to put thousands of tons of a cancer-causing chemical into our air,” says former Mayor Bill White. “They say they’ll reduce the amount … Continue reading

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Why TCEQ is broken

Back in 2008, Mayor White and the city of Houston made a request of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to hold a hearing before a judge on the latest permit application for Lyondell Chemical Co.’s refinery along the … Continue reading

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The EPA hearing on smog

Here’s the Chron story on that EPA hearing on smog from Tuesday. The EPA’s plan calls for a smog limit between 60 and 70 molecules of ozone per billion molecules of air, down from 75 parts per billion set in … Continue reading

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Air cleanup progress report

Some good news about efforts to get manufacturing plants to pollute less. In 2005, following Houston Chronicle and state reports about alarming levels of butadiene in neighborhoods near Texas Petrochemicals, the company signed a non-binding agreement with the TCEQ to … Continue reading

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Our air might be cleaner than we think

This is a pleasant surprise. Houston, once considered the nation’s capital of dirty air, is on the verge of meeting federal limits for smog for the first time. If the numbers hold as the smog season draws to an end, … Continue reading

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Be like Bill

On the matter of where the Mayoral candidates stand on environmental issues, I don’t mind that they’re basically indistinguishable. As long as they follow the good example that has been set for them, it’s fine by me. To improve air … Continue reading

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Our illegal air

Apparently, we don’t sufficiently enforce clean air standards in Texas. Who ever could have guessed that? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that many of the air pollution rules Texas uses to control the state’s industry do not comply … Continue reading

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The science of smog

I thought this was a very interesting article about a current research project that is investigating the effect of industrial flares from refineries and chemical plants on ozone levels, but one bit of it really amazed me. Industrial flares burn … Continue reading

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Clean Air update

Some news of interest from ACT Texas: The House Committee on Environmental Regulation will hear important clean air bills today including SB 16 – Senator Averitt’s omnibus clean air and energy efficiency bill. Several address flaws in the TCEQ permitting … Continue reading

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Senate passes clean air bill

This sounds pretty good. New plants in heavily polluted areas like Houston’s Ship Channel could have a harder time getting state permits under a clean air bill tentatively passed Wednesday by the Texas Senate. Environmental regulators would have to examine … Continue reading Continue reading

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California breathin’

We may get some cleaner air to breathe here in Texas thanks to California and President Obama. Obama ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to review the Bush administration’s refusal to allow California and 13 other states to set the nation’s … Continue reading

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