TNRCC Plan Inadequate to Clean Texas Air, Says Air Crisis Campaign

(Austin – April 18, 2000) The Texas Air Crisis Campaign today called for stronger actions to be included in the clean air plan currently under consideration by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. Tomorrow, TNRCC will vote on the plan to submit to the U.S. EPA for improving the air quality for Dallas-Fort Worth.

"Rather than a bold plan that Governor Bush has asked for, this commission is caving into pressure from automobile manufacturers, the cement industry and the electric utilities, " said Jim Marston, director of the Texas office of Environmental Defense. "If the TNRCC approves the draft plan that their staff has prepared, then they will be filing an inadequate plan and daring EPA to reject it."

According to the Texas Air Crisis Campaign, the Commission's draft plan for Dallas-Fort Worth contains unenforceable measures that fail to save money or provide other benefits, such as reducing traffic congestion. The TACC points to flawed modeling assumptions under the TNRCC plan, including the assumption that there will be no increase in the use of existing power plants, and that the percentage of vehicles in Texas that are sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks is the same as the national average.

"The TNRCC plan also backslides from a proposal published by the Commission in December. The TNRCC has caved into pressure from many groups including the automobile manufacturers and Ellis County cement industry and weakened an already inadequate plan." Marston said.

Ken Kramer, director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club presented on behalf of the TACC a 10-point plan for the Dallas-Fort Worth area that will save money while producing pollution benefits. The plan includes:

Lower utility bills through energy efficiency building codes

Rewarding the purchase of clean cars by linking annual registrations fees and the sales tax rate on automobiles to pollution levels

Ultra-low sulfur standard to gasoline

Paying workers for alternative commutes

"Thus far, the TNRCC has ignored the more than 50 strategies for reducing air pollution in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that have been submitted by members of the Texas Air Crisis Campaign," Kramer said. "It seems that TNRCC is more interested in what powerful industries want than what members of the public want. We urge the TNRCC to adopt a plan for clean air and public health, not a plan to placate polluting industries."

The Texas Air Crisis Campaign is a coalition of 45 health and environmental organizations throughout the state that are working together to find viable solutions to the current air pollution crisis in the state of Texas. More information about the Texas Air Crisis Campaign can be found @www.texascenter.org/aircrisis.