County escapes EPA pollution status

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December 1, 2008

No longer in non-attainment zone

By Chad Blackshear The Commerce Journal Mon Dec 01, 2008, 07:55 PM CST

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has not recommended Hunt County be placed in the non-attainment area pertaining to air quality.

In a memorandum, dated Nov. 21 from the TCEQ, a copy of which was obtained by the Herald Banner in Greenville, Hunt County does not exceed the 2008 eight-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard.

In March, the EPA placed Hunt and 344 other counties across the United States into nonattainment zones for air pollution, ruling the areas did not meet federal standards for ozone (smog), after lowering the standard from 80 to 75 parts per billion.

Hunt County, along with Delta County, were among nine counties added into the expanded Dallas/Fort Worth Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which overall is the second-worst MSA for air pollution in Texas, behind the Houston MSA.

But according to the memorandum, the Hunt County readings for 2006 through 2008 are at 70 parts per billion as of Sept. 9, which is below the new standard. Additionally, commuters make up less than one-half of one percent of the core-county workforce, meaning that commuters from Hunt County make up less than half of a percent of the total number of people who work in the core counties. The DFW area core consists of Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant counties.

“I was pretty challenging of how they derived their numbers,” said County Judge John Horn, who, along with Greenville Mayor Tom Oliver and City Manager Steve Alexander, attended multiple public meetings and discussions pertaining to non-attainment. Hunt County has only one monitoring station to compile cumulative data for the entire county. “I just personally don’t think that the county is significantly effecting emissions,” said Horn, referencing Hunt County’s impact on the DFW Metropolitan Statistical Area.

“I think realistically, that as long as we stay out of the non-attainment area, it allows us an opportunity to attract businesses,” said Horn.

According to the TCEQ, a non-attainment area is defined as a region within the state that is designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as failing to meet the national ambient air quality standard for a pollutant for which a standard exists.

The recommendation is required by federal statute and requires states to submit to the EPA, a recommendation regarding attainment, non-attainment, or unclassifiable for all areas of the state.

EPA designators are based on three years of data. The recommendation relies on air quality monitoring data from 2005 through 2007, and several other factors.

The recommendation is not final, as it is pending action from Texas Governor Rick Perry, who is scheduled to submit a list of counties which he believes should and should not be included under non-attainment zones to the EPA by March 2009. The EPA will then have another year to develop its non-attainment designations.

“Right now, I think it’s good news,” added Horn.

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