Testimony to the Texas House Environmental Regulation Committee

This testimony was delivered to the Texas House Environmental Regulation Committee on Sept. 5, 2024.

Interim Charge

This testimony addresses the following interim charge as requested by the committee:

• Charge 2: Evaluate and address the implications of recent EPA regulations proposed and promulgated rules to assess their collective impact on air quality in Texas. Examine the necessity for a new State Implementation Plan and explore potential legislative measures to ensure a balanced approach that promotes regulatory compliance while preserving economic vitality, especially in counties identified as at risk of violation.

Recent and Existing EPA Regulations That Impact Texas

The Clean Air Act requires EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six air pollutants, including ozone and particulate matter (PM). EPA must periodically review its standards to ensure that they “protect public health with an adequate margin of safety” based on the latest available science. Those reviews led EPA to update its standards for ozone in 2015 and for PM in 2024 after finding that previous standards did not sufficiently protect public health. EPA also administers the Regional Haze Program to improve visibility in national parks and wilderness areas.

The role of states is to monitor air pollutants and develop state implementation plans for attaining the air quality standards and reducing regional haze.

This testimony addresses the implications of recent EPA regulations and rules that impact air quality in Texas in three ways: 

1. Ozone: Standards were last updated in 2015 and continue to be exceeded in several Texas regions, leading to escalations of nonattainment status.
2. Particulate matter: Standards were updated in 2024 and are exceeded by 12 Texas counties, necessitating PM attainment plans for the first time.
3. Regional haze: EPA rejected TCEQ’s state implementation plan and proposed a federal plan that would require PM and SO2 controls at 6 coal power plants.

To access the full testimony, download the PDF.

Wherever feasible, this material was reviewed by outside experts before it was released. It has not been through editorial review. Any errors are the author's alone. 

This material may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the author and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The views expressed herein are those of the individual author(s), and do not necessarily represent the views of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.