Regional leaders call for pollution cuts
REGIONAL LEADERS CALL FOR POLLUTION CUTS
Panel asks state to act on cement and power plants, diesel vehicles
12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, October 21, 2006
By RANDY LEE LOFTIS / The Dallas Morning News
Clean-air plans for urban North Texas moved forward Friday when local planners asked the state for a raft of cuts in pollution, including cement kiln and power plant emissions and the black smoke from big diesel trucks and trains.
The North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee, a group of local government and business officials, environmental activists and others, adopted resolutions that seek action by the Legislature, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality or the Texas Department of Transportation to address the region's smog problem.
Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher, the panel's co-chair, said the requests mark a major turning point in regional clean-air efforts.
"This is the most comprehensive step forward I've seen us being able to cooperate on," Ms. Keliher said.
The resolutions deal with diesel emissions, cement and power plants, and other pollution sources.
The panel called on the Legislature to provide full state funding of programs that help low-income motorists repair or replace old, high-polluting vehicles and help businesses upgrade to new, cleaner-burning diesel equipment. Other resolutions seek full state funding for programs to clean up diesel school buses and locomotives.
The committee also wants the state to start including diesel trucks and cars in annual emissions inspections. In addition, it asked the state Transportation Department to expand the number of highway lanes where big trucks are banned, and it asked the Legislature to speed Texas' compliance with a new federal standard for diesel fuel.
Another resolution calls on the Legislature to adopt California's low-emitting vehicle II (LEV II) standard for cars and light trucks sold in Texas, and to exempt cars meeting the California standard from state sales tax.
The group asked the environmental commission to require all Ellis County cement kilns to install a pollution control system called selective noncatalytic reduction, or SNCR, to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.
Another resolution calls for a test of other pollution systems – selective catalytic reduction, or SCR, and low-temperature oxidation, sold under the trade name LoTOx – which a state study concluded could reduce emissions further. Environmentalists want the plants to install those systems.
The committee also "strongly encouraged" North Texas local governments to favor cement companies with the lowest nitrogen oxide levels when they buy cement for public projects. A cement industry lawyer, however, branded such purchase preferences a violation of low-bid rules.
Another resolution calls on the state to put power plants across East Texas under the same strict emission limits that govern plants in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston metropolitan areas. The committee also wants emission controls on stationary combustion engines in East Texas, which operate at many pipeline pumping stations, and statewide emissions standards for portable engines.
E-mail rloftis@dallasnews.com
Panel asks state to act on cement and power plants, diesel vehicles
12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, October 21, 2006
By RANDY LEE LOFTIS / The Dallas Morning News
Clean-air plans for urban North Texas moved forward Friday when local planners asked the state for a raft of cuts in pollution, including cement kiln and power plant emissions and the black smoke from big diesel trucks and trains.
The North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee, a group of local government and business officials, environmental activists and others, adopted resolutions that seek action by the Legislature, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality or the Texas Department of Transportation to address the region's smog problem.
Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher, the panel's co-chair, said the requests mark a major turning point in regional clean-air efforts.
"This is the most comprehensive step forward I've seen us being able to cooperate on," Ms. Keliher said.
The resolutions deal with diesel emissions, cement and power plants, and other pollution sources.
The panel called on the Legislature to provide full state funding of programs that help low-income motorists repair or replace old, high-polluting vehicles and help businesses upgrade to new, cleaner-burning diesel equipment. Other resolutions seek full state funding for programs to clean up diesel school buses and locomotives.
The committee also wants the state to start including diesel trucks and cars in annual emissions inspections. In addition, it asked the state Transportation Department to expand the number of highway lanes where big trucks are banned, and it asked the Legislature to speed Texas' compliance with a new federal standard for diesel fuel.
Another resolution calls on the Legislature to adopt California's low-emitting vehicle II (LEV II) standard for cars and light trucks sold in Texas, and to exempt cars meeting the California standard from state sales tax.
The group asked the environmental commission to require all Ellis County cement kilns to install a pollution control system called selective noncatalytic reduction, or SNCR, to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.
Another resolution calls for a test of other pollution systems – selective catalytic reduction, or SCR, and low-temperature oxidation, sold under the trade name LoTOx – which a state study concluded could reduce emissions further. Environmentalists want the plants to install those systems.
The committee also "strongly encouraged" North Texas local governments to favor cement companies with the lowest nitrogen oxide levels when they buy cement for public projects. A cement industry lawyer, however, branded such purchase preferences a violation of low-bid rules.
Another resolution calls on the state to put power plants across East Texas under the same strict emission limits that govern plants in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston metropolitan areas. The committee also wants emission controls on stationary combustion engines in East Texas, which operate at many pipeline pumping stations, and statewide emissions standards for portable engines.
E-mail rloftis@dallasnews.com
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