Putting Houston's Air Quality in Context
The Federal Government has established six National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Houston's air meets
five of the six NAAQS. The one standard that Houston is still working to attain is
ground-level ozone. For more information about
the NAAQS, visit the EPA's website:
http://www.epa.gov/air/criteria.html
The quality of Houston's air compares favorably with other cities when looking at all the NAAQS.
According to EPA data,
Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Los
Angeles, New York, Sacramento, and Salt Lake City fail to meet two or more of the NAAQS.
Through concerted effort and investment, Houston has achieved an
80 percent reduction in key Volatile Organic Compounds
in the past 20 years. While great strides have been made, industry
have invested between $4 and 6 billion by 2009 to make further improvements in air quality. This investment is in addition to the substantial investment made in the 1990s.
The 2009 ozone design
values for all Houston area regulatory ozone monitors were below the 1997
8-hour ozone standard of 0.08ppm. The Houston area attained this
standard for the first time since ozone levels have been tracked in the
mid 70's.
Effects Screening Levels
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality uses a tool called Effects Screening Levels (ESLs) as an indicator of air quality for air pollutants that are not covered by National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
- ESLs are established by TCEQ based on data concerning health effects, odor, nuisance potential, vegetation impacts, and corrosion effects
- ESLs are not ambient air standards, but are primarily used by TCEQ in evaluating applications for air permits
- Concentrations at or below the ESLs indicate no adverse health or welfare effects are expected
- Concentrations above the ESLs do not necessarily indicate a health effects problem, but trigger a more in-depth permit review
Comparing the data from Houston Regional Monitoring sites to the ESL, indicate generally good air quality
Our Mission Going Forward: Maintaining and Improving Air Quality
Our on-going mission is to provide data to member companies to enable them to meet state and federal air standards. By using HRM data, our member companies can identify air control improvement projects.
Our member companies are working with the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality to take advantage of HRM member companies working with TCEQ
to develop and implement the Environmental Monitoring and Response System (EMRS)
at the Lynchburg Ferry monitor. The program in concert with the Monument
Area Air Quality Focus Group (MAAQFG) has resulted in a 70% reduction of
ambient benzene levels at the Lynchburg Ferry since 2006. This has
prompted the TCEQ to remove the Lynchburg Ferry monitoring site from the
benzene air pollutant watch list in 2009.
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