Clean Air In the News

By SCOTT STREATER

STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

On Thursday, state Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco filed Senate Bill 12, a measure that would pump millions of dollars into two programs designed to reduce pollution including auto emissions and ultimately help bring the Metroplex into compliance with federal ozone standards.

ABOUT THE BILL

SB 12 targets two state programs:

Low Income Vehicle Repair Assistance, Retrofit, and Accelerated Vehicle Retirement Program

The program now provides a voucher for up to $600 to make repairs to bring the vehicle up to standards.

If the cost to repair the vehicle is more than it's worth, the program provides a $1,000 voucher toward the purchase of a new vehicle.

Averitt's bill would increase the amount to replace a vehicle to $2,500, and up to $3,500 if the new vehicle is a fuel-efficient hybrid.

The legislation would also expand the number of people who would qualify for assistance, increasing the annual take-home income cap to $60,000 from $40,000 for a family of four to be eligible.

TEXAS EMISSIONS REDUCTION PLAN

The program now provides grants to companies to retrofit or replace aging, diesel-powered off-road construction equipment, locomotives and marine vessels with newer, cleaner engines.

The state has awarded more than $400 million in grants since the Legislature created the program in 2001.

The program has helped slash ozone-forming emissions by more than 100,000 tons.

Averitt's bill would increase the amount available to retrofit equipment with pollution controls to $15,000 per vehicle from $13,000.

OTHER TIDBITS

What will it cost me?

Nothing more than you already pay. The low-income assistance program is funded with a portion of the $39.50 vehicle inspection fee. The TERP program is funded with vehicle title transfer fees and a surcharge on commercial equipment leases. Averitt's bill would mandate that the estimated $200 million in unappropriated money already in state coffers be used to beef up the programs. "We need to get some of the dirtiest cars and trucks off Texas roads, and it's time the Legislature appropriate the money that was intended for just that purpose," said Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas, an Austin advocacy group.

Dirty vehicles

Emissions from the millions of cars and trucks on the road each day are the region's largest source of nitrogen oxides -- the chief man-made component of ozone. It has been estimated that the dirtiest 10 percent of cars on the road account for roughly half the ozone-forming pollutants emitted from vehicles. Last year 189,000 vehicles in the nine-county D/FW region were not clean enough to pass the vehicle emissions inspection test. "The whole point of the program is to find those junkers and get them fixed or off the road," said Andy Saenz, a spokesman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Dirty construction equipment

Off-road equipment such as bulldozers and cranes produce roughly a quarter of the smog-forming emissions in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Construction equipment is not subjected to the annual vehicle inspection program, and the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan is the only program addressing these emissions. Averitt's bill would raise the cap on individual grants in the program to $15,000 from $13,000. It follows Gov. Rick Perry's announcement this month that he is seeking an additional $183 million in the state budget to support the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan.

ABOUT OZONE

Ozone is produced when nitrogen oxides mix with volatile organic compounds. The nitrogen oxides and organic compounds come mostly from automobile exhaust and industry smokestacks. Trees also produce the organic compounds as part of photosynthesis.

Ozone, the main ingredient of smog, needs sunlight and heat to form. Ozone season here runs from May through October.

At high concentrations, ozone can trigger asthma attacks, stunt lung development in children and aggravate bronchitis, emphysema and other respiratory ailments.

The federal government has placed nine area counties in an ozone violation zone: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall and Tarrant.

SOURCE: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency