Air Alliance Houston Reports
TCEQ Air Permitting and Enforcement: Improving Texas’ Air Quality Through the Sunset Review Process
Air Alliance Houston believes that our state is currently on the precipice of what could prove to be the most significant period of environmental change and improvement in Texas’ history. From the concern over gas drilling emissions, the coming scarcity of water, implications of global climate change and the ceaseless fight to reduce air pollution across all of our metropolitan areas, Texas has a multitude of issues with which to reckon. We also at this time have been given an amazing confluence of opportunities which, if appreciated and used to their fullest potential, could ensure that our state and its environmental agency have all the tools necessary to overcome these challenges. The Sunset Commission review of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality provides a huge opportunity to take an honest look at our state environmental regulatory agency and improve its rules, policies, programs and governing statutes so that it may better meet these challenges.
Turning Concern into Action - Community Air Quality Tool Kit
The Community Air Quality Tool Kit was part of a three-year collaborative project funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and led by Mothers for Clean Air. The “Improving Environmental Quality through Collaboration” project took place in Southeast Houston. Members of the community, regulatory agencies, elected officials, industry, schools and universities and other organizations met monthly in 2005-2007 to improve environmental health for residents exposed to toxic air pollutants.
This new edition and printing of the publication is now available in English and Spanish, made possible through the support of Environmental Defense Fund’s Environmental Justice Grant Program. It is now available to the public for printing and distribution.
Emissions from Delayed Coker, a New Report Released by IPCA
In May of 2009 IPCA released a research paper on the little known and seldom acknowledged emission challenges presented by delayed cokers at refining facilities. As traditional crude stocks deplete and the world turns more towards heavier sources such as Canadian tar sands, we are likely to see more such delayed cokers installed and operating across Texas and the United States. Delayed cokers and their emissions, however, have arguably never received the level of policy and research attention that they merit. This report gives a brief technical introduction to cokers, reviews the slim amount of technical research regarding their emissions and makes several key recommendations for how the state of Texas and the EPA can begin to more adequately control coker emissions.
GHASP Ozone Monitoring Project
The Houston region is the location of some of the most extensive ambient air monitoring anywhere in the world. Only the Los Angeles region even comes close. Nevertheless, many of us believe that the air monitoring done here is insufficient to protect the health of our region’s citizens.
Starting in the spring of 2005, the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention (GHASP) began evaluating monitoring technologies that could be deployed by citizens. This effort was financially sponsored by a private donor to GHASP. The executive director at that time decided to focus on ozone at unmonitored locations. Some locations stood out not merely because they were unmonitored, but because models suggested they might have elevated levels of ozone.
