Critics say TCEQ is erroneously using a federal rule to exclude counties that are failing federal soot rules.
TEXAS, USA — This article was originally published by our content partners at the Texas Tribune. Read the original article here.
Twelve Texas counties have recently exceeded federal air quality standards for particulate matter, commonly known as soot. But Texas environmental regulators are proposing that only four of them be required to take action to improve their air quality.
In its proposal to exclude eight counties from stricter federal pollution rules, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality cited either bad air monitoring data or “exceptional events” — unusual or naturally-occurring events that can temporarily affect air quality such as wildfires, dust storms or emissions from outside the state.
The agency looked at air quality data from 2021-23 and proposed thatfour counties — Dallas, Harris (which includes Houston), Tarrant (Fort Worth), and Bowie (Texarkana) — be declared …