HOUSTON — Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee advocated for residents and voiced concerns about Texas's noncompliance with ozone standards at a virtual public hearing with the Environmental Protection Agency regarding Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), a press release states.
The Houston area has failed to attain each of the four ozone NAAQS at the time of initial designation.
"Texas’s nonattainment status is even more important given how climate change is impacting our environment. Harris County is among the areas most vulnerable to climate change in the nation," said Menefee. "Harris County has a vested interest in strengthening Texas’s compliance with the Ozone NAAQS. We support the EPA's denial of TCEQ's one-year extension request. History has shown that if Texas is granted an extension, it is unlikely that the issues will be corrected."
Additionally, Menefee asked that the EPA expediate the timeline for Texas's State Implementation Plan and disapprove the state's Reasonably Available Control Technology and Reasonably Available Control Measures State Implementation Plan revision for the 2008 ozone NAAQS serious reclassification, the press release states.