Different ozones
Area pollution sources
The Environmental Protection Agency recognizes two main types of ozone one that is bene cial and the other detrimental to people.
All other states: 39% International: 34% San Antonio: 19% Corpus Christi: 2% Houston: 2% Austin: 1% Dallas: 1% Temple/Waco: 1% Tyler/Longview: 1%
h e r i c o A naturally forming gas in the upper atmosphere which protects the Earth from the sun’s ultraviolet rays.
San Antonio area’s pollution
l e v e l o z
Man-made pollutants reacting with heat and sunlight create a gas that is unhealthy to breathe.
SOURCE: ALAMO AREA COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS COMMUNITY IMPACT
pollution the area contributes, 29.7% of the contribution is from mobile sources, which include automobiles and other road vehicles; 25.2% of the contribution is from point sources, which are classi ed as factories and power plants, including coal produc- tion, Hufstetler said. With the transition to moderate non- attainment, large businesses in the area will have to meet rules to o set pro- jected emissions. “The most directly impacted will be large industries, those that have the potential to emit 100 tons a year of emissions,” Hufstetler said. “Those are the ones that feel the change most acutely from marginal to moderate.” The more severe the nonattain- ment status, the higher that o set ratio will be, which may discourage businesses from coming to the area, Hufstetler said. “For businesses in the area that have to use a technology solution to help o set their emissions, I imagine that cost will get passed down to the con- sumer,” he said. For Bexar County residents, an emis- sions inspection will be required for all cars 2-24 years old. The emissions test
is required to be implemented by 2026, Hufstetler said. These tests will cost residents approximately $20 during the yearly state inspection. “And if their vehicles do not pass, then that could mean they pay more to get their vehicles in compliance,” Huf- stetler said. Meeting EPA standards The moderate designation means the area is required to comply with EPA air quality regulations by Sept. 24, 2024, or face further regulations being imple- mented. It also gives the TCEQ the reg- ulatory role to enforce the EPA’s Clean Air Act regulations. EPA requirements are measured in parts per billion, or the parts of ozone per 1 billion parts of air. Under a standard that was set in 2015, the requirement to be within attainment was decreased from 75 ppb to 70 ppb. Williams said at that time the com- mittee was aware of the area poten- tially entering nonattainment. “When EPA changed the parameters from 75 parts per billion to 70, we knew we were in trouble,” Williams said. To help meet EPA standards, the
SOURCE: EPA, NASA COMMUNITY IMPACT
emissions of volatile organic com- pounds and nitrogen oxides with heat and sunlight, such as vapors from gas and coal, the EPA website states. Hufstetler said Guadalupe, Comal, Wilson, Atascosa, Medina, Bandera and Kendall counties are “in compli- ance with the ozone standard,” but Bexar County is the outlier. “Bexar County is what is in nonat- tainment right now,” he said. Moving to moderate Despite the 19% San Antonio con- tributes to the area’s total pollution, it’s still the responsibility of the city, the county and local organizations to meet EPA requirements, Hufstetler said. “Our modeling only shows that really only about 20% comes from our metro area,” he said. “The other 80% we nd comes in from other parts of the coun- try and other parts of the world.” Of the roughly 20% of overall
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the EPA requirements the best we can.” Following this fall in the area’s air quality rating, drivers and business owners are now facing new regula- tions. These include emissions testing for automobiles and stricter allowable emissions levels for businesses. Lyle Hufstetler, natural resources project administrator for the AACOG, said the increase in regulations could result in businesses being deterred from moving or expanding to the area, or could increase product costs as busi- nesses pay to meet requirements. Ozone’s importance Unlike stratospheric ozone, which forms naturally in the upper atmo- sphere and acts as a protectant from the sun’s ultraviolet rays, ground- level ozone is created through the interactions of man-made and natural
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