Climate plan to reduce area air pollutants From the cover
2019 vehicle emissions
A closer look
About the plan
Vehicle emissions make up about 43% of emissions in the region. The plan used 2019 as the baseline year for these estimates—the most recent data available.
The plan’s 42 measures include initiatives related to funding infrastructure for low-emission and electric vehicles, incentivizing commercial and industrial solar projects as well as promoting clean energy finance programs. Despite improvements made over the past 20-30 years, North Texas is still not meeting the attainment standard for ground-level ozone set by the EPA, Nance said. The region’s population growth may have contributed to stalls in air quality improvement. Tarrant County’s population increased more than 16% between 2010 and 2019, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. One result of being out of the attainment standard is that while most Texas residents will benefit from House Bill 3297 in 2025, which exempts drivers from getting their vehicle inspected, Tarrant County will continue to require this.
Tarrant County Commissioner Gary Fickes, whose precinct includes Keller, Roanoke and northeast Fort Worth, signed a letter of support for the plan last year and said the county has access to more grant funding as part of this initiative. He noted that poor air quality can cause restrictions to be placed on local construction projects, and it’s in the county’s best interest to try to improve its air quality. “[Improving air quality] can really benefit us if we do it right,” Fickes said. The plan covers the next five years and has 42 actionable measures, Nance said. If all measures from the plan are fully implemented, the region could see a reduction in ground-level ozone, which has been rising in North Texas for the last three years. Ground-level ozone is a harmful air pollutant and the main ingredient of smog, according to the EPA. The plan addresses emissions and air quality improvement measures across five sectors.
Denton County 3.48M
Collin County 4.39M
Tarrant County 9.48M
Dallas County 14.64M
NOTE: CALCULATION RESULTS ARE GIVEN IN CARBON DIOXIDE EQUIVALENT EMISSIONS IN METRIC TONS.
SOURCE: NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Zooming out
Counties not meeting EPA’s revised standards
1 Transportation
Tarrant County does not meet the EPA’s revised annual standard for fine particulate pollution. It was announced Feb. 7 that the standard for this type of pollution was lowered from 12 micrograms per cubic meter to 9 micrograms per cubic meter. Tarrant County fell just outside this standard with 9.1 micrograms per cubic meter. A lawsuit from the Texas Attorney General’s Office challenges these new standards, saying the new standards are not based on sound science and will impose economic harm on Texas.
Dallas
Tarrant
Bowie
2 Solid waste management
El Paso
3 Agriculture, forestry and land use
5 Water, wastewater and watershed
4 Energy
Travis
Harris
Cameron Kleberg
Webb
SOURCE: NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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