RES 1987-05RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF TEXAS
POSITION ON PROPOSED AIR QUALITY CONTROLS
FOR DENTON COUNTY
WHEREAS, the City Council is fully
supportive of clean air in Denton County and the Dallas-Fort
Worth metroplex and "all reasonable efforts" to reach this goal
in the "most effective and economically feasible" manner; and
WHEREAS, the Council is aware that the U.S. E.P.A. has
mandated revisions to the State Implementation Plan which could
impose stringent ozone controls on Denton County; and
WHEREAS, this mandate is based upon highly questionable
interpretations of federal law, agency regulations, and analysis
of ozone values from a monitoring site which was intended to
measure downwind effects from Dallas -Fort Worth and not to
represent the air quality affected by sources in Denton County;
and
WHEREAS, analysis indicates that controls applied to Denton
County will. not change peak ozone concentrations at the Denton
County monitoring site and that attainment of the ozone standard
is dependent on emission reductions in Dallas and Tarrant
Counties, whose ozone is carried by prevailing winds into Denton
County; and
WHEREAS, E.P.A. states that their primary reason for
requiring controls is that Denton County commuter traffic
contributes 3.1% of the total vehicle travel in Dallas and
Tarrant counties and not because of locally generated emissions,
with a secondary reason that there is a potential for new
emission sources (business and industries) to locate in Denton
County instead of Dallas or Tarrant counties; and
WHEREAS, imposition of the vehicle emission controls in
Denton County may reduce ozone levels by only 0.9% of the amount
needed for attainment in Dallas and Tarrant counties, at an
exorbitant cost of $4,157 per ton of reduction and an initial
cost to Denton County residents of almost $3.5 million; and
WHEREAS, the other controls and the offset requirement for
new or expanding industry/business in particular would have a
sever negative impact on Denton County's economic development and
the generation of jobs in the County, which would reduce commuter
traffic to Dallas and Tarrant counties; and
WHEREAS, similar controls are not being proposed for
counties south of Dallas and Tarrant Counties which could be
expected to cause downwind problems for Dallas, Tarrant, Denton
and Collin Counties; and
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WHEREAS, analysis of Denton County's fixed site emission
sources shown little or no possibility for offset reductions; and
WHEREAS, the E.P.A. has determined that controls should be
imposed on Denton County even though emissions within Denton
County are minimal; and
WHEREAS, the Council has concluded that E.P.A.'s decision
to mandate these controls is arbitrary, capricious, and possibly
beyond the agency's legal authority and that the negative effect
of these controls would be unreasonable, grossly disproportionate
to Denton County's contribution to the problem or to the possible
benefits, and not economically feasible or cost effective; and
WHEREAS, E.P.A.'s decision will affect not only Denton
County, but has implications for other counties on a state-wide
basis which should be of concern to our state government;
NOW THEREFORE, as Mayor
Texas, on behalf of the City
the Texas Air Control Board
of the City of
Council, I do hereby request
take the following actions:
I
that
1. Request legal action from the Texas Attorney General to
resolve the legal questions raised by E.P.A.'s decision and
to obtain an injunction restraining E.P.A. from imposing
these controls until these questions are settled, by the
judicial system if necessary;
2. If unable to obtain relief through judicial channels,
make every effort to limit controls to those which bear some
relationship to E.P.A.'s justification of commuter traffic,
rather than those which would affect industries that are not
and will not contribute to Dallas and Tarrant Counties'
problem.
Resolved by the City Council of the City of
Teas this the day of
ATTEST:
City Secretary
Mayor
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