Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

The Environmental Protection Agency says many of the air pollution rules that Texas uses to control its industry don't comply with the Clean Air Act.

Tuesday's announcement was met with applause from politicians and environmental organizations that long have been lobbying the federal government to force Texas to regulate industry more stringently.

“For too long, TCEQ has been a lapdog for polluters,” said Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, referring to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. “Today's action by the EPA is great news for every Texan who wants cleaner air.”

At issue is the flexible permitting process Texas has used to regulate roughly 140 facilities since 1994. These include some power plants and many of the facilities associated with the petrochemical industry and other heavy industries. Critics say the system allows a facility to combine different sources of pollution so it complies with the state's pollution limits over a long period of time despite emitting high levels of pollution over shorter periods.

Jeff Robinson, the EPA's chief of the air permits section in Region 6, which covers Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma, said the flexible permits Texas offers make regulating pollutants difficult.

“You just can't hardly go though them and determine how the source is going to comply,” he said.

Richard Hyde, TCEQ deputy director, defended the state's air quality permits, saying they are sound and protect public health. The flexible permit program, he said, is designed to encourage older refineries, chemical plants and power plants to reduce emissions even though their “grandfather” status does not require such action.

The commission and federal regulators will try to reach an agreement over the next 60 days as the EPA accepts comments on its proposal to abolish Texas' air pollution permitting practices.

“They have issues with our rules, and now it's up to the agency (the TCEQ) to try to address those,” Hyde said.

Tuesday's announcement also covers the rules that Texas uses to approve new sources of pollution created when new plants are built or old ones are expanded. Robinson said the state treats most new facilities and expansions as minor, when many should probably be subject to more stringent permitting.

“They are some of the largest sources in Texas,” he said.

Texas is home to numerous problems and battles over air pollution. Most of its major cities, including Houston and Dallas, are on the federal government's dirty air list for exceeding limits on ground-level ozone pollution. San Antonio is in danger of landing on the list.

Many of the state's industrial communities, such as those around Houston and Corpus Christi, have ongoing battles with the refineries over air quality.

The changes proposed by the EPA cover the pollutants at the heart of all these issues.

“We think Texas' procedures should be improved,” said Houston Mayor Bill White, who has met with senior EPA officials about how the state handles emissions permit requests.

White said a major problem with TCEQ's process is that it approves permits without taking into account the pollution already allowed at neighboring facilities or for various pollutants. Each request is approved in a vacuum, he said.

The TCEQ said its permitting rules are effective at reducing pollution.

“Texas is a big state, and we have a lot of permitting programs that are significantly larger than other states.” Hyde said. “I think (EPA) has a mindset that is a lot different than ours about how we achieve emissions reduction.”

The EPA will make decisions on the various rules in March, June and August of next year.