By Chavez H.C.R. No. 213 77R9740 NBH-D HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, Air pollution has become an increasingly serious 1-2 problem that endangers public health; as pollution has increased, 1-3 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has sought more 1-4 stringent enforcement of the federal Clean Air Act; and 1-5 WHEREAS, Any region that does not meet the National Ambient 1-6 Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, 1-7 particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, or lead may be 1-8 designated as a nonattainment area; a nonattainment area is given a 1-9 deadline for achieving those standards, and the federal statute 1-10 requires any state with one or more nonattainment areas to develop 1-11 a State Implementation Plan outlining a process to reduce emissions 1-12 to meet NAAQS within a specified time frame; and 1-13 WHEREAS, Currently, the State of Texas has nine metropolitan 1-14 areas that either have been designated as nonattainment areas by 1-15 the EPA or are close to exceeding the NAAQS for one or more of the 1-16 regulated pollutants; and 1-17 WHEREAS, El Paso was classified as a serious nonattainment 1-18 area for the one-hour ozone standard in 1991 and is also the only 1-19 area in Texas that fails to meet the NAAQS for particulate matter 1-20 and carbon monoxide; and 1-21 WHEREAS, El Paso's ability to meet the NAAQS is adversely 1-22 affected by several circumstances beyond its control: its 1-23 proximity to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, the fact that the two cities 1-24 are surrounded by mountains that form a common air basin, and the 2-1 high levels of emissions originating in Ciudad Juarez that 2-2 contribute to the high concentration of certain criteria pollutants 2-3 in the basin; and 2-4 WHEREAS, Section 179B of the Clean Air Act, which addresses 2-5 nonattainment areas along international borders, stipulates that 2-6 the State Implementation Plan must be approved by the EPA for any 2-7 metropolitan area in the United States that is able to demonstrate 2-8 that the area would be in compliance with the NAAQS for any of the 2-9 regulated pollutants if not for emissions from outside of the 2-10 United States; and 2-11 WHEREAS, The EPA has approved a demonstration by the Texas 2-12 Natural Resource Conservation Commission establishing, through the 2-13 use of scientific modeling, that the El Paso area would be in 2-14 compliance with the NAAQS for particulate matter by the required 2-15 deadline if not for emissions from Mexico; and 2-16 WHEREAS, The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission 2-17 has submitted evidence to the EPA establishing that the El Paso 2-18 area also would be in attainment with the NAAQS for the one-hour 2-19 ozone and carbon monoxide standards if not for emissions from 2-20 Mexico; and 2-21 WHEREAS, Despite this evidence, the EPA has not yet approved 2-22 the State Implementation Plan for the El Paso area demonstrating 2-23 compliance with Section 179B for ozone and carbon monoxide; now, 2-24 therefore, be it 2-25 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-26 hereby respectfully request the Congress of the United States to 2-27 urge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to redesignate El 3-1 Paso from a nonattainment area to an attainment area; and, be it 3-2 further 3-3 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 3-4 copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to 3-5 the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of 3-6 the senate of the United States Congress, and to all members of the 3-7 Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this 3-8 resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a 3-9 memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.