By Bonnen H.C.R. No. 233 77R11510 NBH-D HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, The Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB) area has been 1-2 classified as a severe nonattainment area for the one-hour ozone 1-3 standard and is in jeopardy of being classified as a nonattainment 1-4 area for the proposed eight-hour ozone and particulate matter 2.5 1-5 standards, if those standards are fully implemented; and 1-6 WHEREAS, There is data demonstrating that Brazoria County's 1-7 ozone concentrations are classified most often as "good" under the 1-8 Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission's (TNRCC) standards; 1-9 and 1-10 WHEREAS, Brazoria County is classified as an ozone 1-11 nonattainment area because of its inclusion in the Consolidated 1-12 Metropolitan Statistical Area as established by the federal Clean 1-13 Air Act of 1970, as amended in 1990; and 1-14 WHEREAS, The State Implementation Plan (SIP) will unduly 1-15 burden Brazoria County with the same stringent emissions reduction 1-16 measures that will be required of the other counties in the 1-17 eight-county nonattainment area; Brazoria County should be held 1-18 accountable only for the portion of emissions that it produces, 1-19 which are minor compared to the total emissions of the eight-county 1-20 region; and 1-21 WHEREAS, It is of great importance to the residents of 1-22 Brazoria County that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 1-23 credit the county with the significant reductions in air pollution 1-24 already achieved; and 2-1 WHEREAS, In light of the considerable financial stress that 2-2 the requirements of the Clean Air Act will put on many businesses 2-3 and, in some cases, entire industries, it is imperative that the 2-4 EPA conduct a cost-benefit analysis of various emissions control 2-5 strategies to determine their impact; and 2-6 WHEREAS, There are several methodologies that may be employed 2-7 by the TNRCC and the EPA to establish compliance with the National 2-8 Ambient Air Quality Standards, and the use of the most 2-9 scientifically accurate of those methodologies benefits all 2-10 parties; and 2-11 WHEREAS, It is vitally important that the air quality of 2-12 Texas be monitored and regulated by the state's environmental 2-13 protection agency rather than the federal EPA; this matter should 2-14 be considered a states' rights issue; now, therefore, be it 2-15 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-16 hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to 2-17 require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use the most 2-18 scientifically accurate methodology possible to assess emissions 2-19 reductions, to credit Brazoria County with emissions reductions 2-20 already achieved, and to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of 2-21 emissions control strategies; and, be it further 2-22 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 2-23 copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to 2-24 the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of 2-25 the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of 2-26 the Texas delegation with the request that this resolution be 2-27 officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the 3-1 Congress of the United States of America.