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HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Reducing pollution and protecting the environment |
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are of the utmost concern to both federal government and the Texas |
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Legislature; and |
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WHEREAS, the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria eight hour ozone |
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nonattainment area is not expected to achieve the eight-hour ozone |
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deadline of 2010, due primarily to the incongruity between federal |
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attainment deadlines and the timeline imposed for the |
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implementation of federal controls; |
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WHEREAS, the Dallas-Fort Worth eight-hour ozone |
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nonattainment area is expected to achieve the eight-hour ozone |
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deadline of 2010 only on the weight of evidence by a narrow margin |
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that may not meet the approval of the United States Environmental |
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Protection Agency; |
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WHEREAS, on-road mobile sources are a major source of |
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nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, contributing |
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seventy-three percent of the NOx in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and |
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sixty percent in the Houston area and are preempted by the federal |
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government and cannot be regulated under the State's authority; and |
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WHEREAS, the United States Clean Air Act and the |
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Environmental Protection Agency threaten the state with loss of |
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federal highway funds if the state does not meet federal clean air |
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standards while they have direct control over the largest remaining |
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sources of emissions from mobile sources; and |
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WHEREAS, the state, partnering with industrial point |
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sources, has made huge emissions reductions, preventing the |
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emission of five-hundred fourteen tons per day of NOx in the |
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Dallas-Fort Worth area and three-hundred thirty-three tons per day |
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of NOx in the Houston area; and |
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WHEREAS, new federal vehicle engine standards and vehicle |
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fleet turnover will eventually reduce a significant amount of |
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emissions, these the new standards are too late in being |
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implemented to help the state meet its federally mandated |
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attainment deadlines; and |
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RESOLVED, That the 79th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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urge congress and the United States Environmental Protection Agency |
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to recognize that the state of Texas has done everything in its |
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power to meet the current attainment deadline for the eight-hour |
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ozone standard and has made great strides in cleaning the air, and |
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that the attainment deadline is incongruous with promulgation dates |
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of new federal vehicle engine standards, and that the federal |
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government is now primarily responsible for the state's air |
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quality, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State forward official copies |
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of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the |
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speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the |
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senate of the United States Congress, to the administrator of the |
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United States Environmental Protection Agency, and to all members |
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of the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this |
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resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |