Perspectives from the Regional Administrator

Tough New Diesel Rule Announced in Houston

Air quality in the Houston-Galveston area got a boost when EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson signed the Locomotive and Marine Diesel Engines Rule at a ceremony at the Port of Houston. The national rule will slash harmful diesel emissions from trains ships and help Americans breathe cleaner air.

EPA Region 6 Administrator Richard E. Greene said, “This is another step in the continuing process to bring cleaner air to Texas and the Nation. Each step brings new achievements and cleaner technologies to improve the health of our residents and our quality of life.”

EPA’s Clean Diesel Locomotive and Marine program will work in collaboration with its partners to cut emissions from all types of diesel locomotives, including line-haul, switch, and passenger rail, as well as from a wide range of marine sources, including ferries, tugboats and all types of marine auxiliary engines.

As a result of the rule, the Houston-Galveston area is expected to see reductions of nitrogen oxide emissions of more than 15,000 tons in 2020 and 32,000 tons in 2030. In 2020 the final rule will annually reduce particulate matter emissions in the Houston metro area by 560 tons and by 2030 these reductions will double to about 1,200 tons per year.

In addition to the benefits from the locomotive and marine standards, EPA has issued a number of rules that will help Houston reduce its ozone levels. These include: the toughest ozone eight-hour standard that EPA has ever set, the Clean Air Interstate Rule to reduce ozone forming emissions from power plants and the Clean Air Diesel Rule Program to reduce emissions from highway, non-road and stationary diesel engines.

The Port of Houston is a 25-mile-long complex of diversified public and private facilities located just a few hours’ sailing time from the Gulf of Mexico. The port is ranked first in the U.S. in foreign waterborne tonnage, second in the U.S. in total tonnage, and tenth in the world in total tonnage. The Port of Houston is made up of the Port of Houston Authority and 150-plus private industrial companies along the Houston Ship Channel.

Sustainable Skylines brings cleaner air to Dallas

The City of Dallas has teamed up with EPA and North Central Texas Council of Governments to test a new initiative aimed at bringing cleaner air to the metro area.

 “Sustainable Skylines gives cities a flexible framework to achieve real results that improve air quality for their residents,” said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene.  “Dallas has been a leader among cities and now stands ready to be a model for the rest of the nation.  We hope Dallas will be the first of many in Texas and beyond to make environmental sustainability an integral part of their city culture.” 

Sustainable Skylines is a joint venture that involves completing several 3-year projects to reduce air emissions.  The initiative is also expected to produce benefits to water and land quality.  If the Dallas pilot is successful, the initiative could be used as a national model for other cities.

Under the Sustainable Skylines initiative, a city can choose to perform projects from seven categories: stationary sources/area sources, renewable energy/energy efficiency, central city livability, green buildings and developments, land-use transportation strategies, off-road emissions, and diesel emissions.  Projects are expected to yield quantifiable benefits within three years.

The City of Dallas has committed to completing seven environmentally beneficial projects.  Dallas was selected from a pool of multiple cities vying to field test the new initiative. 

Some of the projects the City of Dallas plans to conduct under Sustainable Skylines include:

EPA supports fund’s efforts to clean North Texas air

Region 6 Administrator Richard E. Greene spoke at a ceremony honoring several Dallas-Fort Worth area organizations contributing to improving air quality. These groups are the first recipients of grants from the Sue Pope Fund, a philanthropic organization committed to reducing air pollution in North Texas.

The evening’s honorees sponsor a wide range of pollution-reducing projects. These include replacing 325 taxi cabs replaced with more efficient hybrid models; providing new, energy-efficient affordable housing in the Fair Park area of Dallas; providing less polluting electric lawn mowers at a discount to citizens who trade in gas models; and bringing area schools their first hybrid buses. EPA applauds these projects and supports efforts throughout Region 6 to reduce polluting emissions.

The Sue Pope Fund is a partnership between North Texas clean-air advocates Downwinders at Risk and the Holcim Cement company. The grants are funded by a $2.5 million endowment, making it the largest in Texas dedicated solely to reducing air pollution.

Hydraulic hybrid truck promises fuel efficiency and lower emissions

Think you've heard about all the new alternative vehicles on the road today? Not so fast! EPA and UPS recently unveiled the world's first hydraulic hybrid commercial delivery vehicle. Reporters and officials went for spins in the truck at a demonstration in Dallas. This new EPA-patented technology an increase fuel efficiency by sixty to seventy percent, while lowering carbon dioxide emissions by forty percent in urban driving. The hybrid UPS truck, developed at our Ann Arbor Research facility, will begin delivering UPS packages in Michigan this summer.

EPA and UPS partnered in the development of the truck, with the new technology poised to deliver these impressive environmental benefits to America in package delivery, shuttle and transit, and refuse pickup fleets. Payback is estimated at fewer than three years, with net fuel cost savingsper vehicle at more than fifty thousand dollars over its lifespan at current fuel prices.

The truck has a full hydraulic hybrid system that replaces the conventional drive train and eliminates the need for a conventional transmission. Hydraulic motors and tanks store the energy that the system generates when the brakes are applied. That energy is then used automatically to help the vehicle accelerate, reducing both fuel consumption and emissions.

EPA partners on this project included Eaton Corporation, UPS, International Truck and Engine Corporation, the U.S. Army-National Automotive Center, and Morgan-Olson, with major technical support from FEV Engine Technology and Southwest Research institute.

For more information:

Hydraulic Hybrid Factsheet | Hydraulic Hybrids Flyer | Hydraulic Hybrid Technology | Blue Skyways Factsheet | News Release | en español

Blue Skyways

Earlier this year, in response to President Bush's mandate to accelerate the pace of environmental protection, we announced a promising new initiative with the goal of making the air breathed by 50 million people cleaner and healthier. Blue Skyways is designed to reduce the number of 'Red Alert' days in communities across America's heartland from Canada to Mexico.

'Red Alert' days warn us of times when ozone levels are likely to be unsafe - keeping the elderly, children and even our healthier citizens indoors. So far this year, Dallas-Fort Worth has exceeded the health-based ozone standard 13 times and our ozone season has just begun. The Dallas Morning News article War on Smog examined the challenge for clean air in our community, noting the likelihood of needing more innovative approaches to close the gap.

We agree. Blue Skyways Collaborative is doing just that - our partners are seeking new innovative approaches, incentives, and shared approaches to reduce emissions from cars, trucks and heavy equipment and foster renewable energy projects. Blue Skyways is helping identify expanded opportunities to improve the quality of life for millions of people.

This week, our partners from cities, counties, business and industry in 10 states met at the DFW Airport to share their plans to help improve air quality. The collaborative members will welcome more than a dozen new partners including Wal Mart, Peterbilt Motor Company, H-E-B Grocery, North Texas Council of Governments and the City of Dallas.

Clean air projects, many of them voluntary, will bring over $90 million and reduce soot and smog by over 10,000 tons per year, are planned for completion this year. Clean air improvements from our partners will provide benefits to people at home, at work and at play. Citizens living and working in the ten state area should realize up to $117 million in public health benefits - less lung disease and asthma attacks.

Blue Skyways is making headway in bringing about cleaner air. It is achieving national attention from the New York Times, Forbes, Associated Press and Washington Post because it is working - and it all started here when Texas leaders committed more than $800 million to realize clean air benefits of new diesel technology and low emission engines through the highly successful TERP incentives program.

Our goal is to make "Red alert" days go away - to aggressively move forward to eliminate that black puff of diesel smoke so familiar to all of us. From Laredo to Duluth, Blue Skyways is generating new ideas and projects to help our communities.

Katy ISD making the grade on indoor air quality

Katy Independent School District and exemplary districts across the nation were recently honored by EPA for implementing successful indoor air quality programs.
 
“Healthy kids and a healthy environment go hand in hand,” said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene.  Read more …>

Blue Skyways welcomes new partners from Texas, Oklahoma

Cleaner air is on the horizon across the nation's Heartland as 15 new partners and communities are welcomed into the Blue Skyways Collaborative, which spans 10 Midwestern states. 

"Blue Skyways is working to bring cleaner air and healthier lives to the 50 million people who make up America’s heartland," said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene. "With a growing list of committed partners and pollution control technologies, we are saving millions of gallons of fuel and cutting tons of harmful emissions each year."

The projects of the new partners will reduce yearly air pollution by 900 tons and greenhouse gases by 1,768 tons. These figures will contribute to the total collaborative emissions reductions of 40,840 tons of pollutants and 535,070 tons of greenhouse gases, along with 22 million gallons in fuel savings. Read more …>

Nation's First Clean Air Economic Development Zone

Crittenden County, Arkansas is the nation's first area to be treated as an Economic Development Zone under the 1990 Clean Air Act. Arkansas can now develop air permitting regulations that will encourage new industries to move to Crittendon County and still meet established air quality goals for the greater Memphis area.

"The Economic Development Zone designation shows EPA's commitment to improve the health and well-being of our communities," said Regional Administrator Richard Greene. "Everyone agrees that clean air is our primary goal. This is another example of how we can achieve clean air and help the local economy at the same time."

Modeling and technical analysis done by the state showed that meeting clean air goals and schedules was possible and would not affect controlled industrial growth. Many actions have been taken in Crittenden County since 1999 to reduce ozone formation from local sources. Ozone levels in the area were down by more than 80 percent during the 2005 summer season. Actions that helped reduce ozone levels included installation of truck stop electrification, emission controls on area gas stations and voluntary measures, including the use of bio-based fuels by farmers.

Truck stop electrification and bio-based fuels also are important components of another EPA program, the Blue Skyways Collaborative, launched in 2006 to turn America's highways into Blue Skyways. Collaborative partners in Canada, Mexico and nine central states, including Arkansas, are working together on voluntary efforts to make the air cleaner for the fifty million people living in the region.

For more information:

Crittenden County Economic Development Zone.
Blue Skyways Collaborative.

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