Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced final disapproval of the flexible permit program that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) had submitted for inclusion in its clean-air implementation plan.

The EPA has taken criticism from Texas regulators for not having taken action on this or other air permitting programs since they were first submitted to the EPA in the 1990s.

TCEQ Commissioners on June 16 approved changes to the Texas flexible air permit rules, in order to address EPA's concerns that the Texas program does not comply with federal Clean Air Act requirements. EPA's disapproval today does not apply to those changes, which will be opened up for public comment from July 2, 2010 through August 2, 2010.

Said EPA Region 6 Administrator Al Armendariz:
 

“Today’s action improves our ability to provide the citizens of Texas with the same healthy-air protections that are provided for citizens in all other states under the Clean Air Act. EPA will continue working closely with Texas, industry, environmental organizations, and community leaders to assure an effective and legal air permitting system.”

Gov. Rick Perry did not see it that way:
 

“The EPA’s irresponsible and heavy-handed action not only undermines Texas’ successful clean air programs, but threatens thousands of Texas jobs, families, businesses and communities throughout our state. It will also likely curtail energy supplies and increase gasoline prices nationwide.

“It’s shocking for the Obama Administration to target a 16-year-old air quality program that has achieved a 22 percent reduction in ozone and 53 percent reduction in NOx from regulated sources since 2000. Texas’ air quality program has outperformed federal programs in virtually every category.

“The EPA’s action will undermine environmental gains as well at employers like Lockheed-Martin, U.T. San Antonio Health Science Center, the LCRA Fayette plant, and myriad energy producers throughout Texas, including two facilities operated by the federal government – Fort Bliss and the Department of Energy's Pantex plant. Blinded by its activist agenda, the EPA is even threatening a renewable-energy power plant and a manufacturer of energy efficient air conditioners.

“Texas will continue to fight this federal takeover of a successful state program, enacted under Gov. Ann Richards and operated in full under President Clinton, which has cleaned Texas’ air at the same time it contributed to the nation’s strongest economy.

“I again call on the president and Congress to immediately rein in this rogue agency, and stop the EPA from continuing to threaten Texas families, their jobs and cost of living.”

The announcement from EPA goes on to say:
 

To insure no disruptions for facilities, EPA has reached out to industry, the environmental community and TCEQ to discuss how to convert flexible permits into more detailed permits that comply with the Clean Air Act. One tool proposed by EPA is encouraging flexible permit holders to participate in a voluntary compliance audit program. The program will expedite efforts to identify emission limits, operating requirements and monitoring, reporting and recordkeeping data. Public comment on the proposed audit program closes on July 2, 2010.

More to come in this week's issue of LSR.