The Potential Impact of Solvent Emission Controls in the East Texas Area
| Project Period: | 10/10/2005 - 03/15/2006 |
| Total Budget: | $150,000 |
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The Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW) and Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB) regions of East Texas have been designated as “moderate” non-attainment areas for the 8-hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) faces a fast-approaching 2010 attainment deadline in these areas, and State Implementation Plan (SIP) Proposal documents are required for the DFW area by 5/17/06 and for HGB by 11/15/06. As part of the upcoming SIP Proposals, TCEQ is considering implementation of new regulations for area VOC sources that fall under SCC Code 24, “Solvent Utilization,” including but not limited to solvents used in Surface Coatings, Consumer and Commercial Products, Degreasing Operations, Auto Refinish and other area sources of solvent VOCs.
The purpose of this project is to develop recommendations to HARC and TCEQ as to which solvent utilization product categories provide the most effective and cost-efficient reductions, and the potential form and format of the regulations. Desirable characteristics of the proposed regulations include:
- Maximal ozone reductions
- Maximal VOC reductions
- Low regulatory and enforcement costs
- Ready acceptance by EPA as part of the SIP
- Acceptance by the regulated community
- Minimal impact on commerce in the state
- Minimal impact on small businesses in the state
Part of this project involves determining the best compromises among potential regulatory options, using the above criteria and others that may be developed in the first few weeks of fact-finding on the project. These will serve as a basis for developing a defensible prioritized list of potential regulatory options available to the TCEQ. If information that can be used as an emissions baseline for the SCC 24 categories has not already been developed by the TCEQ, an emissions baseline needs to be defined.
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