USW Applauds EPA Rejecting Portions of Texas Clean-Air Permitting Program

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS151448+11-Sep-2009+PRN20090911

Fri Sep 11, 2009 11:47am EDT Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page<-> Text <+>

BEAUMONT, Texas, Sept. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers
(USW) Union today applauded the EPA for its proposal to disapprove parts of
the Texas clean-air permitting program that do not meet federal Clean Air Act
requirements.

"We wholly support the EPA's decision to ensure that Texas lives up to its
responsibilities under the Clean Air Act," said USW Vice President Gary
Beevers, who heads the union's oil sector.

"The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has been lax far too
long on air quality standards, giving a pass to the oil and chemical
industries when they should have been protecting the public's health. Our
members and their families live and work in the communities surrounding these
refineries and chemical plants. These communities deserve clean air.

"If the oil and chemical industries would follow stronger health and safety
guidelines, many emissions would not occur," Beevers added.

The EPA has faulted the transparency of Texas' air-permitting program. The
agency plans to reject Texas rules that allow air polluters to make certain
changes at plants without having to schedule public hearings. It also proposes
to reject the state's flexible permits, which allow emission limits to be
exceeded in certain areas provided that those areas achieve an overall
emissions average.

FULL story at link.