DEPARTMENT: Health
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Jennifer Herriott, MPH
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
City Council Approval of the Ozone Attainment Master Plan
SUMMARY:
The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District requests City Council approval for the Ozone Attainment Master Plan.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a more stringent "health-based" air pollution standard of 70 parts per billion (ppb) for ground-level ozone on October 1, 2015.
On September 24, 2018, the EPA officially announced that Bexar County was in marginal nonattainment of federal ground-level ozone standards. Marginal nonattainment areas are those closest to meeting the standard and have fewer mandatory planning and control requirements at the local level. If the designated area does not reach the attainment standard by the end of 2020, the area will be moved to the Moderate classification, resulting in additional regulatory requirements.
Ozone is formed when NOx and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) combine when exposed to sunlight and heat. Emissions from industrial facilities, electric utilities, motor vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapors, and chemical solvents are major sources of NOx and VOCs. Point sources, such as power plants and industrial sources are the largest contributors followed by on-road sources such as cars and trucks.
ISSUE:
Exceedance of ground-level ozone standard is a public health issue. Poor air quality can aggravate asthma attacks and cause death among children & elderly especially among individuals with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. An estimated 24 deaths could be avoided annually if San Antonio air quality improves to a lower level than the EPA's standard. The avoided cost of these deaths is estimated to be $220 million.
In response to the EPA designation, the City of San Antonio has been working internally as well as with partner organizations such as the Alamo Area Counc...
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