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Natural Awakenings Dallas -Fort Worth Metroplex Edition

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North Texas Assesses Progress of Clean Air Efforts

For the second year in a row, the 10-county North Central Texas (NCT) nonattainment area fell below the 1997 eight-hour ozone standard designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the end of the 2015 ozone season on October 31. Under its current moderate nonattainment designation, the region must reach attainment by July 2018. This year included two important updates to the ozone standard. In April, the EPA revoked the 1997 eight-hour standard, and on October 1, the EPA strengthened the ozone standard to 70 parts per billion (ppb).

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) has several air quality programs in place to improve our region’s air quality and reach attainment goals for the pollutant ozone. Many focus on education and/or the development, implementation and enforcement of emissions reduction strategies across the ozone nonattainment area.

Air North Texas, the region’s clean air public awareness campaign, implements air quality education and outreach efforts each year. This year, Air North Texas hosted the sixth annual Clean Air Action Day on June 26, in which North Texans were asked to do at least one new thing to help improve air quality. Individual participation in the event was the highest to date, with a 38 percent increase from 2014 .

Air North Texas encourages businesses, governments and individuals to implement specific clean air strategies such as carpooling, using mass transit, conserving electricity when air pollution is forecast to reach unhealthy levels.

Dallas-Fort Worth Clean Cities is a local, public/private partnership to advance energy security, protect environmental and public health and stimulate economic development by reducing petroleum consumption and improving air quality, primarily relating to transportation. The Coalition facilitates the purchases of alternative fuel vehicles, supports alternative fuel infrastructure and informs consumers about fuel economy, including hybrid vehicles.

The AirCheckTexas Drive a Clean Machine Program provides financial assistance to registered vehicle owners to repair or replace vehicles that have failed the state emissions test.  Since 2003, the  program has replaced 31,132 vehicles and repaired 31,887 vehicles.

Enforced Idling Restrictions is a control measure aimed at reducing emissions caused by idling of heavy-duty gasoline and diesel vehicles. To support the state in implementing this control strategy, NCTCOG promotes this initiative by developing outreach materials and assisting local governments with adoption, education and enforcement. To date, 26 local governments have adopted the restrictions; citizens may also report idling vehicles online at EngineOffNorthTexas.org.

The expansion of idle reduction infrastructure for heavy-duty trucks is one of NCTCOG’s ongoing initiatives focused on reducing idling. These sites help reduce air pollution and save fuel by giving truck drivers access to auxiliary power without idling the main engine of the vehicle. NCTCOG has provided funding for the installation of 120 publicly available electrified parking spaces at three truck stops in Dallas and Tarrant Counties. Efforts are also underway to expand use of this technology at trucking terminals through a recently awarded Diesel Emission Reduction Act grant from the EPA, which will provide funding for up to 80 new electrified parking spaces at trucking terminals within the region.

The Electric Vehicles North Texas Program increases awareness of the availability and feasibility of electric vehicles (EV) in the DFW area, and ensure the availability of resources needed to support widespread adoption through a partnership of local governments, businesses and other interested parties. The region has nearly 300 locations with public recharging infrastructure, and the city of Dallas ranks second in the country four the number of charging stations per capita.

For information, visit nctcog.org/trans/air/programs.