The Lone Star Chapter is advocating for enhanced air quality monitoring systems, particularly in vulnerable areas like the Gulf Coast and the Permian Basin. Strengthening these efforts will provide more precise data, ensure timely public alerts, and support policy measures aimed at reducing harmful emissions. Improved monitoring also helps hold industries accountable for air pollution, ensuring a safer environment for communities impacted by petrochemical activities and fossil fuel extraction.
2025 Legislative Goal Summary
- Expand air quality monitoring systems across Texas, prioritizing vulnerable areas such as the Gulf Coast and Permian Basin.
- Increase the deployment of advanced monitors for pollutants like Hydrogen Sulfide, Methane, Ozone, and PM 2.5, and require our state agencies to develop state plans to reduce pollution.
- Strengthen public alert systems to deliver timely warnings about harmful air quality conditions.
- Support policy measures that reduce emissions and hold industries accountable for pollution, including establishing hydrogen sulfide standards, proper regulation of concrete batch, cement plants and aggregated production operations and cumulative impact protections.
2025 Bill Highlights
Currently, the Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter supports:
- HB 1341 - Reynolds, Ron: Relating to establishment of maximum allowable ground level concentrations of hydrogen sulfide by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
- HB 457 - Morales, Christina: Relating to an alert system for notification of the release of toxic chemicals by a manufacturing facility.
- HB 853 - Reynolds, Ron / SB 429 by Miles, Borris: Relating to the issuance of air quality permits for certain facilities located in a nonattainment area.
- HB 1498 - Walle, Armando: Relating to the monitoring of emissions from certain concrete plants
Air Quality Monitoring and Standards Facts
1. Texas Needs Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring
Texas ranks among the top states for industrial emissions, especially from petrochemical and fossil fuel operations, making expanded air quality monitoring critical for health and environmental safety.
2. Methane Pollution in the Permian Basin Poses Growing Health Risks
Methane and associated pollutant exposure poses serious health risks, with elevated levels often detected in the Permian Basin and near industrial facilities (Permian Map). Methane also contributes to climate extremes by disrupting our planet’s climate with methane considered to be 80 or more times more destructive than even carbon dioxide.
3. PM 2.5 Contributes to Respiratory and Cardiovascular Issues
PM 2.5 (fine particulate matter) significantly contributes to respiratory and cardiovascular issues. Texas tracks these pollutants to comply with federal air quality standards, though gaps remain in rural and industrial zones.
4. Ozone and Methane Monitoring Technologies Drive Better Policy Decisions
Advanced monitoring technology for ozone and methane can detect real-time pollutant levels, providing actionable data to communities and policymakers.
5. Hydrogen Sulfide Standards are Out of Date and Texans are Suffering
There is no national ambient air quality standard for hydrogen sulfide, related to the mining, production and refining of “sour” gas and Texas’s standards are three decades out of date. As a consequence, Texans are getting sick and some workers are even dying. We need better monitoring, standards and enforcement.
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