Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and Attorney General Ken Paxton, both Republicans, sued the Trump administration in federal court Tuesday for ruling that parts of San Antonio have toxic ozone levels that are too high.
The Environmental Protection Agency last month designated Bexar County in San Antonio as noncompliant with a stricter federal standard for smog-forming ozone set by the Obama administration.
Bexar County would have been compliant under the old standard of 75 parts per billion.
But the 2015 Obama-era national air quality standards for ozone lowered the level of ozone allowed in a particular area to 70 parts per billion. Texas was a leading opponent of the Obama rules.
“If allowed to stand, the EPA’s designation would impose an unwarranted financial burden on the Texas economy with minimal, if any, public health benefit,” Paxton said in a press release upon filing the lawsuit in U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Ozone is a smog-causing gas that forms when chemical emissions from cars or coal plants, for example, are exposed to heat and sunlight. The Obama administration EPA said the tougher rules would prevent thousands of premature deaths.
The Trump administration’s EPA had sought to delay the Obama rules, but backed down after 16 Democratic state attorneys general sued.
The Trump administration recently said it will maintain and defend in court the Obama administration’s ozone rules, because it could not justify rejecting them.
Under the ozone rules, states must ascertain which areas can comply and which cannot, called areas of “non-attainment.”
Once the non-attainment areas are designated, states must develop and submit plans for meeting the standards.
In designating San Antonio’s Bexar County as non-attainment under the rules, EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler suggested the county could easily come into compliance.
“We look forward to supporting Texas as they work to improve air quality and foster economic opportunity,” Wheeler said at the time. “Information provided by the state indicates that the San Antonio area is on the path toward attainment, and we expect Bexar County will be able to demonstrate that it meets the standard well in advance of the attainment date in 2021.”
Studies have blamed San Antonio’s ozone levels for dozens of deaths annually.
Overall, in addition to Bexar County, the EPA identified 51 areas in 22 states and the District of Columbia that do not meet the 2015 ozone standards established under Obama.
