Air Quality and Your Family

Open Letter to Members:

Since our inception,  the North Central Texas Communities Alliance has been involved with encouraging the EPA to enact stronger Air Regulations for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry.  One of our very first speakers was newly appointed Region 6 Administrator Dr. Al Armendarez (February 2010) in one of  his first  public presentations in the DFW area after his appointment.

We know that Dr. Armendarez's  knowledge about natural gas  drilling in the higher density population areas  of the DFW Metroplex, the Barnett Shale, and Texas  has been a tremendous asset in moving forward these much needed safeguards.  His first priority always has been and remains the protection of the CITIZENS' health and safety.  We are grateful for  his awareness and diligent  efforts in this regard, and for the EPA's  follow through on the requests of the CITIZENS.

Please circulate this to your family, friends, colleagues  throughout Texas and beyond, and encourage them to do the same.  And then, a "thank you" email to our Region 6 EPA Administrator Dr. Al Armandarez, would also be appropriate and welcome!

Details of the proposed rule can be found at the following EPA website.  The website will contain the press release and more detailed information. http://www.epa.gov/airquality/oilandgas/actions.html

Here are some key points to remember about the announcement:

• On July 28, 2011, to meet a court-ordered deadline, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will propose a suite of highly cost-effective regulations that would reduce harmful air pollution from the oil and natural gas industry while allowing continued, responsible growth in U.S. oil and natural gas production.
• The proposals are based on proven technology and best practices that the oil and gas industry is using in some states today.  It will include the first federal air standards for wells that are hydraulically fractured, along with requirements for several other sources of pollution in the oil and gas industry that currently are not regulated at the federal level. 
• The proposals include four (4) air regulations for the oil and natural gas industry; 1) a new source performance standard for volatile organic compounds (VOC's); 2) a new source performance standard for sulfur dioxide; 3) an air toxics standard for oil and natural gas production and 4) an air toxics standard for natural gas transmission and storage. 
• The proposals would cut emissions of smog-forming VOC's , air toxics such benzene, and sulfur dioxide.

North Central Texas Communities Alliance 
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