Hays County: Our Commitment to Cleaner Air

 

Hays County is partnering with other counties in Central Texas to help lower ground-level ozone. High ground-level ozone has significant health and economic consequences.

While the air quality monitors in Hays County (near San Marcos and Dripping Springs, administered by the Capital Area Council of Governments) currently show that Hays County is within EPA guidelines, increasing population growth combined with expected economic development within the county could lower air quality in the future. There is also the potential for the EPA to group Hays County with other nearby counties (such as Travis, Williamson, Bastrop and Caldwell) and cite the regional group for “non-attainment” of air quality standards if only one county in the group falls out of compliance.

High ground-level ozone has both health and economic impacts for a community, with issues that range from throat and lung irritation and aggravation of asthma and other respiratory problems to withholding of federal transportation funding if the State fails to produce an acceptable air quality plan for a non-attainment area. High ozone areas tend to see an increase in health care costs and school absences as well as damage to sensitive vegetation and trees. In non-attainment areas, restrictions could be placed on new development and businesses and the public could see increased costs for funding emission controls, such as enhanced and more costly vehicle inspections that are already in place in some parts of Texas.

For more information about ozone levels, please visit the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Web site at http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/nav/main/public_airquality.html.

For more information about how you can help our environment, please visit the Clean Air Force of Central Texas Web site at http://www.cleanairforce.org/.