Harris County is now violating newly-revised federal air quality standards – Houston Public Media
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has tightened nationwide standards for fine particle air pollution, putting Harris County in violation of federal air quality regulations. The new standard reduces the region’s allowed annual threshold of PM 2.5 pollution from 12 micrograms per cubic meter to 9 micrograms. This policy change places Harris County in nonattainment status, as the region recorded 11.4 micrograms of fine particle air pollution from 2020 to 2022. The EPA estimates this change will prevent roughly 4,500 deaths each year. However, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Republican attorneys general have opposed the change, arguing it exceeds the EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act and lacks sufficient scientific evidence.
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