|
REFORMULATED FUEL:
Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (8 counties) and Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant Counties. During the summer months, service stations in these 12 counties must sell gasoline that has a lower Reid vapor pressure (7.2 PSI) than normal gasoline. An oxygenate such as MTBE or TAME is also added to the gas so it contains at least two percent oxygen.Reformulated fuels burn cleaner than regular gasoline. Fuel costs increase 3 to 5 cents in affected areas.
REGIONAL LOWER REID VAPOR PRESSURE GASOLINE:
El Paso and 95 central and eastern counties. RFP gas has a lower evaporation and lower volatility rate than normal gas. Though the reid vapor pressure is less than normal gas, it is not as low as reformulated fuels. The requirements in El Paso are slightly more stringent than in the central and eastern counties. Fuel costs increase one cent.
OXYGENATED FUEL: El Paso. Gasoline sold between October 1 and March 31 must have a minimum oxygen
content of 2.7 percent to reduce carbon monoxide emissions.
LOW-EMISSION DIESEL FUEL PROGRAM. Low-emission diesel fuel is refined to have a lower sulfur content, a
lower aromatic hydrocarbon content and a higher cetane number than conventional diesel fuels. Because of this, it emits less NOx and VOCs than normal diesel. Beginning April 1, 2005, fuels in
110 counties in East Texas must have a sulfur content of 500 ppm or less, a maximum aromatic hydrocarbon content of 10 percent and a minimum cetane number of 48. By June 1, 2006, the maximum
sulfur content in these counties will be 15 ppm.
TEXAS CLEAN FLEET PROGRAM:
El Paso, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston-Galveston-Brazoria. All mass transit, local government fleets with more than 15 vehicles and private fleets with more 25 fleet vehicles have to purchase or lease a certain percentage of vehicles that meet the national Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) standards. Standards may be met with a variety of alternative or reformulated fuels, including electric, gasoline, hybrid-vehicles, diesel, natural gas, etc. After Sept. 1, 2002, local government and private fleets 70 percent of their light-duty fleet purchases and 50 percent of their heavy-duty purchases must be LEVs. In addition, statewide, 50% of all mass transit vehicles and state agency vehicles had to meet or exceed the federal low emission vehicle standards by September 1, 1996. However, fleet operators can also choose to buy Mobile Emission Reduction Credits from other fleet operators exceeding the requirements, or purchasing even lower emission vehicles like those meeting the zero-emission standards.
TEXAS MOTORIST's CHOICE VEHICLE EMISSIONS TESTING PROGRAM (AirCheck Texas):
Tarrant, Dallas, El Paso, Harris, Collin, Denton, Galveston, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker and Rockwall Counties. Vehicle owners with gasoline-powered vehicles less than 24 years old must pass an annual emissions and safety test beginning with the vehicle's second model year anniversary. Vehicles failing must be repaired and pass a retest or qualify for a waiver. In addition, remote sensing will target high-emitting vehicles from adjacent ozone nonattainment counties. If detected as "grossly polluting vehicle," motorists will be subject to a vehicle emissions test. The safety and emissions tests can cost no more than $39.50 in Houston and Dallas, and $26.50 in El Paso.
The program also includes an assistance program called the Texas Repair & Replacement Assistance Program to
help low-income residents of some counties who fail their tests to have their vehicles either repaired or replaced.
TEXAS EMISSION REDUCTION PLAN (TERP). In 2001, the Legislature created a number of fee-based programs to
generate money to help clean up engines faster than regulations required through the TERP. Programs created included rebates on the purchase or lease of cleaner cars and trucks; grant funding
in 38 counties for new engines, repowers, retrofit technologies, fuels or new technologies; an energy efficiency grant program for power companies and the creation of the Texas Building
Energy Performance Standards among other provisions. In FY 2003, over 43 grant projects were selected in the attainment and non-attainment counties which was expected to result in a
reduction of over 2,500 tons of NOx.*
While some $137 million was expected to be generated for the program in FY 2002, legal cases threw out one of
the main fees in support of the program, and only $20.5 million was available for the program. Because of the sudden reduction of resources to fund TERP, in 2003 the Legislature
changed the basis for the fees, and eliminated programs.
Under the legislation, TERP is being funded by a $15 extra fee on the application fee of a motor vehicle title and a two percent surcharge on sales of heavy-duty diesel equipment as well as upon on-road diesel vehicles over 14,000 pounds. These fees are expected to generate some $130 million by 2008. In addition, the Legislature eliminated both the energy efficiency and the cleaner car rebate program in favor of concentrating th emoney in the emissions reduction incentive grant program to reduce emissions from high-emitting mobile diesel sources in 42 Texas counties. *. Recently approved projects include the purchase
of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuels for the buses operated by the City of Dallas and a retrofit of diesel engines for a food services company in Houston*.
TRANSPORTATION CONTROL MEASURES:
Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, and El Paso. Control measures may include "high-occupancy vehicle" (HOV) lane, park-and-ride lots, transit service improvements, rideshare initiatives and intelligent transportation systems. Additional measures may include pedestrian improvements, bicycle improvements, trip reduction initiatives, flexible work hours, emission pricing, K-12 system management, and others.
Source: Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, Revision to the State Implementation Plan for the
Control of Ozone Air Pollution (1997); and Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, Revision to the State Implementation Plan for the Substitute of the Federal Clean Fuel Fleet Program
(July 1996).
|
