Almanac Table of Contents | Chapter Six Table of Contents | TEC Home Page
NEXT PAGE * PREVIOUS PAGE Go to page 1*2*3*4*5*6*7*8*Notes
AREA SOURCES
"Area sources" are small, stationary sources that usually do not emit large amounts of criteria pollutants or toxics. Most of these sources will not require a federal operating permit at this time. However, the EPA will eventually require all such area sources to obtain a federal operating permit. Important area sources include dry cleaners, printers, machine shops, service stations, wastewater treatment plants, auto painting, repair shops and consumers who use household consumer items. While these "small" businesses and consumer activities individually do not contribute large amounts of pollution to the atmosphere, taken collectively they emit more of some types of pollutants than do some individual large industries. For example, area sources account for 58 percent of all toxic emissions in Texas, or about three times as much as large industries combined, although emissions do not occur in the concentrations they do with major industries.(132) In many cities in Texas, area sources contribute more VOCs to smog formation than do major stationary sources.
For these reasons, the 1990 Federal Clean Air Act broadened the scope of federal regulation to include areas sources. The Federal Clean Air Act has had an immediate impact on small busi-ness owners.
The Texas Oil Marketers Association (TOMA) estimates that purchasing and installing a gas vapor recovery system will cost a station with 24 hoses about $40,000.
Source: State Small Business Ombudsman, Texas Air Control Board, The Price of Clean Air, (Austin: TACB, 1993), 7.
Even with the increased regulations, most small businesses will not be required to get a state permit. Instead, new businesses will simply have to meet the provisions of the state's standard exemption list and any general permit developed as part of the federal operating permit program. The standard exemption specifies requirements or conditions, including installation of pollution control equipment, that will allow a business to comply with air-quality laws without going through the costly permit process. In some cases, such as cement plants and asphalt plants, a standard exemption must be applied for and issued by the state. In other cases, the exemption can just be claimed by a business, which must then be prepared, if asked, to demonstrate its conformity with the conditions of the exemption.
Source: Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, State Implementation Plan for Non-Attainment Areas (Austin: TNRCC, 1994).
| AIR POLLUTION CONTROL COSTS BY INDUSTRY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| INDUSTRY | ESTIMATED NO. IN TEXAS | COST PER FACILITY | INDUSTRY COST |
| Asphalt Manufacturers | 67 | 350,000 | 23,450,000 |
| Auto Body Painting | 1,760 | 120,000 | 211,200,000 |
| Auto Repairs | 4,634 | 7,000 | 131,438,000 |
| Bakeries | 138 | 114,000 | 15,732,000 |
| Dry Cleaners | 3,314 | 28,000 | 92,792,000 |
| Furniture Manufacturers | 447 | 500,000 | 223,500,000 |
| Gasoline Filling Stations | 3,710 | 40,000 | 148,400,000 |
| Hospitals | 139 | 100,000 | 13,900,000 |
| Metal Finishers | 305 | 40,000 | 12,200,000 |
| Newspapers | 567 | 40,000 | 22,680,000 |
| Printing Shops | 3,247 | 40,000 | 129,880,000 |
| Refrigeration/AC Repair | 2,244 | 7,000 | 15,708,000 |
| Wood Finishers | 21 | 40,000 | 840,000 |
| Total | 20,593 | 51,000 | $1,041,720,000 |
| Source: State Small Business Ombudsman, Texas Air Control Board, The Price of Clean Air (Austin: TACB, April 1993), 20. | |||
| HOW DOES THE FCAA IMPACT SMALL BUSINESS? |
|---|
| The Federal Clean Air Act is likely to impact more than 55,000 businesses in Texas with fewer than 100 employees. Over the next five to seven years, the Environmental Protection Agency will be developing specific rules for small businesses to reduce their generation of toxic waste, their use of ozone-depleting chemicals and, in non-attainment areas, their emissions of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides. While these regulations are still being formulated, the EPA has pinpointed 23 industries it is most likely to regulate in the next five years.(133)
The state estimated costs for the approximately 20,593 small businesses most likely to be affected by the Federal Clean Air Act - and for which reliable cost data was available - to be more than $1 billion, most of it for capital equipment, to comply with Federal Clean Air Act regulations over the next five years.(134) In the four non-attainment areas alone, the cost to businesses for obtaining a federal operating permit and installing pollution control equipment is expected to total $505 million. All existing sources, regardless of location, that emit more than 10 tons per year of any of the 189 toxic pollutants or 25 tons per year of any combination of these 189 chemicals for which the EPA is developing rules must install control technology which is at least equivalent to the average of the top 12 percent for that industry. New sources must install the best proven technology for that industry. |
While much of the concern about air pollution is focused on industrial and urban sources, people living in rural areas can also face nuisance odors and toxic air pollution. Air-borne pesticides are a concern in some rural areas. A recent study estimated that only 10 to 15 percent of pesticides sprayed from crop dusters reach their intended source. The remaining 85 to 90 percent can drift up to 20 miles.(135) (For a full discussion of pesticides use and their health effects in Texas, see the section entitled Pesticides).
Other agricultural activities that can result in emissions of air contaminants such as odors and particulate matter include cotton gins, cotton seed oil mills, hide tanning, seed cleaning, sugar mills, sugar cane and crop residue burning, feed-mills, smokehouses and concentrated animal feeding operations or CAFOs. CAFOs are areas in which animals such as poultry, hogs or cows are concentrated in a relatively small area for egg-laying, stabling, sleeping, milking or feeding purposes. Sometimes, animal waste from these operations is collected in ponds, which can release both odors and methane gas (one of the greenhouse gases). Other animal waste is placed in manure mounds or applied as fertilizer to the land, which also can lead to odor nuisances. CAFOs and other agricultural activities are more likely to contribute air pollutants such as particulate matter to the atmosphere during hot, dry weather. For example, feedlot dust can result when cattle activity increases around dusk. Odor problems, on the other hand, usually occur following significant precipitation.(136)
Anaerobic treatment of livestock waste accounts for 6 percent to 10 percent of the total methane emissions from human-related activities in Texas.
Source: Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research, Tarleton State University, Interim Report to the Joint Interim Committee on the Environment, 72nd Texas Legislature (Stephenville: Tarleton State University, September 1992), 66.
Large CAFOs are typically required to obtain air permits, while smaller CAFOs are usually exempt from the permitting process. Regardless of size, all CAFOs must be operated in a manner that does not result in either dust or nuisance odor problems. While quantitative measurement standards for odors have not been developed, odors from CAFOs in rural areas are a controversial issue.(137) Numerous odor and dust complaints have been filed with the field offices of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission over the years. If the TNRCC confirms an odor or dust problem either in response to a citizen complaint or as a result of investigation it can issue a notice of violation. If the problem is not corrected after the notice of violation, the state can begin formal enforcement action, which may include administrative fines.
However, the perception and reaction to an odor can be highly subjective, and different field offices have interpreted the authority to issue notices of violation differently. Because of recent court cases concerning the regulation of CAFOs and because of the complexities often surrounding alleged nuisance conditions associated with these types of operations, new policies are being developed to assure consistency in the TNRCC's regulatory process.
| COMPLAINTS, NOTICES OF VIOLATIONS AND FORMAL ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS RELATED TO CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS (CAFOS), 1988 - 1993 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Below are the complaints and notices of violations (NOVs) from 1988 to 1993 for all concentrated animal feeding operations. The listed figures do not reflect complaints or notices of violations relative to activities ancillary to CAFOs such as off-site manure, poultry house litter or dead animal disposal. | ||
| REGION | COMPLAINTS | NOVs |
| Amarillo | 21 | 3 |
| Lubbock | 62 | 14 |
| Abilene | 91 | 27 |
| Arlington | 199 | 17 |
| Tyler | 173 | 18 |
| El Paso | 15 | 5 |
| Odessa | 34 | 92 |
| San Angelo | 72 | 8 |
| Waco/Austin | 88 | 18 |
| Beaumont | 0 | 10 |
| Houston | 60 | 19 |
| San Antonio | 210 | 4 |
| Corpus Christi | 45 | 5 |
| Harlingen | 5 | 0 |
| Total | 1075 | 240 |
| Total Enforcement Actions: 17 | ||
| Source: Prepared by Neil Carman of Sierra Club from Texas Air Control Board field office data. | ||
NEXT PAGE * PREVIOUS PAGE Go to page 1*2*3*4*5*6*7*8*Notes
Please send questions, comments, or problems with this page to ltarver@mail.utexas.edu.