DALLAS — The Dallas-Fort Worth area continues to rank as one of the most ozone-polluted metro areas in the country, despite improvement over time, a report from the American Lung Association shows.
The 24th annual State of the Air report, released in April, examines ozone and particle pollution for metro areas, counties and states. Ozone air pollution, or smog, is one of the most widespread and dangerous pollutants in the United States, the report said. A third of Americans, about 120 million people, live in counties with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution.
Dallas-Fort Worth’s No. 18 ranking improved since last year when it tied with Chicago for No. 16.
The region’s ozone level has exceeded federal standards for decades, said Jenny Narvaez, air quality manager for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. Overall air quality has greatly improved since the council started monitoring it in the 1990s, but she said regulatory standards have also been raised over time.
Narvaez’s team monitors six common pollutants the Environmental Protection Agency is required to set standards for.
The most populated counties show higher levels of ozone due to pollution from traffic, Narvaez said. Summer winds from the south also push air pollution up north.
Despite this, Charlie Gagen, the American Lung Association’s advocacy director for Texas and Oklahoma, said ozone pollution has improved in the area, based on the number of high-ozone days since 1996.
“But there’s lots of work to be done in Dallas-Fort Worth when it comes to ozone pollution,” he said.
Narvaez said the North Central Texas Council of Governments has applied for a federal Climate Pollution Reduction Grant and is creating an action plan for the region.
“We are the contributors to our air quality problem, and we know the sources that it comes from,” Narvaez said. “It’s our responsibility to put in place projects that help mitigate any emissions that come from development and cars.”
The council has given out $55 million in grant funding to improve air quality since 2006, according to the agency’s most recent air quality handbook. Grant-funded projects include replacing diesel trucks, buses and construction equipment, and building alternative fuel infrastructure.
The handbook outlines initiatives to reduce emissions from passenger and freight vehicles, to promote electric vehicles and solar energy, and more.
Next steps for improving air quality
Gagen attributes improvement in North Texas to the 1970 Clean Air Act, which authorized the EPA to establish standards for air quality.
“Just as we were bold in 1970, we need to continue to be bold and continue to push for stronger standards to help protect everyone’s air,” Gagen said.
Gagen said he wants the Biden administration and EPA to finalize new emission standards for vehicles, set new standards for particle and ozone pollution and do more to clean up power plant pollution. At the state level, Gagen said he thinks Texas could do more to install air quality monitors in all counties, invest in renewable energy and hold polluters accountable.
“In order for us to see the biggest change, it really needs to be at the federal level, going down to the state level, going down to the local and then finally at the individual level,” Gagen said.
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