"Texas Plan To Reduce Houston Smog May Not Be Enough"

"Texas' new plan to improve the Houston area's famously dirty air may not meet federal limits for smog.

The pollution-fighting plan that state regulators are rolling out today predicts marked reductions in ozone, or smog, levels throughout the eight-county region.

But monitors in Deer Park and Sharpstown would still exceed federal limits by the 2019 deadline, according to the state's projections. And the entire region would be out of compliance if one monitor showed ozone levels above the standards.

Environmentalists and public health advocates said the projected emissions at the monitors raise serious doubts about whether the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's plan cuts enough pollution."

Matthew Tresaugue reports for the Houston Chronicle September 22, 2009.