1. Austin is not affected because it complies with federal ozone limits. 2. About a quarter of the country is already unable to meet current federal ozone standards despite spending billions of dollars a year on air pollution controls. 3. Even if all the cars stopped being driven tomorrow, the city would still violate federal ozone standards because the industrial pollution is so extreme. 4. EPA officials confirmed that the law does not contain nearly enough reductions for the state to meet federal ozone standards. 5. Last year, Houston surpassed Los Angeles for the most days violating the federal ozone standard. 6. Other cities, including Dallas, El Paso and the Port Arthur-Beaumont area, also have been designated for exceeding federal ozone levels. 7. So far this month, the metro area has exceeded federal ozone limits four times and hovered just below the limit on five other days. 8. So far this year, the park has violated federal ozone standards on three days. 9. The Bay Area has reached a historic environmental milestone as the region was declared the largest U.S. metropolitan area to comply with federal ozone standards. |