Clean Air Texas
According the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) two new acts will help families in Texas have cleaner air. The Mercury and Air Toxics Standard in Texas (MATS) has set limits on the amounts of mercury and other air pollutants, like arsenic, chromium, nickel and acid gases produced by power-plants. MATS will help power- plants reduce and contain their pollutants by making them utilize pollution-control technologies. This act is estimated to prevent 1200 premature deaths in Texas and to raise health benefits totaling $9.7 billion by 2016. MATS will affect at least one El Paso County business. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide perpetually travels across state lines because of wind and weather patterns. The Cross-State Air Pollution rule (CSAPR) will ensure that Texans aren’t suffering from pollution that originates far away. This rule slashes millions of tons of smokestack pollution that can contribute to bronchitis, asthma, and heart attacks. For more information, check out http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/states/tx.html.
