DISTRICT OIFICE:

909 DECKER DRIVE

BAYTOWN, TEXAS 77520

(832) 556-2002

FAX (832) 556-0319 

CAPITOL OFFICE: 

P0. Box 2910 

AusrIN, TEXAS 78768-2910 

(512) 463-0733 

(512) 463-1323 FAX 

TOLL FREE: 1(866) 423-5987 

Ms. Lisa Jackson 

Administrator of USEPA 

USEPA Headquarters 

12000 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. 

MailCode: 11O1A 

Washington, DC 20460 

Re: Letter in Support of Wise County's Petition for Reconsideration of EPA's 

Designation of Wise County as Nonattainment for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS. 

Dear Administrator Jackson: 

I am writing to express my concern about EPA's recent decision to designate Wise County 

nonattainment for the 2008 ozone NAAQS and include that county in the Dallas-Fort Worth 

ozone nonattainment area. EPA's decision was announced shortly after the discovery of 

comments by then-EPA Region 6 Administrator, Al Armendariz, stating that EPA's enforcement 

goal was to "crucify" the oil and gas industry. I am concerned about the impact of this decision 

on the citizens of Wise County and the precedent this decision may set for future Texas area 

designations. 

Recently, Wise County has filed a petition with EPA requesting that EPA reconsider that 

designation. I would urge you to give careful consideration to that petition. As you know, Wise 

County does not have a federal ozone monitor. As such, in order to designate Wise County 

nonattainment EPA must demonstrate that emission sources in Wise County make a meaningful 

contribution to the DFW nonattainment area's ozone exceedances. EPA relies heavily upon 

HYSPLIT modeling analysis in finding a contribution. Yet HYSPLIT modeling only estimates 

hourly positions of wind parcels and is not capable of directly measuring the transport of ozone 

from one area to another. The fact that back trajectory analysis is of limited use in tracking 

ozone contribution and transport was made clear in EPA's Technical Support Document 

supporting its 2004 area designations for the 1997 ground-level ozone NAAQS: 

*ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS, CHAIR*

*COUNTY AFFAIRSk
While trajectory analysis can be helpful it has significant limitations as it does not 

take into consideration atmospheric chemical processes, the injection of 

emissions, or the deposition of material along the trajectory path. 

Technical Support for State and Tribal Air Quality Designations and Classifications, April 2004, 

Chapter 3, at 3-202 (http :Ilwww.epa. govlozonedesi gnationsl 1 997standards/tech .htm). 

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has done a commendable job of 

demonstrating that Wise County emissions rarely, if ever, contribute to ozone violations in other 

counties. TCEQ has also presented evidence showing that urban portions of the Dallas-Fort 

Worth area contribute to ozone levels in Wise County, not the other way around. EPA has not 

provided sufficient justification to utilize a wind analysis in this case, when it has disregarded 

that same wind analysis in other instances. 

For all of these reasons, I request that you consider Wise County's Petition for Reconsideration 

carefully and urge you take a fresh look at all facts presented to you in the reconsideration 

process. 

cc: Sam Coleman, Region 6 Acting Administrator