Invitation to sign on to EPA PM2.5 Comment Letter

[Julie Montgomery]

Colleagues,

We are writing to share a comment letter that we intend to submit to EPA today on its upcoming area designations for air quality under the 2024 annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) standard, and invite you to sign on by 4:30pm.

EPA’s review of 2023-25 monitoring data places Travis County at 9.6µg/m³, above the federal standard of 9.0µg/m³, and the EPA’s October 8 letter to Governor Abbott lists Travis County among the Texas counties with a monitor exceeding it. Over the past several years, all three Travis County monitors across our city have exceeded that standard. Despite this, the State recommended in February 2025 that no Texas county be designated nonattainment.

Our letter asks EPA to let the data decide Travis County’s designation. We also ask EPA to not exclude monitoring data beyond what existing exceptional event rules allow.

If the data points to nonattainment, that designation would require the State to develop a plan to bring Travis County into compliance and require federally funded transportation projects to show that they do not worsen air quality. As our regions plans major transportation investments near neighborhoods, schools, and childcare centers, we believe air quality should be accurately evaluated and considered.

The full letter is attached. We plan to submit by 4:30pm to meet EPA's deadline, so please reply here or let CM Ellis's office know as soon as possible if you would like to sign on.
https://assets.austintexas.gov/austinco ... 145029.pdf

Best,
CM Ellis
CM Fuentes
CM Laine
CM Siegel
CM Qadri

[Julie Montgomery]

On behalf of CM Ellis:

Thank you to CMs Alter and Duchen for signing on to this comment letter. We added your signatures and submitted the letter below to the EPA this evening:
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 222854.pdf
Our comment tracking number is mw4-fj9f-yrdh.