The administration of Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R) is going to have to get tougher on air pollution if it wants a new plan to pass muster with the feds, according to an early review from the EPA. The agency hasn’t yet rejected Texas’s plan, which seeks to cut pollution from vehicles and industries in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and surrounding counties, but the plan is likely to need strengthening before state officials submit a final version to the feds next month. The EPA pointed out a number of erroneous assumptions in the state plan. For one, state planners say that Texas air will benefit from 30 percent cuts in industrial emissions in adjacent states, but the EPA says no such cuts are even under consideration in those states. Enviros are pressing for the state to demand big emission cuts from power plants and cement factories, among other measures.
