North Texas ozone levels are getting worse. Air planners don’t expect improvement

Ozone levels in Dallas-Fort Worth are the highest they’ve been in the past three years.

And those numbers are not likely to go down to safe levels, according to the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

Ozone levels in the metroplex averaged at 83 parts per billion from 2022 to 2024, according to data collected as of Oct. 21. That’s up from the 81 parts per billion of ozone calculated for 2021 to 2023 and the 80 parts per billion average from January to July.

Levels ranging from 71 to 85 parts per billion of ozone are considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. So far in 2024, the Dallas-Fort Worth region saw 52 days where the ozone was 71 parts per billion or above.

The metroplex’s worst day so far was Aug. 8, when ozone levels reached 106 to 200 parts per billion. This level of ozone is considered to be very unhealthy and everyone, especially children, should limit outdoor activities in these conditions. People with respiratory conditions, such as asthma, are to avoid all outdoor exertion and limit exposure by staying inside air conditioned spaces.

Dallas-Fort Worth had not seen a day where ozone levels reached 106 to 200 parts per billion since 2021, said Jenny Narvaez, air quality program manager for the council of governments.

“It’s not the trend that we would like,” said Narvaez, citing decreased ozone levels before 2024.

Ozone is not emitted by any one source, which makes it difficult to address the issue, Narvaez said.

“There’s multiple sources of the precursors to it. A lot of what drives ozone formation in our region is a lot of meteorological data. We just have the perfect temperature, wind speed, everything for ozone to form,” said Narvaez.

Dallas-Fort Worth is currently classified as a severe nonattainment zone per the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2008 ozone standards, the worst the area has been classified, Narvaez said.

The region has until 2027 to bring ozone levels to 75 parts per billion or under. If the region is in violation of air quality standards, polluters or major sources of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides could face annual fines of $45 million under Section 185 of the EPA’s Clean Air Act, according to the state environmental commission.

The annual fee would have to be paid until the region meets EPA’s attainment standards.

While ozone comes from several sources, vehicles, construction equipment, locomotives and aircraft account for about 60% of emissions, according to the council of governments.

“It’s not just transportation,” Narvaez said, adding that the council of governments is also working with power and cement plants and other industrial businesses to find solutions.

The answer to the ozone problem is not simple, said Daniela Tower, an air quality planner for the council of governments.

Dallas-Fort Worth’s booming growth is contributing to the ozone formation. The movement coming from this growth contributes more and more to ozone emissions, Tower said.

Jim Schermbeck, a longtime North Texas air quality activist and former director of activist group Downwinders at Risk, attests to the council’s take on population growth. Smaller sources of gas emissions, while not as debilitating as power and cement plants, also add up to ozone levels, he said.

“There’s barbecues going on in everybody’s backyard or there’s cosmetic cabinets in everyone’s household that’s off gassing this stuff. The sources are so diffused and widespread,” Schermbeck said. “You can’t put a circle around it on a map the way you might be able to for the other sources. There’s just people who were not aware of this problem before.”

The council of governments assists Dallas-Fort Worth in regional planning, with transportation as one of its areas of focus. Narvaez says the council continues to work closely with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state agency in charge of developing strategies to reduce ozone pollution, to determine how North Texas reached its current ozone levels.

Additionally, the council of governments put programs in place to help reduce emissions from vehicles. The council’s transportation officials monitor traffic signals to minimize the time of idling. Narvaez and Tower are pushing for the idea of larger-scale initiatives, such as creating more public transit and walkable communities.

Schermbeck backs these proposals and suggests the council of governments consider high- speed bus lanes and monorails to mitigate transportation usage. However, state entities have failed to redirect part of their focus on industrial sources of air pollution, Schermbeck said.

“There’s a huge history of underestimating oil and gas emissions,” said Schermbeck. “The state has always underestimated the ozone impact.”

He is critical of the council of governments’ heavy focus on transportation and its effects on air quality, as there are other factors of ozone to consider, said Schermbeck.

The council’s efforts at encouraging cleaner commutes brought levels down for a while, “but never to the point where we got out of nonattainment status,” said Schermbeck, referring to the region’s failure to meet federal air quality standards.

He believes the environmental commission and its issuance of air quality permits play a role in the pollution driving ozone in Dallas-Fort Worth.

“(TCEQ) will work with a company to get a permit to that company no matter what it takes,” Schermbeck said, citing the GAF shingle plant in West Dallas that received opposition from several residents in 2023.

Nicole Lopez is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org. 

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