By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX –
The Environmental Protection Agency says it won't approve portions of Texas' air-pollution permitting program that don't meet the federal Clean Air Act.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the agency announced its intentions to reject aspects of the plan. Final decisions about changes to the plan will be made soon under a recent agreement with Texas businesses.
Texas has major air-pollution problems, thanks to pollution from power plants, industry and cars. Houston and Dallas have never been within Clean Air Act requirements for ground-level ozone pollution.
The EPA and Texas environmental regulators have long been at odds over the state's permitting process.
Dewhurst letter says he'll run for re-election
Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has sent a letter to supporters saying he's running for re-election next year.
Dewhurst's fundraising letter went out Tuesday. It doesn't mention the possible U.S. Senate race to fill Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's seat if she steps down to run for Texas governor. Dewhurst is widely considered a potential candidate for the Senate if that happens, but his aides are refusing to speculate on it. Hutchison has said she'll leave the Senate in October or November.
Earlier this summer, spokesman Mike Wintemute said if a Senate seat opens, it's something Dewhurst would consider.
Wintemute said Dewhurst's letter is consistent with what he has said all year - that he's concentrating on the lieutenant governor post. He was first elected to the post in 2002.
The letter went out to about 76,000 people who are past contributors or supporters or who have signed up to receive e-mails from the Dewhurst campaign, Wintemute said.
Texas Supreme Court hears bonfire case arguments
The Texas Supreme Court has heard oral arguments on a construction company's motions for rehearing involving the 1999 Texas A&M University bonfire collapse.
Zachry Construction Corp. is attempting to make the university at least partly responsible in the remaining lawsuits arising from the collapse that killed 12 people and injured 27 others. The court heard arguments Tuesday.
In a detailed legal brief, Zachry argued Texas A&M was a "responsible third party." Texas A&M - represented by the state attorney general's office - said Zachry's argument is moot.
Texas A&M reached a $2.1 million settlement with several plaintiffs last October.
Families of some of the students killed and injured sued university administrators and construction contractors hired to help build the 59-foot-tall tower of logs that toppled.
Airlines improve on-time arrival ratings in July
Airline passengers got to their destination on time a little more often in July.
The Transportation Department says 77.6 percent of airline flights arrived on time that month. That's up from 75.7 percent during the same month last year. And it was an improvement over the 76.1 percent on-time rate in June.
Airlines have generally been flying less because of the recession, and that seems to be helping them get their remaining flights to their destinations on time.
Southwest Airlines had the top on-time arrival rating of the biggest carriers, followed by US Airways and United. American was last-place among the major carriers.
Space panel says moon return plan is a no-go
A White House panel of independent space experts says NASA's return-to-the-moon plan just won't fly. The problem is money. The expert panel estimates it would cost about $3 billion a year beyond NASA's current budget.
The plan to revisit the moon by 2020 was proposed five years ago by then-President George W. Bush. It was supposed to be financed by savings from retiring the space shuttles. However, President Barack Obama's expert panel said any plan to go beyond low-Earth orbit was "not viable" with current spending. The panel posted a summaryreport online Tuesday.
NASA already has spent $7.7 billion on the moon plan, including the design and construction of new rockets.