City Council B Session

City of San Antonio

Meeting Minutes

City Council B Session

State of Texas

County of Bexar

City Hall Complex

105 Main Plaza

San Antonio, Texas 78205

FINAL

2:00 PM Municipal Plaza BuildingWednesday, March 20, 2019

The City Council of San Antonio convened in the “B” Room of the Municipal Plaza Building. City

Clerk Leticia Vacek took the Roll Call noting a quorum with the following Councilmembers

present:

11 - Mayor Nirenberg, Treviño, Hall, Viagran, Saldaña, Gonzales, Brockhouse,

Sandoval, Pelaez, Courage, and Perry

PRESENT:

Briefing by the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District on next steps to reach ozone

attainment including an outline of the Ozone Attainment Master Plan. [Colleen M.

Bridger, MPH, PhD, Interim Assistant City Manager; Jennifer Herriott, MPH, Interim

Director, Health]

1.

Dr. Colleen Bridger stated that the Ozone Attainment Master Plan (Master Plan) was a

targeted intervention whereas the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) contained

mid to long-terms goals for climate change. She noted that in September 2018, San Antonio

was designated as being in marginal non-attainment. She stated that the Master Plan called

for decreasing ozone levels to 70 parts per billion (ppb) by December 2020. She stated that

ground-level or “bad” ozone was created by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen

(NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of heat and sunlight. She

noted that emissions from industrial facilities and electric utilities, motor vehicle exhaust,

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March 20, 2019City Council B Session Meeting Minutes

gasoline vapors, and chemical solvents were some of the major sources of NOx and VOC.

She stated that reducing ozone was important to public health because it was harmful to the

lungs and to people who were at risk for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

(COPD), and other respiratory problems. She noted that if the City’s ozone level failed to

decrease to 70 ppb; Federal Regulations would be imposed upon the City that could cause:

1) Loss of Gross Regional Product (GRP); 2) Road construction/project delays; and 3) Lost

manufacturing expansion.

Dr. Bridger noted that Metro Health formed the “Getting to 70” Committee with

Subcommittees focused on targeted communications, Volkswagen (VW) Settlement, best