Feb 02 2016

Houston – (February 2, 2016)

Top Officials from U.S. EPA, TCEQ, Texas Chemical Council (“TCC”), Texas Oil & Gas Association (“TXOGA”), and Elected Officials along with Nationally Renowned Legal and Environmental Experts to Speak at HAT 2016

Twenty expert speakers are slated for the 19th Annual Hot Air Topics (“HAT”) Conference of the Air & Waste Management Association – Gulf Coast Chapter (“AWMA-GCC”). The conference is comprised of regulatory, industry, legal, and environmental professionals, who will meet in Houston, Texas on February 11, 2016 at the Hilton Houston – Westchase hotel. Some of the important issues to be addressed at the conference are the new 70 part per billion (“ppb”) ozone standard, the Federal Clean Air Act (“CAA”), greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emission controls, federal regulatory planning, permitting lead times, and clean air regulation cost-benefits.

Houston, Texas – February 1, 2016 – AWMA-GCC < http://www.awma-gcc.org/> announced its 2016 HAT Conference will feature a noon-time keynote presentation by David Schoenbrod, a Professor at New York Law School; a Visiting Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; and former Senior Staff Attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. Professor Schoenbrod is a pioneer in the field of environmental law and a nationally renowned environmental law author. The keynote presentation will be followed by the CAA Policy Issues Panel consisting of Mr. Ron Curry, EPA Region 6 Regional Administrator; Mr. Tom Jordan, Senior Policy Advisor, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District; The Honorable Jerry Mouton, Mayor of the City of Deer Park; and The Honorable Stephen DonCarlos, Mayor of the City of Baytown. The mayors participated in a U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Power Subcommittee roundtable discussion where they shared with Congress the impacts of EPA‘s proposed ozone standard on their respective communities. Mr. Jordan drafted witness testimony for the Full House Committee Hearing on EPA’s 2015 Ozone Standard: Concerns over Science and Implementation, which was held in October 2015 (“House Hearing”).

HAT’s morning and afternoon sessions <http://www.awma-gcc.org/docs> will include expert speakers from industry trade groups, government, academia, law firms and consulting firms. The speakers will present current issues and updates on air quality policy and regulations, including the EPA climate change regulations, the new 70 ppb ozone standard, the Federal CAA, federal regulatory planning, permitting lead times, and clean air regulation cost-benefits. The presentations will also focus on air pollution monitoring, energy policy, and control technologies. Two of the speakers were witnesses at the House Hearing. They will discuss the new ozone standard, how the EPA arrived at 70 ppb, and the regulatory and practical impacts the standard will have. Some of the speakers will offer their thoughts about CAA reform, while other speakers will address the necessity of more rigorous air pollution control regulations as a means to protect public health.

“We’re proud to have these top officials from the U.S. EPA, TCEQ, TCC and TXOGA, in addition to nationally renowned air pollution control experts address important topics from their perspectives at HAT,” said Mr. William Smalling, HAT CoChairman. “We are excited to have a very strong caliber of expert speakers discussing clean air regulations that impact industry, the public, and local governments.”

To register and attend, visit www.awma-gcc.org.

HAT – Texas’ Largest Air Pollution Conference & Expo, February 11, 2016, Houston, Texas.

CONTACT:
Bill Smalling, LL. M., Esq. (CoChair 2016 AWMA-HAT Committee)
bsmalling@billsmallinglaw.com
Tel: (713) 513-7153