Community groups and environmental advocates filed a notice of intent to sue (NOI) the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to bring the Valero Houston Refinery’s Title V federal operating permit into compliance with the Clean Air Act. The groups claim the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has failed to resolve objections from an EPA order, and the Clean Air Act requires EPA to take over the permit.

The Valero Refinery is the only refinery within city limits in Houston, sitting next to the Manchester neighborhood, a known and well-documented environmental justice community along the heavily industrialized Houston Ship Channel.

“Our East End community’s health and environment are under constant threat from the Valero Houston Refinery, a reality compounded by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s persistent failures to enforce critical safeguards,” said Ana Parras, co-director of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services and Sierra Club member. “We are taking this step to hold the EPA accountable and ensure that this facility’s federal operating permit meets the rigorous standards of the Clean Air Act. The EPA must step in to rectify these serious deficiencies, guarantee proper monitoring and compliance, and prioritize the health of the Manchester neighborhood and all those affected by this refinery’s emissions.”

The permit in question is a Title V federal operating permit required by the Clean Air Act. It is meant to compile all of Valero’s limits from multiple permits and regulatory requirements and include monitoring, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements to ensure that the refinery is actually complying with those limits. The NOI asserts that EPA must take over the permit to fix numerous problems that TCEQ has failed to address.

The groups argue the state agency failed to include monitoring requirements to ensure that some of the refinery’s dirtiest and highest-emitting units are complying with their limits, including the refinery’s fluid catalytic cracking unit, two flares, boilers, and other units.

“Texas has failed in its responsibility to ensure the Valero Refinery in Houston monitors, reports, and controls harmful air pollution. That has real impacts on peoples’ health,” says Rodrigo Cantu, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “EPA is obligated to step up and take over the permitting process to make sure Houstonians breathe cleaner air.”

“Historically, Manchester and the nearby neighborhoods have suffered from too much air pollution, causing its residents to get sick,” says Pat Gonzales, president of Caring for Pasadena Communities. “We have been working on trying to reduce air emissions and improve monitoring and compliance by Valero. This notice will push EPA to take action in that direction.”

“We are hopeful that this will push EPA to follow through on its initial objections, strengthen this permit, and ensure that it is compliant with the Clean Air Act in order to improve the air breathed by Manchester residents and those in surrounding neighborhoods,” says Joe Welsh, Lone Star Legal Aid staff attorney.

Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (T.e.j.a.s.) and Sierra Club’s Lonestar Chapter are represented by Earthjustice in the NOI. Caring for Pasadena Communities is represented by Lone Star Legal Aid. Environmental Integrity Project represents itself. In addition to this NOI, these groups recently petitioned EPA to object to the TCEQ’s latest proposed version of the Title V permit for other reasons.

Background Information

In 2019, the Valero Refinery submitted its draft Title V Federal Operating Permit application to the TCEQ.

In 2021, after notice and comment, groups filed a petition with EPA concerning numerous deficiencies in Valero’s Title V permit.

In June 2022, EPA issued an order granting numerous objections and directing TCEQ to revise the permit. Following another comment period, TCEQ issued a revised proposed Title V permit in 2024, but the revised permit failed to address most of EPA’s objections.

Now, EPA is required to take over the permit to ensure compliance with its previous order and the Clean Air Act.