The Environmental Protection Agency announced today it would take over the permitting of two more large Texas plants — the latest round of an intensifying battle between Texas and the EPA.

But tensions between Texas and the EPA could also rise over another issue: ozone regulation. Stricter air quality standards expected in August from the EPA would put more areas of Texas out of compliance with federal rules. Depending on how the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality draws the boundaries, Austin, El Paso, Waco, San Antonio and Northeast Texas could become ozone "non-attainment" zones, as could the slightly less-polluted areas of ...

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