Houston's Regional Forest - The Inclusion of Large-Scale Tree Planting in a State Implementation Plan
Houston's Regional Forest
The Economic and Environmental Benefits of Urban Trees
The Inclusion of Large-Scale Tree Planting in a State Implementation Plan
Working Session for the Houston Region
Organized by: HARC & Texas Forest Service
March 10, 2006

Currently, under the requirements of the federal Clean Air Act, the Houston region is designated as a nonattainment area for the 8-hour ozone standard, so the state must submit a State Implementation Plan (SIP) to EPA that outlines how it plans to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone. The topic of including tree plantings as a control strategy in a State Implementation Plan to benefit from the increase of tree canopy coverage in urban areas has become a focus of several research and policy initiatives. In the Houston region, several reports have been released highlighting the value and important role trees play in our ecosystem. At the state level, new legislation encourages the use of trees for energy efficiency and heat island programs and encourages providing emission reduction credits for these types of programs. Additionally in Texas, many organizations working at the community, city, county, and state levels are involved with tree planting programs. National efforts are also focused on the topic of trees and air quality, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has provided new policy guidance that allows the inclusion of emerging, voluntary, and emerging measures. Thus, support for new measures, such as tree planting, does exist.

Given this support, the idea of having a working session for the Houston region further developed after reviewing the draft report entitled "The Inclusion of Large Scale Tree Planting in a State Implementation Plan" by Jerry Bond from Davey Resource Group to be released in March 2006. Dr. Bond was invited to the working session to present his research findings among a group individuals involved with the development of the region's State Implementation Plan. The purpose of the working session was to get an idea of the feasibility of incorporating a tree planting program as a nontraditional control strategy in our State Implementation Plan.

Click here for more background information on the following topics:
  • Houston region research on trees and air quality
  • Supportive Texas legislation
  • Tree planting initiatives by some Texas organizations
  • National efforts on trees and air quality
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Policy Guidance
Agenda & Presentations
Note: All documents below are in Adobe PDF (Adobe PDF) format.
Next Steps
The Houston region State Implementation Plan is currently under development. There are several opportunities to comment on the Master Strategy Control List and to participate in stakeholder meetings. Visit the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) website to read more about the SIP process and timeline. Providing comments on and suggestions for control strategies will show that there is support for alternative or new measures for attainment and maintenance of air quality standards.

Go to the following websites for more information:
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