Texas. Legislature. Senate. Special Committee on Emissions and Clean Air.

The Texas Senates' Special Committee on Emissions and Clean Air, chaired by Senator John Whitmire, was formed during the 74th Legislature, 1995, to study auto emission testing issues, particularly Senate Bills 19 and 178 regarding auto emissions testing. The bills were drafted in response to a federal mandate from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calling for a decrease in mobile source pollution as required by a 1990 amendment to the Clean Air Act. The EPA compiled a list of 98 of the most polluted cites in the nation calling on each state to implement measures for cleanup. The Texas cites on this list included Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Galveston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and El Paso.