Clean Air. Healthy Communities.

What is the Clean Air Action Plan?

The Houston-Galveston Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) is a regional roadmap to improve air quality, protect public health and reduce climate pollution across one of the nation’s largest metropolitan regions.

Developed through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program, the plan builds on years of air quality planning and community engagement to move the region from analysis to action.

More than a regulatory deliverable, the CAAP is a shared vision and implementation framework designed to help local governments, businesses, institutions, and communities work together toward cleaner air and healthier outcomes. The plan identifies practical, flexible strategies that can be tailored to local needs while contributing to shared regional goals.

At its core, the Clean Air Action Plan recognizes a simple truth: clean air is essential to healthy communities, economic vitality, and long-term resilience.

Why Clean Air Matters

Health Impact

Air pollution affects our health every day. It increases the risk of asthma, heart disease, respiratory illness, and missed school and workdays. Some neighborhoods, especially those near highways and industrial areas, experience higher pollution levels.

Improving air quality helps protect children, older adults, outdoor workers, and people with existing health conditions. Cleaner air leads to healthier families, lower healthcare costs, and a better quality of life across the region.

Here’s how air pollution impacts our communities:

Where Pollution Comes From

The Houston–Galveston region’s air quality challenges are shaped by its size, geography, and economic role. The region spans 13 counties, covers approximately 12,500 square miles, and is home to more than 7 million people. It includes one of the nation’s largest petrochemical and refining hubs, major ports and freight corridors, expansive highway networks, growing urban and suburban development, and diverse industrial and energy infrastructure.

Key sources of air pollution include:

Weather patterns, regional transport of pollution, and rapid growth further complicate air quality attainment, particularly for ozone and particulate matter. At the same time, these challenges create opportunities for coordinated, high-impact solutions.

How We're Taking Action

The Clean Air Action Plan organizes solutions into five Opportunity Menus, offering flexible pathways for action across major sectors. Rather than prescribing a single approach, the plan empowers implementers to select strategies that align with their capacity, priorities, and community needs.

Click on each category to explore the full opportunity menu, including detailed actions, expected impacts, and information about who can help implement solutions.

Key strategy areas include:

Buildings and Energy

Accelerating clean energy adoption, energy efficiency, and electrification

Transportation

Expanding clean and electric transportation, reducing vehicle miles traveled, and modernizing freight systems

Industry

Improving energy efficiency, reducing process emissions, and advancing circular economy practices

Materials Management

Reducing methane emissions, expanding composting and waste diversion

Agriculture and Land Use

Protecting carbon sinks and expanding nature-based solutions

Expected Benefits

Implementing the Clean Air Action Plan delivers wide-ranging benefits that extend beyond emissions reductions.

Community-Driven. Regionally Aligned.

Community Voice

Community voices shaped every stage of the Clean Air Action Plan. Engagement included outreach across all 13 counties, collaboration with local governments and regional partners, and targeted engagement with low-income and disadvantaged communities. Feedback from residents, stakeholders, and implementers helped prioritize strategies, refine metrics, and ensure the plan reflects lived experience—not just technical modeling.

This plan reflects what communities told us they value: cleaner air, healthier neighborhoods, transparency, and meaningful participation in shaping regional solutions.

Regional Partnerships & Alignment

The Clean Air Action Plan aligns with local climate and air quality initiatives, including county and municipal plans such as the Harris County Climate Justice Plan, Houston Climate Action Plan, and H-GAC Great Region 2040 Plan. It supports state and federal goals for emissions reduction, public health protection, and economic transition while positioning the region to pursue future funding and partnerships.

By connecting local action to regional, state, and national priorities, the CAAP strengthens the Houston–Galveston region’s ability to lead on clean air and climate solutions.

Select a plan below to view a brief description and access the plan.