On October 17, 2019, the Austin City Council passed an amendment to the coal tar ban ordinance changing the definition from coal tar containing products to high PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) pavement products. The amended ordinance went into effect January 1st, 2020. The ordinance prohibits the sale and use of pavement products with more than .1% (1000 ppm) PAH by weight within the City and its ETJ (extra territorial jurisdiction).
In 2003, City of Austin scientists identified coal tar-based pavement sealants as a significant source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination in Austin area stream sediments. Since that time the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the City have conducted additional research that corroborates this finding, concluding that coal tar sealants contribute the majority of stream PAH loading in the Austin area.
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Useful Links
USGS Coal Tar Sealcoat Webpage
Video - December 2015 Presentation to the Environmental Commission
Scientific Studies & Publications
- City of Austin Water Quality Publications
- City of Austin overview of PAHs and coal tar sealant (2005)
- Wear rate of coal tar sealant in Austin (2006)
- Effects of PAHs on benthic communities below coal tar sealed parking lots (JNABS) (2007)
- New York Academy of Science - Harbor Report on PAHs (2007)
- PAHs Underfoot:Contaminated Dust from Coal-Tar Sealcoated Pavement is Widespread in the United States (2008)
- Environmental Science & Technology PAH Concentrations in Lake Sediment Decline Following Ban on Coal-Tar-Based Pavement Sealants in Austin, Texas (2014)
- Austin guide to...pavement sealant
- Austin guide to…PAHs
Fact Sheets
- USGS Fact Sheet on Coal Tar Sealant (2006)
- USGS Coal Tar Fact Sheet (2011)
- EPA Fact Sheet on Coal Tar Sealant