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The 120 or so people gathered at J. Gilligan's Bar and Grill in Arlington recently were celebrating an early Christmas present. The party was hosted by the Downwinders at Risk, an environmental group based in North Texas, in honor of the recent appointment of Al Armendariz as regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, making him the top environmental official in Texas.

An Obama administration political appointment might seem like a peculiar occasion for a party, but as Fort Worth resident and Barnett Shale activist Jerry Lobdill put it, "Small victories have to be celebrated because we have so damn few of them."

Armendariz' selection is one of the most salient signals that the Obama administration and the EPA are getting serious about fixing the myriad environmental calamities in this state. But as environmental activists and legislators point out, fixing Texas will be no small task.

Many critics of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality believe the agency has favored industry over public health for many years, to the detriment of Texas air and water quality and safety concerns. But the newly restructured EPA, with Lisa Jackson as administrator, has emerged as one of the most aggressive regulatory agencies in the Obama administration, and the effect on Texas could be profound.

In a state where the overall environmental picture is one of the grimmest in the nation, the EPA is being particularly assertive, insisting that the state tighten its pollution rules. The federal agency has threatened to void some of the state's air quality regulations, which it says break federal law. The EPA recently undid some George W. Bush-era regulatory changes that relaxed rules on refinery emissions. The agency is also examining the effects of gas drilling on air quality. New rules for oil and gas emissions that would affect the Barnet Shale area are expected to be developed within the next 18 months.

In other words, insiders say, the EPA is going to clean house whether state officials like it or not. Former TCEQ commissioner Larry Soward, who favors stricter regulation, said an EPA official recently told him, "The state of Texas can step up, or the EPA will step in."

The significant changes that the EPA has proposed in how Texas regulates potential industrial polluters has stirred up political opposition. Because much of TCEQ's role involves enforcement of federal environmental law, the state agency could be forced to change how it does business or face the specter of federal intervention, which, for Texas conservatives, is just as horrifying as any campfire ghost story.

The EPA recently declared that greenhouse gases are an air quality threat, adding them to the list of harmful - and therefore regulated - pollutants. The decision could lead to the first-ever federal limits on greenhouse gases from power plants, cars, petrochemical plants, and other sources.

Currently 21 Texas counties are considered air pollution non-attainment counties - that is, their air is dirty enough that it violates the Clean Air Act - including Tarrant and Dallas. Though areas like North Texas and Houston have made some headway in cleaning up ozone, the improvement has not been fast enough to meet federal standards.

And the pollution guidelines are about to get stricter. Next Monday, Dec. 21, the EPA will propose lowering the maximum allowable concentration of ozone from 75 to 70 parts per billion. At least one environmentalist believes that more than 20 additional counties in Texas will be unable to meet the new standards.

Texas' overall water quality is also ranked among the worst in the country, and environmentalists say that toxic dumping and mercury emissions from industrial plants is to blame. Ten percent of the nation's mercury emissions come from plants in Texas, according to Clean Water Action, an environmental group. Mercury is linked to autism in children and heart attacks in older people.

Even the notoriously industry-friendly TCEQ is starting to take notice, after a study by an independent environmental research organization on the effects of gas drilling on the city of DISH found that gas compressor stations are emitting high levels of poisonous chemicals.

In Texas, opposition to the EPA's toughened stance starts with Gov. Rick Perry, who is on the record as a climate change denier. He recently wrote to Jackson, urging her to withdraw the EPA's ruling on the dangers of carbon dioxide. Perry and other critics of the EPA are worried about federal intrusion in state matters and about job losses due to what they see as federal over-regulation.

"The unelected bureaucrats at the EPA have effectively and unilaterally ended any honest debate on this vital issue," Perry said on his web site.

TCEQ board chairman Brian Shaw issued somewhat ambiguous congratulations to Armendariz on his appointment, possibly foreshadowing the battle to come.

"I hope Dr. Armendariz recognizes that this position is too important to be used as a podium for environmental activism," he said. "I urge Dr. Armendariz to use sound science in his decisions."

Armendariz, a 39-year-old El Paso native, recognizes that his job isn't going to be easy, but he hasn't lost sight of what he's working for.

"I'm here to make a difference, a real difference, in people's lives when it comes to the air they breathe and the water they drink and the environment as a whole," he said.