The Longview area could be classified as a nonattainment area — one in violation of federal air quality standards — state officials said in an information session Friday.

In a worse-case scenario, residents in the five-county Longview area could have to comply with vehicle emission standards as part of sanctions levied because of nonattainment.

"It's a possibility, not a foregone conclusion," said Susana Hildebrand, director of the Air Quality Division, a part of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Hildebrand and a few other air quality administrators visited Longview's City Hall Friday and presented a crowd of about 20 local officials and residents with information about nonattainment.

The Longview area, consisting of Gregg, Harrison, Upshur, Rusk and Smith counties, might not meet new, more stringent federal standards that went into effect in May, Hildebrand said.

The state will report to the Environmental Protection Agency in March 2009 on which areas should be marked nonattainment. Along with the Longview area, the state is looking at six other areas in Texas that could be assigned such classification.

"We're going to be looking at a number of things" before making recommendations, Hildebrand said.

Friday's meeting began with an overview of the new standards: Areas may have no more than 75 parts of ozone (bad gasses and particulates) per billion air particles. The standard since 1997 had been 80 parts per billion, with up to 84 allowed to be in attainment. Standards depend on the three-year average of the fourth highest daily ozone reading. In 2007, Gregg County's average was 84 ppb.

During the public comment period, a few audience members voiced concern about outside pollution — also known as transport — coming into the Longview area and worsening the air quality.

The overall message was that the area should not be penalized for pollution that it is not responsible for.

"Not all of this problem is indigenous to this area," said Harrison County Judge Richard Anderson. "A lot of this is transport."

In addition to the effects of traffic emissions from Interstate 20, Luminant's Martin Lake power plant has been shown in air quality studies to contribute to the area's ozone problems.

To help curb this problem, Luminant in February announced a plan to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions (a big contributor to ozone), to be in effect by 2010. Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt has urged the power company to step up its timetable on the improvements.

If the Longview area is declared to be in nonattainment, it will be in the least severe category, which is marginal.

While that means less work needs to be done to reach attainment, it also means the area will have less time to comply with federal standards.

By the time the Environmental Protection Agency makes its final classifications in 2010, the Longview region could have as few as three years to reach compliance.

If it doesn't, the region could be subject to a number of actions. In addition to motorists being required to have their vehicles tested for emissions, the area might face more hurdles in gaining federal funding for transportation projects, and pollution-emitting plants could be subject to stricter requirements in getting permits.

Hildebrand encouraged a continuation of the inter-local efforts between governments, businesses and other entities that have kept the area in attainment.

"I think there's a good chance this area could be on the path to attainment by 2013," Hildebrand said. "There's a lot of good things happening."

* * *

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality seeks input from area residents on the possibility of designating the Tyler-Longview-Marshall area a nonattainment area.

Comments should focus on the following factors, which are used to determine nonattainment areas:

Emissions and air quality in adjacent areas

Population density and degree of urbanization

Monitoring data

Location of emission sources

Traffic and commuting patterns

Expected growth

Meteorology

Geography/topography

Jurisdictional boundaries

Level of emissions control

Regional emissions reductions

Comments should be mailed to Margie McAllister, Air Quality Division, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, PO Box 13087, Austin, TX 78711-3087.

They must be received before Sept. 5.