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When five counties in Northeast Texas nearly faced environmental sanctions for exceeding EPA ozone standards in 1996, the East Texas Council of Governments (ETCOG) responded by partnering with local government and industry leaders to form the Northeast Texas Air Care Association (NETAC). Now NETAC has become proactive in improving regional air quality by implementing its Clean Air Action Plan. The ETCOG receives and administers grants from the Texas legislature for air monitoring, implementing reduction measures, training and administering educational programs.

NETAC is making use of innovative monitoring procedures to better understand air quality issues in the region. During the summer months of 2003 and 2005, the association sponsored an aircraft study, in which data on weather conditions, ozone and other pollutants like nitric oxide and sulfur dioxide are collected during flights. From this information, NETAC and partner organizations analyze ozone plumes to identify local sources of pollution and determine how it travels through the atmosphere.

In addition, local volunteers are working with NETAC to collect data from home weather stations that describe wind patterns near Lake Cherokee, an area with consistently higher maximum ozone levels than other places in the region. The suspected cause is re-circulation of pollutants past the same monitors. By using volunteers, the cost of the study is kept to a minimum and the results will improve reduction measure accuracy. Another benefit is having knowledge of local weather and pollution patterns.

One pilot program that NETAC may use to reduce emissions is retrofitting gas compressor engines used in natural gas production. In 2002, an outside study estimated that compressor engines in Northeast Texas account for 12,000 tons of emissions per year, or about 22 percent of the region's total. In response, NETAC conducted an emission-reducing pilot study in 2005 of compressors retrofitted with a solar panel and battery and the integration of an air/fuel ratio control valve. The converted gas compressors decreased emissions an average of 97 percent and were very cost effective. The region will now look at retrofitting additional gas compressor engines to reduce emissions and allow the economic function of producing gas in the region to continue.

In 2002, the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission (RVARC) in Virginia formed an Early Action Compact with five local governments to develop an air quality plan and prevent the imminent threat of becoming an EPA-designated non-attainment area.

Residents in the areas saw the benefits of avoiding that designation in keeping local control over air quality and promoting development. A group of about 70 people representing local governments, state agencies and environmental, health and recreation groups met regularly throughout 2003 to establish strategies for decreasing emissions from mobile sources like heavy duty diesel equipment and lawn and garden equipment. These plans included public education through air-quality action days and developing resources for alternative transportation, such as ridesharing, biking, walking and using public transportation.

Staying within attainment status is a significant achievement for economic development in the region. Wayne Strickland, Executive Director, explains, "While other places in Virginia have a strong service industry, our region is strong in manufacturing. Becoming a non-attainment region would have restricted our ability to attract new industry." New or expanding businesses that might become new sources of pollution would have to go through a permitting process. The permit would not allow new pollution to affect a region's ability to meet the EPA's National Ambient Air Quality Standards. If companies failed to meet the conditions of their permit, they could face penalties and enforcement actions.

Senior Planner Mark McCaskill adds, "In addition to industry, this area tries to market itself for outdoor recreation and tourism. Being in the traditional non-attainment process instead of the early action process would have much more of a stigma for attracting that type of investment."

A large percentage of the air pollution in the Roanoke region originates in other areas of the country, forcing the region to rely partially on state and federal initiatives that will improve air quality both upwind of the region and locally. But RVARC's programs, along with these larger programs and beneficial weather patterns, have resulted in the region meeting new 8-hour ozone standards every day for the past two years, setting a positive trend as they move closer to EPA's Early Action Plan attainment deadline of 2007.

East Texas Council of Governments 3800 Stone Rd Kilgore, TX 75662 Tel: 903.984.8641 Fax: 903.983.1440 http://www.etcog.org/

Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission 313 Luck Ave, SW Roanoke, VA 24010 Tel: 540.343.4417 Fax: 540.343.4416 http://www.rvarc.org/