Replies

U.S. studies air pollution from Mexican trucks

By Joe Cantlupe
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
2:47 p.m. October 20, 2003

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration still hopes to open the United States to Mexican truck traffic sometime next year. But first, officials will have to determine how much the incoming traffic will affect air pollution.

The government is responding to a federal appeals court's ruling last April ordering the environmental impact study, which the Bush administration said was not necessary. But environmental groups said the study was needed because the trucks will worsen American air pollution.

"We thought we had done an adequate environmental study, but apparently in the court decision they told us we need a more thorough analysis," said Suzy Bohnert, spokeswoman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. "We're going to proceed as if everything is OK."

The study, estimated at $1.8 million, officials said Monday, will be completed within the next 12 to 18 months. A series of environmental assessments is slated, including one in San Diego on Wednesday. It is scheduled for the San Diego Concourse, 202 C St.

Another public hearing is scheduled for California, set for Los Angeles on Oct. 23 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa St.

In April, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the DOT's petition for a review hearing. The appeals court ruled that the Bush administration violated environmental law when it announced last November that it was opening U.S. highways to long-haul trucks from Mexico to comply with the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The court has told the government that it must complete environmental impact studies. As a result, the DOT must study the impact of the increased air pollution on border states and communities. If necessary, the government also must develop plans to reduce potential harm, such as the pollutants, from the truck traffic.

"Places like Houston and Los Angeles already suffer from strangling smog," said Joan Claybrook of the Public Citizen advocacy group. "The federal government should be obeying the laws designed to curtail pollution."

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit that forced the government to conduct the environmental impact studies were Public Citizen; the California Labor Federation; the California Trucking Association; the Environmental Law Foundation; and the Teamsters. The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Planning and Conservation League also were petitioners.

Public Citizen also expects to express its concerns during the upcoming meetings about what it terms "large loopholes" in the existing federal plans for the more polluting Mexican trucks, said Laura MacCleery, counsel for auto safety and regulatory affairs with the group.

Among other things, the government lacks proper rules for transporting hazardous waste, she said.

More than 3,500 Mexican trucking firms have applied to operate in the commercial zones, which extend about 75 miles from the border to San Diego County.

At least 491 Mexican trucking companies have applied to travel beyond the commercial zone.