Let's roll!
Posted on 12/08/2002 2:17:19 AM PST by ppaul
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 7 — The Teamsters union and consumer groups will have at least 30 days to try to stop Mexican trucks from driving anywhere in the United States under rules authorized last month, an appellate court said on Friday.The union, joined by Public Citizen and the Environmental Law Foundation, asked the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit last week to limit trucks from Mexico to a 20-mile zone along the border until the United States reviewed the impact they might have on air quality. The government told the court that it was at least 30 days away from issuing permits to the Mexican trucks.
The North American Free Trade Agreement included a clause that allowed Mexican trucks beyond that zone in 1999. Former President Bill Clinton imposed a moratorium that year after the Teamsters and other groups questioned the vehicles' safety. President Bush authorized letting trucks outside the zone and requiring them to meet all United States safety standards.
"It ensures that nothing is going to happen immediately, which is what we were concerned about," Jonathan Weissglass, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said, referring to the 30-day delay.
The Bush administration was also ordered to inform the appellate court as it took measures to give Mexican trucks access to United States highways.
Let's roll!
Isn't this the most liberal court in the country?
While I'm sure they'd like to strike it down on behalf of the unions, I'm not sure they'd be able to resist flooding us with more illegal immigrants. For the first time in their lives, they may actually face a moral dilemma...
(Please note I'm against allowing these trucks in--but I don't like the 9th circuit either. And I don't like the idea of the SC playing with this, though I don't know if they would hear it.)
I'm not so sure about that.
Waivers could aid Mexican trucking -bypassing rules that require they meet US manuf. standards
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/772913/posts
signonsandiego ^
Posted on 10/21/2002 5:24 AM Eastern by chance33_98
Waivers could aid Mexican trucking
The White House wants to open up roads for long haul
By Joe Cantlupe COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
October 20, 2002
WASHINGTON – In an effort to get Mexican trucks rolling on U.S. highways, the Bush administration wants to bypass rules requiring that foreign trucks comply with U.S. manufacturing standards.
To help accomplish that, the Department of Transportation has proposed a two-year "grace period" to long-standing rules because, officials said, many Mexican companies might need more time to certify that their fleets comply with U.S. guidelines for commercial vehicles.
The rule change is needed to avoid further delays in the administration's plan to lift a U.S. ban on Mexican long-haul trucks from traveling beyond a 20-mile border zone. As officials move ahead, the administration faces criticism from public safety groups.
The criticism focuses on the effort to temporarily exempt Mexican businesses from having to certify that their trucks and buses were built in compliance with U.S. standards. At least two-thirds of the 400,000 trucks and buses that operate on roads in Mexico might not qualify, federal officials estimate.
Transportation officials contend the "grace period" will not undermine safety on U.S. highways, noting that most Mexican trucks are made by U.S. companies and that a tough inspection program is being developed.
However, some highway safety, insurance and trucking groups say the plan clashes with the 1986 Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which states commercial vehicles – including foreign ones – must be certified to comply with U.S. manufacturing standards at the time they were built.
That would include any commercial vehicle from Canada or Mexico that crosses the border, regardless of where they were manufactured, transportation officials say.
The manufacturing certifications are needed to ensure that Mexican vehicles are equipped with such safeguards as automatic brake adjusters and trailer guards. Mexico requires no specific standards for equipment on commercial vehicles.
The administration's proposal would allow foreign vehicles to use "equipment that not only will not, but sometimes could not, be brought into compliance" with U.S. standards, said Henry M. Jasny, lawyer for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
"The removal of barriers to trade was not intended to require the evasion or suspension of established motor vehicle regulations and safety standards," he said.
Federal authorities acknowledge that they alerted Mexican authorities about the certification regulations in 1995. David Longo of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration said officials are taking steps to ensure that safety on U.S. highways is maintained, regardless of the two-year waiver proposal.
Among other things, the United States would require inspections of each Mexican vehicle at least every 90 days, a cycle that has been carried out for years at California's state- run facilities, Longo said.
U.S. officials also are negotiating with Mexican authorities to allow inspectors to examine the records of Mexican trucking companies.
About 75 Mexican trucking companies submitted applications to travel beyond the border areas, officials said.
Mexican companies that previously have operated trucks within the border areas will be eligible for the two-year waivers, according to the Department of Transportation. These companies are most likely to own commercial vehicles slated to be driven elsewhere in the United States, experts said.
"We're not going to see a horde of trucks going across the border when this is approved," one administration official said.
President Bush has pushed for Mexican access to all of this country's highways since shortly after taking office, saying it was necessary to comply with the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The former Texas governor overturned a Clinton administration order in 1995 that continued a ban on Mexican long- haul cargo trucks. The ban has been in effect since the 1980s.
Earlier this year, the White House hoped to get the Mexican trucks moving across this country during the summer, but the plan was sidetracked in the face of congressional resistance generated by concern about the safety of Mexican trucks.
It is unclear to me as to whether this judgement would apply back to 1995, or only to 2000.
I'm so sick of the constant extortion by the rest of the world!
It's the fault of our dumbass politicians, since they get what they want by giving away the country, of course. We have no statesmen anymore, just a bunch of wheeler-dealers who make their deals with our money and livlihoods. "Diplomacy" is nothing more than buying an agreement with money that once belonged to the people.
The trucks aren't as safe as US trucks, if they were they wouldn't need the two years exemptions which we know would be extended indefinitely. Mexico has known it planned to get it's trucks into the US for years now, it's their own choice not to have their trucks up to standards by now.
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