September 2002
Legal Challenges to Clean Air Plans Cloud Bay Area Transportation Picture
Summer Rulings Threaten to Stall Highway Projects
If you kept up with the news this summer in between vacations, you might have seen the
headlines about two federal court rulings relating to efforts to protect the region’s
air quality. Stemming from several lawsuits challenging the region’s current and past
efforts to keep ozone pollution, or smog, in check (see details),
the rulings have placed a number of Bay Area transportation projects in funding limbo.
While few if any citizens, professional planners or policy-makers would argue against the
goal of meeting state and federal air quality standards as soon as possible, the legal
wrangling could have some unintended consequences by jeopardizing projects whose very
purpose is to curb or smooth traffic, and by extension, help keep our skies clean.
In this issue of Transactions, we look behind the headlines, and attempt to answer some of
the...
...most frequently
asked questions about Bay Area air quality and transportation.
What are the near-term consequences of the legal rulings?
Some projects could be delayed. Here’s why: A federal court has effectively blocked a
key element of the 2001 Bay Area Ozone Attainment Plan related to allowable
vehicle emissions. This in turn has delayed MTC’s adoption of the 2003
Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The TIP must be in place in order for
sponsors of transportation projects to spend federal dollars or secure federal approvals.
What is the Bay Area Ozone Attainment Plan?
Ozone is the scientific name for smog, that brownish brew formed when nitrogen oxides mix
with hydrocarbons in the presence of sunlight. Developed by MTC in conjunction with the Bay
Area Air Quality Management District and the Association of Bay Area Governments, the
2001 Bay Area Ozone Attainment Plan lays out the region’s strategy for
meeting federal clean air standards by 2006.
What is the connection between the Ozone Plan and the TIP?
Much of the legal wrangling revolves around the validity of the motor vehicle emissions
budget, or cap, included in the 2001 Bay Area Ozone Attainment Plan. The
plaintiffs argue that in order for the region to meet federal ozone standards by 2006, the
cap on vehicle emissions must be further tightened. Meanwhile, the Ozone Attainment
Plan indicates the region is on target for the 2006 deadline.
Stay with us, because this is where it gets really complicated. The lack of a vehicle
emissions cap officially sanctioned by the Environmental Protection Agency has prevented
MTC from taking a key step: demonstrating that the vehicle pollutants likely to be
generated as a result of the projects contained in the TIP will fall below such a cap.
So has the region hit a dead end?
Not necessarily. MTC hopes to avert delays for most of the projects by preparing an
“interim” TIP* that would advance public transit and
carpool lane projects that could play a role in curbing solo driving, as well as
maintenance and rehabilitation projects. But certain highway and local road projects still
could be delayed indefinitely under this scenario.
Will stopping highway projects help air quality?
No. However, the plaintiffs in the Environmental Protection Agency lawsuits would like to
halt new road and highway projects — many of which were approved by voters as part of
transportation sales tax expenditure plans — and shift the money to public transit.
Such a move would be counterproductive: Without planned roadway improvements, traffic
congestion will likely worsen, and congestion contributes to air pollution.
MTC has
invested heavily in public transit, and will continue to do so. See
related story.
(Photo: Robert E. David, GGBHTD)
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Will increased transit ridership improve Bay Area air quality?
Only slightly. A 15 percent increase in public transit ridership would remove less than one
ton per day of hydrocarbons, or about one-tenth of 1 percent of total current emissions.
Cleaner cars and fuels will have a far greater impact. Existing regulations mandating
cleaner cars account for the largest share of the emissions reductions projected in the
2001 Bay Area Ozone Attainment Plan. Strategies such as coordinated traffic
signals also lower pollution by helping cars operate more efficiently. These air quality
realities notwithstanding, MTC has invested heavily in public transit as a way of enhancing
mobility and quality of life.
What about Smog Check II?
The governor has just signed a bill requiring a tougher vehicle
inspection program for the Bay Area. This so-called Smog Check II requirement is already in
place in more polluted areas of the state. Smog Check II will help reduce the amount of
nitrogen oxides (NOx) that migrate from the Bay Area to the Central Valley. But it
won’t do much for the Bay Area’s air quality because it does not reduce
hydrocarbons enough in relation to NOx to help with our own region’s unique ozone
control problem.
Is MTC considering other measures to improve air quality?
Yes. MTC and its partner agencies are in the process of evaluating additional control
measures so as to be ready in case future updates to the Ozone Attainment Plan
indicate further emission reductions are required. New ideas include added incentives to
reduce solo driving and “episodic controls” that might be activated only on
high-ozone days. One such control might involve temporarily reducing freeway driving
speeds. Regulatory controls such as no-drive days, very high gas taxes and charging people
to park at work or near shopping could be effective, but lack public support and are beyond
the authority the state Legislature has given to MTC.
*A public hearing on the Draft 2003
“Interim” TIP is set for October 9.
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