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September 2002
Air Quality on Trial
The Bay
Area is one of the cleanest air basins in the country, meeting federal
ozone standards over 99 percent of the time.
(Photo: Barrie Rokeach)
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Federal courts are grappling with a series of legal challenges to efforts to clean Bay
Area skies.
• Several plaintiffs sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) after it approved a key component of the 2001 Bay Area Ozone Attainment
Plan, namely the motor vehicle emissions budget, or cap. While the plan calls for
major reductions in both nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons (which combine to form smog) by
2006, these groups argue that all emissions must be cut even further, and that money
designated for highway projects should be shifted to public transit. The U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in July issued a temporary stay against the EPA’s
approval of the plan’s vehicle emissions budget, and a hearing is now scheduled for
early October. Although MTC is not a party to these suits, its work is affected by them.
• Another lawsuit can be traced back to the 1982 Bay Area Air Quality Plan,
which estimated the emissions reductions from a 15 percent increase in public transit
ridership. When ridership increases did not hit this target by 1987, MTC adopted other
emission-reducing measures to fulfill its air quality obligations. This past July, however,
a U.S. District Court held that MTC must guarantee a 15 percent increase in transit
ridership by November 2006. MTC voted in July to appeal this ruling. At the same time, the
judge ordered MTC to amend the 2001 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP)
to specify how the 25-year plan beefs up public transit
service. Two hearings on the revised RTP are planned for
October and November.
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