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Greg Smith 202-289-4434 gsmith@artba.org	Bill Toohey 202-289-4434 wtoohey@artba.org	Print this page

Washington, D.C. [February 27, 2001] - A February 27 U.S. Supreme Court ruling could cost state governments up to $12 billion per year in federal highway funding, a transportation construction industry trade group says.

The court decision affirming the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to move ahead with plans to impose tighter federal air quality standards for ozone and dust will result in an estimated 300 U.S. communities—including most major urban areas—falling out of compliance with the federal Clean Air Act (CAA), according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA).  Under the law, states that do not meet federal air quality standards cannot use federal highway funds. “This decision makes it even more imperative for the Congress to reform the transportation conformity provisions of the Clean Air Act,” ARTBA President & CEO Pete Ruane said.  “If these new standards are used to delay or stop needed transportation improvements, particularly those that add new capacity, the result will be even more traffic congestion and additional—and unnecessary—air pollution.”

“The irony here is that the transportation sector has made the largest contribution to the nation’s dramatic air quality improvement over the past 30 years,” Ruane said.

The Supreme Court sent the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and told the EPA to develop an implementation plan for the proposed standards.

The EPA proposed its new standards for ozone and particulate matter on July 18, 1997.  A court action challenging the standards was filed in 1997 by ARTBA and almost two dozen national business groups.  A 1999 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in ARTBA’s favor was subsequently appealed by the EPA to the U.S. Supreme Court.  The case is reported as Whitman v. American Trucking Associati

Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2002, ARTBA is the only national organization that exclusively represents the collective interests of all sectors of the U.S. transportation construction industry before the White House, Congress, federal agencies, media and the public.