Keep on Truckin'

You have to give the Bush Administration this much. No matter how bad an idea is, they never give up on it.

Five years ago, reversing the approach of the Clinton Administration, the Bush White House issued an Executive Order opening the Mexican border to cross-border trucking. The claimed rationale: NAFTA made them do it.

Citing safety and environmental concerns, Clinton had instead limited the trucks - many decades old and major polluters - to a 20 mile "buffer zone." But a NAFTA trade panel took up the issue and ordered the US to allow such trucks to operate throughout the US. Congress intervened as did the courts and for the past five years, the trucks have stayed put. Eventually, the matter reached the US Supreme Court where I was co-counsel for a coalition of national environmental groups and organized labor. Our clients urged that the National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA) trumped NAFTA - and unless the federal government first determined the trucks from south of the border met all US air quality standards, they could not roll. Unfortunately, the Court reversed a lower court decision holding just that - and on a technicality dismissed the case.

Last Thursday, The Bushies were back. They unveiled a plan to allow 100 Mexican trucking companies to participate in a "pilot program" - allowing their vehicle virtually full access to US highways. Ironically, this announcement came just as the Administration was finally recognizing the reality of climate change from polluted air.

There is no dispute that Mexico's fleet of trucks is older - and therefore far dirtier than it's US (or Canadian) counterpart.

Before 1993, truck engines in Mexico were unregulated. Even newer truck engines often have not been brought up to air quality standards as has been required for US diesel engines. On average, trucks from Mexico spew 150% more NOX (smog) and 200% deadly particulate matter than US trucks. This presents an especially serious threat to those of us in California - where we already have some of the most polluted air in the country.

So much for the federal Clean Air Act prohibiting the government from taking any action "increasing the frequency or severity of existing violations."

This doesn't mean the border must remain closed for good. For starters, though, pre-1994 trucks - which make up 80% of the Mexican fleet - should be excluded until their engines are retrofitted to meet modern air quality requirements. Illegal "defeat devices" (allowing diesel engines to run dirty on the road but pass inspection) must be removed. And any newer Mexican truck must be required to meet the new US diesel emission requirements.

California's legislature acted to address this threat to our environment - requiring the engines in all trucks from Mexico to meet US standards. But inspections at or near the border are notoriously flawed. Responding to the most recent Administration effort, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Deborah Hersman openly questioned how the government could spare inspectors for Mexican trucks when only a tiny percentage of US trucks are inspected. California inspectors are equally short staffed.

None of this addresses equally serious concerns about the safety of these older trucks, the lax requirements for their drivers, the increased risks they may present of a terrorist threat. But at a minimum, a polluting truck is not a safe truck.