WASHINGTON — Environmental, labor, and trucking industry groups together have requested an emergency stay to prevent Mexican trucks from transporting goods throughout the U.S., reports Dow Jones Newswires.
The petitioners, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Public Citizen and the Environmental Law Foundation, asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to stop the U.S. government from processing applications from Mexican-based trucking firms to operate beyond the 20-mile commercial borders zones where they must now transfer their cargo to U.S. trucks.
The groups allege that the Bush administration failed to complete a full review of the impact the move will have on air quality in the U.S.
“As a matter of law, the administration is required to first assess the environmental consequences before allowing tens of thousands of these trucks into the American heartland,” Al Meyerhoff, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “Increases in air pollution, especially from older, largely unregulated vehicles, present increased risks of asthma, cancer and other respiratory ills.”
Last week, President George W. Bush lifted the moratorium on Mexican trucks traveling throughout the U.S. and directed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to begin processing applications. The decision fulfills a promise Washington made when it signed the North American Free-Trade Agreement and comes almost three years later than stipulated under the treaty.
Opponents filed a lawsuit to head off Mexican access to U.S. highways in May, arguing that the administration disregarded requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Air Act. The case was argued in the Ninth Circuit in October, but the court hasn’t yet issued a ruling.
Unions fought opening up trucking beyond the border for fear they would lose jobs to cheaper Mexican drivers. Environmental and consumer safety groups worried that aging Mexican fleets would exacerbate pollution and increase deaths from traffic accidents. But proponents said that allowing Mexican companies full access to the U.S. would give them an incentive to upgrade their rigs to comply with tougher U.S. border inspections.