Groups seeks stay on Mexican trucks in U.S.

Colleen Valles

Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2002 | 10:53 a.m.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Citing concern over air pollution, a coalition of environmental, labor and trucking industry groups sought an emergency stay Monday that would delay the opening of U.S. highways to trucks from Mexico.

Last week President Bush announced his decision to open U.S. highways to Mexican trucks beyond the 20-mile commercial border zones now in place.

But the groups seeking the stay claim the government has not adequately reviewed the trucks' effect on air quality in the United States.

A federal judge is expected to rule on the stay in the next couple of days. If it's not granted, trucks could be traveling on U.S. highways as soon as this month.

The coalition, which sued the government in April to stop the trucks from operating in the United States, wants to maintain the status quo until the legal dispute is resolved. A 1982 moratorium banned Mexican trucks from the United States.

Dave Longo, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation, said the suit was under review and the agency wouldn't comment on it.

Bush's decision complies with a provision of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the government found letting the trucks in would have "no significant impact" on the environment. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta has said that Mexican trucks would be held to the same standards as U.S. operators.

But the groups say the decision disregards federal clean air requirements and will let high-pollution vehicles into the country. Al Meyerhoff, an attorney for the groups, said more than half the trucks in the Mexican fleet date from before 1994, when there were fewer regulations on their emissions.

An estimated 63,000 Mexican trucks crossed the border last year, making about 4.3 million crossings, mostly through Texas. So far, the Department of Transportation has received about 135 applications from carriers and bus companies based in Mexico seeking to haul their cargo farther into the United States.

The groups that filed the petition Monday include Public Citizen, the Environmental Law Foundation, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the California Federation of Labor AFL-CIO and the California Trucking Association.