COALITION SUES OVER MEXICAN TRUCKS.

A coalition of environmental, labor and consumer groups went to court Dec. 2 seeking to prevent the Department of Transportation from processing applications from Mexican commercial vehicles to use U.S. roads and highways until the Bush administration has completed a full review of their impact on air quality.

The action came in response to President Bush's decision Nov. 27 to lift the moratorium on Mexican truck and bus companies seeking to transport international cargo in the United States under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners also agreed to address at its winter meeting in San Diego this week concerns of U.S. insurers about bills in the Mexican legislature which could prevent access to Mexican motor vehicle records and about a statement by the Mexican government that on-site Mexican truck inspections create an unlevel playing field.

David M. Golden, director of commercial lines for the National Association of Independent Insurers, called access to motor vehicle records imperative as an underwriting tool for automobile underwriters and pointed out U.S. trucks are required to have on-site inspections.

He said using reinsurance and surety bonds as alternatives to direct insurance of Mexican motor carriers also would be discussed by NAIC's NAFTA *Subgroup and its TriNational Insurance Working Group during the winter meeting.

The NAIC review and the request to the court come when the government need only publish a 10-day notice of its intent to approve Mexican trucking company permit applications before the authorized Mexican trucks could have access.

DOT Secretary Norman Y. Mineta already has directed DOT's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to act on the 130 applications it has received from Mexican truck and bus companies seeking to transport international cargo in the United States.

In justifying FMCSA action on the applications at this time, Mineta said FMSCA had met or exceeded the 22 preconditions included in the Fiscal Year 2002 Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, including: increasing border enforcement staff to 252 persons; constructing and expanding inspection stations; providing additional parking areas for vehicles removed from service for safety violations, and acquiring and installing additional weigh stations.

Petitioners in the lawsuit, which include the Environmental Law Foundation, Public Citizen, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the California Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, and the California Trucking Association, had filed another lawsuit with the Ninth Circuit last May claiming the administration had disregarded requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Air Act.

Arguments in that case were heard in October and petitioners now claim the administration is taking action before the court has the opportunity to rule on the merits.

They disagree with the administration's finding that allowing Mexican trucks to have access to U.S. roads and highways would have no significant environmental impact.

They argue the administration failed to take into account the disparity between emission rates of U.S. and Mexican trucks and reviewed only the impacts on a national scale, ignoring the potential impact on cities along major trucking routes.

They claim giving Mexican trucks access to U.S. highways and roads will dramatically increase air pollution because:

q At least 30,000 Mexican diesel trucks, including many older, pre-1994 trucks, are scheduled to start traveling in the U.S. in 2003.

q By 2010, Mexican trucks will emit twice as much particulate matter and nitrogen oxides as U.S. trucks.

q There is no system in place to inspect the emissions of Mexican trucks crossing the border.

q Mexican trucks may not be covered by a 1998 settlement agreement between the U.S. government and truck manufacturers requiring U.S. trucks to remove "defeat devices" which enable them to test clean at inspection sites but run dirty on the open road.

Petitioners are represented by Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, Hynes & Lerach and Altshuler, Berzon, Nussbaum, Rubin & Demain.

The Natural Resources Defense Council has intervened in support of petitioners. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer is participating as a friend of the court in support of the petitioners.