But the EPA already will have adopted the stricter standard of 151 tons. Clark calls it a Catch-22. His agency is usually given 18 months to develop a transportation plan consistent with the state's emissions standards, he said. In November 1999, the standard was 195 tons. Because the state didn't adopt the revised 151-ton standard until December 2000, Clark believes his agency should have until June 2002 to change its plan to meet the stricter emissions standards.
Environmentalists are unlikely to go that far.
Marston said that would require trusting the road planners not to begin building roads in the current plan that might have to be cut from a revised plan later. Clark said the belief that his agency, in its zeal for new roads, is out to circumvent clean-air requirements is simply mistaken. Atlanta saw its federal transportation dollars frozen for more than two years beginning in January 1998. If a project has not yet received final federal approval during a conformity lapse, then all projects that increase capacity of the area's roads are shut down. Transportation officials said one major Houston project, the reconstruction of the West Loop, probably would not be endangered because it does not add to the capacity.