In a new salvo against the state of California, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has threatened to restrict uses for some federal highway aid to the state unless it moves to withdraw what EPA terms “backlogged and unapprovable" plans that outline steps the state would take to reduce pollution and meet Clean Air Act standards.

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, in a Sept. 24letter, told California Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols the state must withdraw inactive State Implementation Plans, or SIPs. The plans contain regulations and other documents that a state intends to use to cut pollution in jurisdictions where it fails to adhere to federal standards for ozone, carbon monoxide and several other pollutants.

惠勒说：“加利福尼亚州的空气质量最差，”该州拥有82个地区，总人口为3400万，这不符合标准。他说，这是居住在此类“未达到”地区的任何其他州的两倍以上。

Wheeler said there are more than 130 California SIPs “backlogged” at EPA, about one-third of the agency’s total backlog of such plans. He added, “Most of these SIPs are inactive and appear to have fundamental issues related to approvability, state-requested holds, missing information or resources.”

If California doesn’t withdraw the “backlogged and unapprovable SIPs,” Wheeler warned, EPA will start the process to disapprove them. One consequence of a disapproval is that it starts the “clock” for implementing a cutback in federal highway funding in some parts of the state.

惠勒在10月10日之前要求尼科尔斯做出回应。

加利福尼亚官员反应

Richard Corey, executive officer of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), said in astatementthat Wheeler’s letter “contains multiple inaccuracies, omissions and misstatements.” Corey added, “EPA has unclean hands; it sat on these documents for years and is now pounding the table about paperwork issues of its own creation.”

He said, “We will continue to do work with EPA on its backlog, but EPA needs to do its job and protect air quality.” For example, Corey called on EPA to take steps to curb air emissions from heavy trucks, locomotives, aircraft and ships.

他还指出，惠勒的信是在EPA通知加利福尼亚州撤销其豁免以设定比美国其他地区更严格的汽车燃油效率标准的几天之后。

EPA's letter didn't state how much funding for California is at issue. Federal Highway Administration数据show that the state's total fiscal 2019 federal-aid highway funds are slightly less than $4 billion.

But in an email response to ENR's questions, the CARB said the number is much higher—"Tens of billions of dollars are at stake," it said.

即使EPA不赞成一个或多个加利福尼亚州的饮食，或者发现计划不完整，但资金也不会被取消。但是它们的用途将仅限于某些项目类型，例如高速公路安全改进。ENO运输中心高级研究员杰夫·戴维斯（Jeff Davis）表示，他们也可以新利18备用网址转移到过境项目。

A sanction also wouldn't happen quickly. The CARB says that the Clean Air Act requires EPA to impose funding sanctions starting no earlier than 18 months after a disapproval, if the problem isn't fixed before that deadline.

The California board underscored that sanctions would only kick in if a SIP deficiency isn't corrected and added that it has a strong record of correcting any such deficiencies.

National construction groups weigh in

National construction and transportation groups are weighing in on the EPA-California issue. They observe that highway projects can help reduce air pollution by easing congestion and speeding traffic along.

The Associated General Contractors of America is asking EPA to give California a “grace period” to let it finalize its implementation plans.

In a Sept. 24letter惠勒,吉米·克里斯蒂安森AGC副总统for government relations, also said that a cut in highway funding “would only penalize the very communities the Clean Air Act was intended to protect: failing to deliver on vital infrastructure and improvements to air quality.”

Christianson added, “Using federal highway funding as a cudgel is counterproductive to the administration’s promise to deliver on infrastructure and the environment.”

美国道路与运输建筑商协会副总裁尼克·戈德斯坦（Nick Goldstein）在一次采访中说：“联邦高速公路资金是实现空气质量目标和冒险的组成部分，这与清洁空气的目标不符行为。”

Goldstein also says that another, related provision of the clean air statute—which deals with ensuring that transportation projects conform to the goal of meeting air quality standards—needs to be changed.

ARTBA Chief Executive Officer David Bauer said in a Sept. 26 letter to Wheeler, "Transportation conformity has become a top-heavy bureaucratic exercise that puts more emphasis on administrative details than on real-world outcomes."

Bauer added, "The fact that needed highway funds hang in the balance of this dubious process should be a concern for all states."

Until the conformity process is rewritten, Bauer said, EPA should "separate—by regulation or practice—needed federal highway infrastructure improvement efforts from state work to comply with federal air quality standards."

Story updated on 10/2/19 to clarify what an EPA sanction would entail and also to include information from Eno Center for Transportation.