Transportation Secretary Orders Review of Fresno Highway Project

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has reopened the environmental review process for a highway expansion project in Fresno, California, expressing concerns about part of the project’s exemption from Clean Air Act analysis. As Gregory Weaver reports in Fresnoland, “According to federal court filings from Dec. 22, Buttigieg and FHWA chief Shailen Bhatt expressed concerns that the FHWA may have failed to follow proper protocol under the Clean Air Act when it exempted the Caltrans projects from the required analysis.”

Local residents and environmental groups have been protesting the expansion of two Highway 99 interchanges, citing its potential impact on air quality and public health in surrounding communities. The interchanges will make possible a proposed 3,000-acre industrial park and warehouse complex, which advocates say should be part of the environmental impact assessment and would bring increased air pollution and congestion to the area. “The FHWA’s decision has reenergized the lawsuit filed by Fresno-based community groups, who argue that the project could exacerbate the city’s already poor air quality.”