New Road Projects May Put Marylanders' Health At Risk

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) today called on Baltimore’s Transportation Steering Committee (TSC) to protect the public from increased air pollution when considering new transportation projects, including roads for the planned Arundel Mills mall near the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. A just-released Maryland study shows that air pollution from cars and trucks in the Baltimore region is significantly worse than previously assumed. Motor vehicle registration data from 1996 shows that many more people are driving sport utility vehicles, light trucks, and older cars than assumed using 1990 data. TSC will decide today whether to continue using the obsolete data to approve road projects that will further increase air pollution in the Baltimore area, or to accept the updated data, which would curb new road project additions to the regional transportation plan until new pollution control measures are implemented.

“Instead of approving money for new roads that bring sprawl and unhealthy air, Maryland needs to put more funds into cleaner, healthier travel options, clean buses, less-polluting vehicles, and promoting new state and federal tax incentives for employer-provided transit passes and programs to give employees added cash income in lieu of a parking space at work,” said Michael Replogle, EDF federal transportation director.

A study by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and the TSC using updated Maryland motor vehicle registration data shows that nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds coming from cars and trucks in metropolitan Baltimore is about 15 percent greater than previously estimated for all years evaluated. These added emissions are a major contributor to the ozone smog pollution that exacerbates health problems and death rates for those with respiratory diseases such as asthma. Ground-level ozone in Maryland has reached dangerous levels on nine days this summer, harming the health and threatening the lives of many Maryland residents. The new study shows that the region’s transportation plan violates the state-set emission limits. This provides important new evidence that agencies should step up efforts to reduce traffic growth and air pollution.

“If Maryland agencies use obsolete vehicle registration data to approve new sprawl and pollution-inducing transportation projects, they will cause more severe and frequent ozone air pollution violations of the existing federal health standards for ozone for years to come. The cost of cleaning up this pollution burden will be imposed on small businesses, utilities, consumers, and those suffering from respiratory problems,” said Replogle.

EDF called on the Baltimore TSC to use the best information to make better transportation and air quality plans now and to take immediate steps to cut traffic and pollution growth in the short and long term. These include efforts to promote rapid adoption of the now enacted transit tax credit for employers who pay for transit passes for their employees (which takes effect January 1, 2000). The state and region should encourage employers to offer added cash income in lieu of parking benefits to employees to further spur alternatives to solo automobile commuting. The state and region should aggressively promote strategies to replace dirty diesel buses and trucks with clean natural gas buses and clean fueled vehicles. Accelerating the planned 20-year investment in pedestrian and bicycle improvements so these are built in the next two or three years could reduce pollution growth and improve travel options for many citizens.