A federal court's decision to throw out the air quality standards that have delayed metro Atlanta road building programs may be just what the doctor ordered for Fayette County's clogged roadways, local transportation officials say.

But for now, they're not getting too excited, said county public works director Lee Hearn.

A District of Columbia federal court declared last month that the Environmental Protection Agency's air quality standards amounted to “an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power.”

The standards have been used by EPA to virtually shut down road improvement programs in metropolitan Atlanta, including Fayette, with a demand that the region develop a comprehensive transportation plan that provides a way to meet the federal standards before road building can continue.

Widening of Ga. Highway 74 and building a bridge over Ga. Highway 54 in Peachtree City, and widening of Hwy. 54 from McDonough Road to the Clayton County line are among the Fayette projects that have been delayed.

“If the judges' ruling is upheld, it could help us a lot,” said Hearn after attending an Atlanta Regional Commission transportation meeting last week. “But the ruling was immediately appealed by EPA.”

ARC officials are continuing as if the court never ruled as it did, he said. The region's planning agency, ARC is working to develop a transportation plan that meets EPA's standards by next spring.

“We hope to have an approved plan by August or September,” said Hearn. “It will be March before we can get cranked up with the new projects.”

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