In the past month, there has been renewed interest in moving forward on another piece of green and transportation driven legislation that also, wonderfully for us in particular, also focuses on fleets and taxis in particular.
Driven by perhaps the largest existing taxi market in the country as well as another regressive environmental Supreme Court Decision against New York, New York legislators Senator Gillibrand and Representative Nadler have reintroduced a bill in both houses of the U.S. Congress to address the issue. H.R. 1283 and S. 670 are the current incarnation of a bill that has failed to pass for the past several years. We hope this year, particularly with the already record-breaking rise in gas prices if not a foreseeable future of (at minimum) $5-6 per gallon gas at the pump that this is the year this piece of legislation is finally fueled for passage if not signature into law.
The Act amends both the Federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) and the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA) – both of which currently block localities from setting fuel economy and emissions standards – including for taxis.
This Act will allow local municipalities to set clean air standards on their own – presumably to set higher standards than currently exist. The one caveat we would instantly have is that we realize this would also open the door for cities which might think that this would negatively impact their economies and go for lower fuel emissions standards (which would affect not just their own municipalities but everyone downwind). We would want to see mandates that federal standards would be the default, non-negotiable “floor” of standards.
Overall, however, this legislation makes sense. We anticipate that there may be significant push back from people who wish the EPA would be defunded out of existence. Further, we are not sure how this would work in practice in cities (like Charlotte) which currently have no home rule and whose budgets are dictated by the state (in this case Raleigh). In fact, outside of the North East, most Southern cities (in particular) have no ability to affect their operating budgets. We would want to see this piece of legislation address this so that cities starting with D.C. (for whom Home Rule is a perennial hot button political issue) if not Charlotte, would actually have some real teeth to positively effect their air quality (if nothing else). Federal incentives and grants (even more of them) would be a very good “sweetener” that we feel might make otherwise less than green municipalities see the light.
Under the Green Taxis Act, local governments can only set standards to require local operators to purchase or convert existing vehicles if the vehicles they want to see on local streets are commercially available or are manufactured under a contract with a State or County. Manufacturers could not be required to produce vehicles simply to meet local emissions specifications and taxi operators could not be required to use vehicles that can’t be purchased via mainstream means. In addition, specifications cannot mandate standards that exceed current federal laws for fuel economy (although we suggest that progressive, green municipalities think of ways to set new and higher standards and we have a few ideas in that regard). As a result, we do see that the current language is a bit conservative, but we think this is a very good start.
As a result, we think this is a fabulous move on the legislative front. It will give communities as well as local administrators (such as Mayors and city councils) the ability to respond to constituents’ needs and wishes, create incentives for the greening of taxi fleets across the country and for those who want to invest in green infrastructure. It will ultimately give more local power to affect and positively impact their environments, economy and health of their citizens.
Charlotte, which historically has had very poor air quality (including heavy industrial pollution it inherits from Tennessee), would benefit in dramatic ways from passage of this legislation.
As a result, we are an enthusiastic supporter of this legislation. We think however that it shouldn’t just be driven by the needs and realities of a city like New York, but contain language and contingencies to allow other cities and states (including North Carolina) to move into a cleaner, greener, future.
Obviously taxi fleets, no matter where they are, have the potential to drive the greening of other passenger vehicles of all kinds – including passenger vehicles for every day citizens.
Freedom Riders 