Features

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit from environmentalists challenging the federal government’s approval of the San Francisco Bay area’s plan to reduce vehicle emissions. 

Environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency’s certification of the area’s $9 billion future transportation plan. The groups argued the Bay Area, to reduce pollution, should commit more of its transportation funds to mass transit instead of highway expansion projects. 

When the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to hear the case in October, it tentatively blocked funding new transportation “capacity enhancing projects” that enlarge roadways in the Bay Area. 

The court’s one-paragraph decision Wednesday, if it survives, is a step toward the restoration of the spending outlay endorsed by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The commission, the body that doles out transportation funding for the area, has proposed a host of highway expansions in its $9 billion plan. 

The court’s brief order is not official for about a month to allow time for fresh appeals. 

Environmentalists said they would ask the court to reconsider its decision, which dismissed the case on grounds that environmentalists face no “immediate harm” and alleged “only a generalized grievance.” 

The case is Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund v. EPA, 02-70443.