Learn more:
Facing the Facts about Atlanta’s Air Quality
Clean Air in Atlanta
Clean Air in Atlanta
An Unfortunate Legacy
In the summer, Atlantans breathe some of the worst air pollution in America - with serious public health consequences. Children suffer asthma at twice the rate of the national average.
It's no coincidence that commuters here also drive more miles per capita than almost everywhere in the country, about 35 miles per day. Ill-planned roads have led to rampant commercial and residential sprawl, destroying rural landscapes, natural resources, urban centers and local communities, and wasting citizens' time and money. By some accounts, Atlanta is the fastest sprawling city in the world.
All those roads mean more cars and trucks. Vehicle exhaust is responsible for half of the pollutants that form ground-level ozone, a colorless, odorless gas that damages lung tissue. During hot summer days when ozone is severe, many Atlantans with respiratory ailments wind up in emergency rooms, and countless others experience breathing difficulties.
In ‘Serious’ Violation
Metro Atlanta has been in violation of health-based air quality standards since 1970, when Congress passed the Clean Air Act. Under the 1990 amendments to the law, the region was required to adopt a long-range transportation plan to reduce ozone pollution - rated as 'serious' on the EPA list - and comply with the standards by 1998.
In late 1998, facing the loss of federal highway construction funds for missing the deadline, the Georgia Department of Transportation, the Atlanta Regional Commission, and the U.S. Department of Transportation rammed through a transportation plan that included 61 new highways. Against the law, they had failed to consider the impact on air quality from additional traffic generated by the new roads.
Going to Court
In January 1999, SELC filed suit in federal court charging that local, state, and federal transportation officials violated the Clean Air Act when they approved the massive highway-construction plan. The suit challenged $700 million of planned road construction in the region's long-range plan. In a landmark settlement six months later, 44 of the projects were suspended and more than $300 million of federal funding was re-directed to transit and other transportation projects that would not worsen air quality.
It was the first step in a long legal battle to hold the officials accountable for the air pollution shrouding the region. The lawsuit was also the first national test of key provisions in federal clean air and transportation laws, and helped set a precedent for how other U.S. urban areas – including Charlotte, Birmingham, Washington DC, Chicago and Los Angeles – deal with the growing problem of traffic-related air pollution.
Continuing the Fight
Over the next several years, SELC and numerous partner groups—including the Southern Organizing Committee for Economic and Social Justice, the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, and the Environmental Defense Fund—continued to take legal action (see Litigation Timeline) [http://www.southernenvironment.org/cases/atlanta/timeline.pdf] to ensure that the various agencies complied with the Clean Air Act.
We continue to work with health groups, conservation groups, the business sector and government agencies to take the necessary steps toward cleaning the air.