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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