Mexican truck case reaches U.S. Supreme Court

Mexican truck case reaches U.S. Supreme Court    The U.S. Supreme Court will review next term whether a lower court was correct to delay the Bush administration’s decision to open U.S. highways to Mexican trucks, according to the Associated Press.
   In September, the Bush administration appealed a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ordering the government to study the environmental impact of Mexican trucks before permitting them to operate in the United States. After years of delay for congressional approval and to beef up its force of truck inspectors, the Department of Transportation said in November 2002 that it planned to open the border to Mexican trucks this year. Labor, consumer and environmental groups filed suit against DOT, claiming that Mexican trucks pollute more and that the department failed to evaluate the environmental impact, as required by law.
   Under the current system, Mexican trucks can only operate within a 20-mile zone along the border shuttling trailers back and forth to long-haul tractors for the move inland.
   The Bush administration said the study is expected to take more than a year and prevent the United States from complying with obligations to Mexico.