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Follow TURFToll authority lobbies to end citizen legal challenges to unwanted toll roads
“There's a reason why they have public comment and review periods,” Hall said. “It is important to give the public a chance to review these things and scrutinize it.”
Some environmental documents are hundreds or thousands of pages long, Hall said, and can't be digested in 60 days.
“The best way to not have to worry about litigation is not about keeping things out of court — it's to do the documents right, do right by the public and get community consensus so that there isn't any opposition.”
Web Posted: 01/14/2010 6:25 CST
Proposal would sideline road-blocking lawsuits
By Josh Baugh - Express-News
Alamo Regional Mobility Authority board member Robert Thompson on Thursday called for a change in federal law that would effectively stop lawsuits that block road projects.
In San Antonio, it would mean swift action in suits filed against toll projects.
Thompson, a lawyer, said he planned to e-mail Bexar County's congressional delegation after Thursday's meeting of the agency to seek support for adding such language to federal transportation legislation that Congress is considering. Thompson called lawsuits filed to block highway construction “the bane of so many projects.”
Currently, federal law offers a 180-day window for lawsuits to be filed once an environmental study is approved by the Federal Highway Administration. Thompson's proposal would cut that to 60 days and require plaintiffs to accept binding arbitration. Resolution would be required within 180 days, Thompson said.
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