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February 15, 2001 11:12 AM, EST

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), newly appointed chairman of a key House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, said he will seek to revise the Clean Air Act and “delink” it from a state’s or city’s ability to get highway dollars based on how clean its air is.

“I don’t think that is right,” Barton said in a Feb. 6 interview with Transport Topics, claiming that the law penalizes municipalities already suffering from poor air quality.

Barton chairs the newly configured Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee, which was previously known as the Energy and Power Subcommittee, which he also chaired.

Barton said he intends to introduce a bill amending the act to allow a municipality to get federal highway funding based on its transportation needs rather than on air quality. Texas, particularly the Dallas-Fort Worth area, has grown in population, in response to plentiful jobs and fair weather, but road construction has not kept up, he said.

For the full story, see the Feb. 12 print edition of Transport Topics. .