Heather McCarthy

September 4, 2009

Heather McCarthy

Boston taxi owners are more pleased today with the decision of Ophir v. City of Boston than they were when Mayor Thomas Menino and Police Commissioner Ed Davis announced in 2008 that as part of a new plan to make improvements in the taxi industry, the entire taxi fleet in the city would be required to be fully hybrid by 2015. The District Court Judge ruled that the city ordinance was preempted by the Energy Policy & Conservation Act (EPCA) and that the city was permanently enjoined from enforcing it.

In August 2008, the City of Boston implemented Boston Police Department Rule 403. The effect of Rule 403 would have been to mandate an all hybrid taxi fleet by 2015. When the plan was originally announced, Mayor Menino expressed his confidence that the new regulations would not only improve air quality but would also improve the quality of taxi service in Boston. It was anticipated that hybrid taxis would reduce carbon emissions from the taxi fleet by fifty percent and that taxi drivers would save approximately $1,000 a month in fuel costs. However, Judge Young ruled that the EPCA expressly preempts local regulations "related to fuel economy standards or average fuel economy standards for automobiles covered by an average fuel standard under this chapter."

The attorney for the Boston Taxi Owners Association expressed his approval of Judge Young's decision and added that taxi owners "have wanted from day one to support the city's efforts to protect the environment. But those efforts need to be conducted in a way that does not deprive people of jobs.''

While some will view this ruling as another loss for the environment, the city can appeal the decision to the First Circuit. Furthermore, according to George Bachran, head of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, critics of the conversion to hybrid fleets are standing against history. Bachran predicts that "[a]t the end of the day, this is inevitable. Those who oppose it are just shifting sands against the tide."

Sources:

Ophir v. City of Boston, No. 09-10467-WGY, 2009 WL 2606341 (D. Mass. Aug. 14, 2009).

Energy Policy & Conservation Act, 49 U.S.C. §§ 32901 et seq. (1997).

Staff Report, Mayor Menino announces taxi fleet to be fully hybrid by 2015, Wicked Local, Aug. 29, 2008file://localhost/, http/::www.wickedlocal.com:allston:news:x801999393:Mayor-Menino-announces-taxi-fleet-to-be-fully-hybrid-by-2015.

Dave Demerjian, Boston Cabbies Wicked Mad about Green Taxi Rule, Wired.com, Sept. 3, 2008, http://www.wired.com/autopia/2008/09/boston-cabbies/.

Jonathan Saltzman, Hybrid mandate for taxis reversed, Boston Globe, Aug. 15, 2009, available at http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/2009/08/15/hybrid_mandate_for_taxis_reversed/.

Peter Schworm, NYC ruling clouds Boston bid to regulate cabs, Boston Globe, June 23, 2009, available at http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/06/23/nyc_ruling_clouds_bostons_bid_to_replace_taxis_with_hybrids/.