Energy Choices

Tens of thousands of underground storage tanks are leaking MTBE and other toxic chemicals into California's water and soil -- but for the vast majority of them, the state has never ordered cleanups or assessed fines.

Urban and suburban interstates, freeways, and expressways -- the vital core of the country's road network -- are crumbling. These highways account for less than three percent of road miles in metropolitan areas, yet they carry more than one third of all vehicle miles traveled in our nation's cities and suburbs. How can Congress fix these roads?

A joint report by EWG and the Surface Transportation Policy Project analyzes the failures of our transportation system.

In 1965, in an attempt to preserve the scenic beauty of America's highways, Congress passed the Highway Beautification Act (HBA), one of the first modern environmental laws. The Act was originally designed to prohibit construction of new billboards on scenic and rural federal-aid highways, and to require the removal of illegal billboards. Billboards that do not meet the standards of the HBA are designated as nonconforming and marked for removal.