PennDOT is seeking to condemn a portion of the Whites' farm for construction of a new Exit 7 interchange on Interstate 81 near Chambersburg. The farm couple filed a lawsuit in May 1999 to force PennDOT to seek ALCAB approval of plans to condemn farmland in two "agricultural security areas" for the Exit 7 project, which has been a source of local controversy for years.

However, PennDOT argued that it was not required to submit the project for ALCAB review because of the law's "existing highway" exception. That argument was rejected by the state Commonwealth Court last summer. The "existing highway" exception does not require PennDOT to seek prior ALCAB approval for road projects, "relating to existing highways such as, but not limited to, widening roadways, the elimination of curves or reconstruction."

The court ruled that the "existing highway" exception to ALCAB review was clearly limited by law and that PennDOT's Exit 7 plans, which included the relocation of highways and construction of new access ramps and connector roads, went beyond the limits of the exception.

PennDOT had appealed Commonwealth Court's decision to the state Supreme Court. It contended that highway projects that relate "in any fashion" to an existing highway should have been exempted from ALCAB review. "Realistically, if such a suggestion were followed," Farm Bureau stated in its brief, "few if any proposed highway condemnations of land within agricultural security areas would ever qualify for review by ALCAB."

Such an interpretation, argued Farm Bureau, would be "absurd" especially in light of strongly worded public policy objectives contained in the 1981 Agricultural Area Security Law to enhance and protect agriculture in such areas.

ALCAB review plays an important role, Farm Bureau said. "Projects which are not demonstrated to provide important public benefits can be prevented, and projects that will provide important public benefits can be located where they will cause minimal adverse impacts upon agricultural commerce in the area."

The required ALCAB review, said Farm Bureau, "prevents proponents of projects __ such as PennDOT in the Exit 7 project __ from being the judge and jury of their own projections and estimates on the effects of the project on local agriculture."

Upholding the ALCAB review requirement doesn't mean PennDOT is barred from going forward on the Exit 7 project, Farm Bureau pointed out, "It only means PennDOT will be responsible for demonstrating that there are legitimate public reasons for construction of the Exit 7 project and that there is no reasonable and prudent alternative for condemning land and impeding agriculture in the agricultural security area for the project."