We anticipate a number of proposed changes to federal transportation policy in the House bill (“American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act”) is due to be released this Friday. The bill is tentatively scheduled for action on February 2. See “Federal Transportation Bill Moving in House” for a longer summary, and “House Transportation Proposal Would Cut Amtrak Funds, Implement Reforms.”
A summary of the bill leaked out Monday (see below), and here are five big proposed changes:
- Authorizes “current” funding levels for Highway, Transit and Highway Safety programs (original plan in 2010 proposed a significant cut)
- Consolidates or eliminates nearly 70 programs that are duplicative or not in the federal interest
- Permits, but no longer requires, states to spend highway funds on non-highway projects and activities such as bike-ped facilities.
- Incentivizes states to build upon the existing State Infrastructure Bank program
- Speeds project delivery by allowing federal agencies to review projects concurrently instead of sequentially, establishes hard deadlines for federal agencies to decide on permits and project approvals, and delegates project approval authority to states. (See “New House Transportation Proposal Would Reform Project Environmental Review“)
Click on the document or use the tools at bottom to enlarge the font. Also see House Transportation Proposal Would Cut Amtrak Funds, Implement Reforms.
2012.01 – House Bill Summary Short
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[...] to sources cited by numerous outlets this morning (Politico’s Morning Transportation, Transportation Issues Daily and others), the House is planning to mark up a five-year transportation bill in the Transportation [...]