On July 6, President Obama signed the “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act” (HR 4348, or MAP-21) into law.
The $105 billion legislation reauthorizes federal highway and transit programs for FY 2013 and FY 2014. Those programs had been extended in short-term intervals nine separate times since the predecessor to MAP-21, known as SAFETEA-LU, expired in October 2009.
Under the bill, highway and transit programs will be funded at roughly the same amount as current levels. Funding is derived predominantly from the 18.4 cent federal gasoline tax (which was not raised in the bill) that is deposited into the federal Highway Trust Fund. However, those revenues have been declining in recent years, so Congress also imposed some tax changes on private pensions and captured some revenues from the EPA Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Fund to make up the $12 billion difference between what the HTF will provide and the overall cost of the bill.
Some programmatic changes in the bill include:
• An expansion of the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovative Act (TIFIA) program, which provides loans to accelerate transportation projects in communities that have defined local resources (such as a local sales tax) for the initiatives.
• Streamlines the environmental review and project delivery process at the Department of Transportation. Bill sponsors maintain that public participation and environmental protection will not be compromised by the changes.
• Changes the Bus and Bus Facilities program at the Federal Transit Administration from a discretionary program to a formula program.
• Reduces funding and changes the process for distribution of funds for transportation “enhancements” such as recreation trails, bicycle paths, and pedestrian improvements.
• Reduces the percentage of federal highway funds that are allocated directly to metropolitan areas. Previous law directed 62.5% to metro area and 37.5% to states. MAP-21 changes that to a 50-50 split.
A number of provisions that had been included in the House and Senate versions of the bill that did NOT make it into the final version include:
• Requirement to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline from the House bill.
• Language to prevent EPA from issuing coal ash regulations from the House bill.
• Funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) in the Senate bill.
• The entire railroad title for the Senate bill.
• Provisions to allow larger transit agencies to use federal formula funds for operations during times of high unemployment from the Senate bill.
The final vote for the bill was 373-52 in the House and 74-19 in the Senate.
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