Senate EPW Committee leadership introduces six-year surface transportation authorization

At a time when a new, long-term surface transportation reauthorization is desperately needed, given, what is often described as the ongoing decline of the state of United States transportation infrastructure, a bipartisan foursome in the Senate introduced a wide-ranging six-year, $275 billion bill, whose chief objective is to provide some long-term fixes to a system repeatedly referred to as broken.

The bill, entitled the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy (DRIVE) Act, was drafted by four Senators that are very active in the Senate’s Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee: Barbara Boxer (D-CA), ranking member of the Senate EPW Committee; David Vitter (R-La.), chairman of the EPW Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure; and Tom Carper (D-Del.), senior member of the EPW Committee. 

Funding for current surface transportation efforts has been propped up in recent years by a series of continuing resolutions, or extensions, which are essentially little more than a piecemeal approach to keeping funding intact, and leaving federal and state transportation projects in a continued state of uncertainty in regards to long-term planning efforts. Congress recently signed off on the 33rd short-term extension, or continuing resolution, for surface transportation funding, since the last multiyear authorization, SAFETEA-LU, expired at the end of September 2009. This extension remains intact through July 31, at which point commences another fresh round of untenable uncertainty. And while these extensions keep funding at the same levels, with the Highway Trust Fund, the primary source of surface transportation funding, essentially insolvent, the current state of U.S. transportation infrastructure remains in a consistent state of disrepair.

“I am proud of the bipartisan work that has culminated in a six-year surface transportation reauthorization,” said Senator Inhofe in a statement. “Our nation’s roads and highways have suffered under too many short-term extensions, which have led to higher costs, more waste, and less capability to prioritize major modernization projects address growing demands on our interstates. The DRIVE Act will provide states and local communities with the certainty they deserve to plan and construct infrastructure projects efficiently. [It] also contains the hallmark accomplishment of a new freight program to prioritize federal spending on the facilities that will most directly benefit our economy, in addition to prioritizing federal dollars towards bridge safety and the interstate system.”

The DRIVE Act pledges to reauthorize the Federal-aid highway program at an increased funding level for six years, from FY 2016 through FY 2021, and maintain the formula structure and increase the amounts each state will receive each fiscal year.

Perhaps the single most notable aspect of the bill from a supply chain and freight transportation perspective is its heightened focus on freight in the form of the creation of a new multi-billion per year freight program to help states deliver projects that promote the safe, efficient, and reliable transportation of consumer goods and projects that is on top of the existing formula programs. This would call for a minimum investment of $2 billion in dedicated funding for freight infrastructure, with the total DRIVE Act freight program providing $13.5 billion over six years.

This formula-based freight program would provide funds to all states to improve goods movement, reducing costs and improving performance for business and also expand flexibility for both rural and urban areas to designate key freight corridors that match regional goods movement on roads beyond the Primary Highway Freight System.

Other key aspects of the DRIVE Act include:
-requiring Highway Trust Fund transparency, with new provisions to improve the transparency of how and where transportation projects are funded and selected;
-updating the Transportation Infrastructure Financing and Innovation (TIFIA) program that would provide state and local governments new options for stretching transportation dollars and increasing efficiency and utilization; and
-build on the reforms of MAP-21 to continue to accelerate the project delivery process while protecting the environment and public health, among others

Given the “kick the can down the road” approach to funding a long-term surface transportation reauthorization that has become commonplace, especially in recent years, James Burnley, a partner at Washington, D.C.-based law firm Venable LLP and former Secretary of Transportation under the late President Ronald Reagan, observed that these beginnings of a long-term bill are somewhat encouraging.

“The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is attempting to force the other relevant committees in Congress to come to grips with the need to pass a multiyear surface transportation bill, and to adequately fund such legislation,” he said.

The issue of how to adequately funding a long-term bill, though, still remains an issue.

Congress has been steadfast in its stance that that the federal gasoline tax, which has remained at the same levels going back to 1993 and serves as the main funding source for the Highway Trust Fund, will not be raised, while leaving the door open to other funding possibilities, including: dedicating funds from corporate tax reform to pay for surface transportation (also known as repatriation); a proposed streamlining of infrastructure permitting processes; infrastructure banks; and indexing the gas tax to keep pace with inflation; among others.

What’s more, the funding shortfall for surface transportation remains severe, according to a report in The Hill, which said the current gap in transportation funding is expected to be around $16 billion annually, with the federal government spending about $50 million per year on transportation projects, while receipts from the federal gasoline tax, which has not been raised since 1993, only bring in roughly $34 billion per year. It added that estimates from the Congressional Budget Office indicate it will take about $100 billion to close the gap for a duration long enough to pay for a six-year transportation bill.

The Washington, D.C.-based Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors (CAGTC) was pleased with the DRIVE Act’s emphasis on freight-related initiatives.

“The Senate EPW Committee has demonstrated a commitment to freight investment through the DRIVE Act. The proposal’s sustained investment plan stands to have a significant positive impact on goods movement that would benefit our nation’s economy for years to come,” said Elaine Nessle, CAGTC executive director. “CAGTC strives to improve and enhance freight mobility across all modes through strategic federal planning and investment. The DRIVE Act’s focus on improving highway freight mobility marks a substantial step in the right direction and I applaud the EPW Committee’s work and leadership.”