House, Senate Appropriators Approve Increase for Highways

The U.S. House and Senate Appropriations Committees this week approved their respective FY 2008 spending bills for transportation, housing, and urban development.  Included within this measure is a $1.1 billion increase for the Federal-Aid Highway program.

The funding is in line with the authorized levels in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).

Under both bills, highways are funded at $40.216 billion, including $631 million in revenue aligned budged authority (RABA).

Regarding funding for aviation programs, the House version provides $3.600 billion for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), while the Senate bill freezes the program at the FY 2007 level of $3.516 billion.  Transit Capital Investment Grants are funded at $1.700 billion under the House bill.  The Senate version provides $1.566 billion, the FY 2007 level.

Several members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees commented and expressed concern about latest estimated cash balance shortfall of the Highway Trust Fund by FY 2009.

The House Transportation-HUD appropriations bill is expected to be considered on the House Floor during the week of July 23.  The Senate schedule is unclear.

(Editor's note:  Click here and here to see related articles on the Highway Trust Fund.  Readers should note that this topic is one of great debate in both the public and private sectors.   Stay tuned to developments in future issues of the NACA WASHINGTON BRIEFING.)

Contact David Hubbard, Leif Wathne or Robert Sullivan.

The White House's Office of Management and Budget and the U.S. Department of Transportation this week announced revised revenue and spending forecasts for the Highway Trust Fund.

These revised forecasts project a $4.3-billion deficit in the fund's Highway Account by the end of fiscal year (FY) 2009, if Federal-Aid highway program funding levels hold firm.  This revised figure differs sharply from the $800 million shortfall predicted in the Administration's FY 2008 budget released in February. 

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said in a letter to Congress that the revised figures are due to the fact that purchases of gasoline and diesel fuel are lower than had been anticipated in earlier estimates. 

Secretary Peters also notified Congress that the Administration still recommended dispensing with the revenue aligned budget authority, or RABA, in 2008.  This, in effect, would lower the newly projected shortfall to $3.8 billion.

Secretary Peters issued a public statement saying that the revised report was a "stark reminder" that the nation needed to reevaluate its funding policies.  (Source: Transportation Weekly.)

Contact  Robert Sullivan, David Hubbard, or Leif Wathne.

The national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone was exceeded 660 times across the United States in June 2007, compared with 1,037 times during the previous June. 

This news comes as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed lowering the ozone NAAQS from 0.08 parts per million to somewhere between 0.070 and 0.074 ppm.

A major element of NACA partner PCA's advocacy on this issue is that air quality is improving, making further tightening of the standard unnecessary. 

Contact Tom Carter.

U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman's (D-N.M.) on Wednesday unveiled a compromise cap-and-trade bill that includes modest targets for cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, as well as a cap on carbon prices to protect industry against runaway compliance costs.  

The Bingaman bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), will compete against nearly a half-dozen Senate-introduced bills that seek to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 80 percent below 1990 levels.

The Low Carbon Economy Act of 2007 (S. 1766) would establish an emissions trading program similar to those proposals. However, it offers a more gradual reduction of U.S. emissions to 2006 levels by 2020 and to 1990 levels by 2030.  

The bill would direct billions of dollars to help various industries transition to low-carbon production, including raising $35 billion by 2020 for deploying carbon capture and sequestration efforts in the coal industry.

The bill also would create a climate adaptation fund to steer support to U.S. coastal and high-latitude regions (e.g., Alaska) likely to be the most affected by climate change.  

The modest emissions cuts, cost caps, and support offered to various industries helped the Sen. Bingaman gain support from many longtime skeptics of cap-and-trade legislation, notably Alaska's two Republican senators, Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski, as well as the AFL-CIO.  The bill also includes a safety valve to cap industry's cost of purchasing emissions credits, or allowances, equal to each ton of emissions.

Sen. Bingaman said he hopes parts of his bill will be melded with those competing proposals in the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee.  EPW Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has vowed to take up cap-and-trade legislation this fall.

Contact Deidra Ciriello.

Environment and Public Works' Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Chairman Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) on Wednesday held a hearing on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed revision to the ozone National Ambient Air Quality (NAAQ) standards. 

Based upon the EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and staff findings on ozone pollution and its effects on public health, Administrator Steve Johnson proposed a rule to increase the current NAAQ standard from .08 parts per million (ppm) to somewhere between 0.070 ppm and 0.075 ppm.  

This proposal, Johnson testified, is open to a variety of public comments, which range from setting the standards to 0.06 ppm to maintaining the current standard.  Ultimately, the standard will be decided by March 12. 

EPW Committee Ranking Member James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Subcommittee Ranking Member George Voinovich (R-Ohio) noted in their opening remarks and in response to subsequent questions what the economic burden would be of setting such a standard for counties that have achieved attainment under the current rule, and those that are still non-attainment, arguing that the EPA continues to "move the goalpost."

Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Senator Carper pointed out that under a Supreme Court ruling the EPA Administrator is only to consider scientific evidence and public health concern when setting NAAQ standards. 

Chairman Boxer criticized Administrator Johnson for allowing comment on keeping the standard at the current level, when the scientific evidence unanimously supports increasing the standard (based on his testimony).

Contact Tom Carter.

Footnote: RABA is essentially a method to ensure that highway funding tracks actual and anticipated revenue streams.

Return to top

Questions about this newsletter? For more information or to unsubscribe, send an e-mail to info@washingtonbriefing.com.