Details of Transportation Reauthorization Released

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released details today of reauthorization legislation, the Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009. The legislation is a 6 year $500 billion bill that will replace the current authorization, SAFETEA-LU, which is due to expire on September 30. The Chairman of the Committee, James Oberstar (D-Minn.), will introduce the full authorization legislation as early as tomorrow and has billed it as a transformation in the way the federal government funds the nation's transportation infrastructure. The documents released today include a blueprint for investment and reform, a framework of principles for federal surface transportation and an executive summary, which are all available on the AGC Web site.  All of the documents and future updates can be found here. The blueprint of the legislation indicates a reduced number of federal programs but keeps most of the eligibility for them.  It does not address any specifics on formula funding. The blueprint states that there would be project streamlining, but new environmental concerns exist, such as carbon reduction and livability. Finally, the plan would centralize national planning to include all transportation modes. The Committee is planning a markup of the legislation next Wednesday, June, 24, and has indicated that the process will be bipartisan.