Senators: Federal transportation bill is “Historic breakthrough”
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — A federal transportation bill is heading to President Obama for his signature after a rare bipartisan move by Congress. It’s a huge bill that will hand out $305 billion across the nation, and it brings to an end to years of short-term transportation funding that made it hard to plan for big projects.
“This transportation bill is an historic breakthrough,” said U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, (D) Connecticut.
Historic because, for the past decade, congress has only funded the country’s transportation infrastructure a few months at a time. That has made life very difficult for the men and women who build and maintain roads and bridges.
“For the last 10 years, the entire construction industry has basically been on standby,” explains Don Shubert, President of the Connecticut Construction Industries Association. “We can’t buy new equipment, we can’t invest in our workforce, there’s a lot of things we can’t do without long-range planning.”
This bill provides $305 billion nationwide over the next five years, about 3 and a half billion for Connecticut. The construction industry says long term funding will mean faster work.
CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE PLUS NEWS CLIP
SUMMARY FAST ACT
The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act is five-year legislation to improve the
Nation’s surface transportation infrastructure, including our roads, bridges, transit systems, and
rail transportation network. The bill reforms and strengthens transportation programs, refocuses on
national priorities, provides long-term certainty and more flexibility for states and local
governments, streamlines project approval processes, and maintains a strong commitment to safety.
ROADS & BRIDGES
• Facilitates commerce and the movement of goods by refocusing existing funding for a National
Highway Freight Program and a Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects Program
• Expands funding available for bridges off the National Highway System
• Converts the Surface Transportation Program (STP) to a block grant program, increases
flexibility for states and local governments, and rolls the Transportation Alternatives Program
into the STP Block Grant
• Streamlines the environmental review and permitting process to accelerate project approvals
• Eliminates or consolidates at least six separate offices within the Department of
Transportation and establishes a National Surface Transportation and Innovative Finance Bureau to
help states, local governments, and the private sector with project delivery
• Increases transparency by requiring the Department of Transportation to provide project-level
information to Congress and the public
• Promotes private investment in our surface transportation system
• Promotes the deployment of transportation technologies and congestion management tools
• Encourages installation of vehicle-to-infrastructure equipment to improve congestion and
safety
• Updates research and transportation standards development to reflect the growth of technology
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
• Increases dedicated bus funding by 89% over the life of the bill
• Provides both stable formula funding and a competitive grant program to address bus and bus
facility needs
• Reforms public transportation procurement to make federal investment more cost effective and
competitive
• Consolidates and refocuses transit research activities to increase efficiency and
accountability
• Establishes a pilot program for communities to expand transit through the use of
public-private partnerships
• Eliminates the set aside for allocated transit improvements
• Provides flexibility for recipients to use federal funds to meet their state of good repair
needs
• Provides for the coordination of public transportation services with other federally assisted
transportation services to aid in the mobility of seniors and individuals with disabilities
• Requires a review of safety standards and protocols to evaluate the need to establish federal
minimum safety standards in public transportation and requires the results to be made public
HIGHWAY & MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY
• Focuses funding for roadway safety critical needs
• Increases percentage of National Priority Safety Program states can spend on traditional
safety programs
• Ensures more states are eligible for safety incentive grant funds and encourages states to
adopt additional safety improvements
• Encourages states to increase safety awareness of commercial motor vehicles
SUMMARY
• Increases funding for highway-railway grade crossings
• Requires a feasibility study for an impairment standard for drivers under the influence of
marijuana
• Improves the auto safety recall process to better inform and protect consumers
• Increases accountability in the automobile industry for safety-related issues
TRUCK & BUS SAFETY
• Overhauls the rulemaking process for truck and bus safety to improve transparency
• Consolidates truck and bus safety grant programs and provides state flexibility on safety
priorities
• Incentivizes the adoption of innovative truck and bus safety technologies
• Requires changes to the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program to improve transparency in
the FMCSA’s oversight activity
• Improves truck and bus safety by accelerating the introduction of new transportation
technologies
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
• Grants states more power to decide how to spend training and planning funds for first
responders
• Requires Class I railroads to provide crude oil movement information to emergency responders
• Reforms an underutilized grant program for state and Indian tribe emergency response efforts
• Better leverages training funding for hazmat employees and those enforcing hazmat regulations
• Requires real-world testing and a data-driven approach to braking technology
• Enhances safety for both new tank cars and legacy tank cars
• Speeds up administrative processes for hazmat special permits and approvals
• Cuts red tape to allow a more nimble federal response during national emergencies
RAILROADS
• Provides robust reforms for Amtrak, including reorganizing the way Amtrak operates into
business lines
• Gives states greater control over their routes, by creating a State-Supported Route Committee
• Speeds up the environmental review process for rail projects
• Creates opportunities for the private sector through station and right-of-way development
• Consolidates rail grant programs for passenger, freight, and other rail activities
• Establishes a Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair grant program
• Strengthens Northeast Corridor planning to make Amtrak more accountable and states equal
partners
• Allows competitors to operate up to three Amtrak long-distance lines, if at less cost to the
taxpayer
• Strengthens passenger and commuter rail safety, and track and bridge safety
• Preserves historic sites for rail while ensuring that safety improvements can move forward
• Unlocks and reforms the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan program
• Includes reforms to get RRIF loans approved more quickly with enhanced transparency
• Provides commuter railroads with competitive grants and loans to spur timely Positive Train
Control implementation
• Provides competitive opportunities for the enhancement and restoration of rail service
ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS
• Includes bipartisan measures to simplify rules and regulations, aid consumers, assist
low-income housing residents, and help build a healthier economy
• Includes bipartisan provisions to provide energy infrastructure and security upgrades
• Streamlines the review process for infrastructure, energy, and other construction projects
FINANCING PROVISIONS
• Includes fiscally responsible provisions to ensure the bill is fully paid for
• Ensures the Highway Trust Fund is authorized to meet its obligations through FY 2020
• Directs offsets from the FAST Act into the Highway Trust Fund to ensure fund solvency
• Reauthorizes the dedicated revenue sources to the Highway Trust Fund, which periodically
expire