Real ID Regulations Finally Arrive

Nearly three years after its enactment in 2005, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finally issued the regulations to guide states’ implementation of the REAL ID Act on Jan. 11, 2008.

   The final rules offer much more flexibility for states than was originally proposed in the draft regulations. Based on this flexibility, DHS has re-estimated the 10-year costs to states at just under $4 billion, down $10 billion from the original $14 billion estimate.

   The final rules still require states to ensure that all applicants are legally in the country and to verify applicants’ documents using electronic databases (some of which are still under development). States are required to store copies of these documents and to make their department of motor vehicle (DMV) databases available to all other states. States must conduct background checks on certain DMV staff and secure the facilities where licenses are produced and where information and materials are stored.

   So then, what flexibility produces a $10 billion cost savings? The new rules are much less prescriptive, allowing states to develop their own security plans and to self-certify compliance with most of the requirements. Gone are the rigid prescriptions for the security features of the identification card itself, replaced by several options from which states can choose. And, as states ease into issuing REAL IDs, they will now be able to do so over six years, starting with people born after 1964.

   States can request an extension of the May 11, 2008, deadline, which will be valid through 2009. If a state takes steps toward complying, a second extension can be requested through to May 2011. During these periods, licenses from states with extensions will be accepted by DHS for official federal purposes, including boarding commercial aircraft and entering federal buildings. States must begin issuing REAL IDs in 2011, and are expected to have enrolled everyone born after 1964 by 2014, completing the entire enrollment process by Dec. 1, 2017.

   Cost remains a major concern. The administration and the Department of Homeland Security have never requested funding for state costs in the president’s budgets. Congress has appropriated only $90 million since FY 2006, leaving states to absorb the difference or pass on the cost to residents. REAL ID represents “federal standards, and they deserve federal dollars,” says William Pound, NCSL’s executive director.

Find out more about REAL ID and NCSL’s analysis of the final rules at www.ncsl.org/realid.

National Surface Transportation and Revenue Study Commission Releases Report to Congress

A congressionally mandated commission studying the surface transportation system came out Jan. 15^th with its report proposing “a new beginning” – 108 existing surface transportation programs would be replaced with ten new federal programs divided on functional lines (i.e. metropolitan areas, energy security, etc.). An independent panel would be formed to oversee various aspects of the development of the performance-based standards in the new federal program areas.

   Grabbing most of the headlines, however, was the commission’s conclusion that the federal gasoline tax needs to be increased by between 25 cents and 40 cents over the next five years.  Acknowledging that it would take political will to push through but insisting there was “no free lunch,” the report outlined a plan in which gas tax revenues along with a newly-created dedicated freight fee would combine with tax credits and Customs duties revenues to pay for freight-related transportation improvements.

   Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, chairwoman of the commission, issued a dissenting statement rejecting the proposal to raise the gas tax. "There is nothing to indicate that Washington would do a better job spending billions more of the taxpayers' money than it has so far," Peters said. Nor was the proposal well-received on Capitol Hill, where Senate Finance Committee ranking member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said that the recommendation would be thrown out immediately.

   The panel also recommended that states increase their fuel taxes, that new flexibility for tolling and congestion pricing be provided, and that the growth of public-private partnerships be facilitated around the country.

More information about the commission, including its final report, is available at http://www.transportationfortomorrow.org/.