Intergovernmental Forum on Transportation Finance releases report

NCSL joined with five other national associations representing state and local elected officials and the National Academy of Public Administration to convene The Intergovernmental Forum on Transportation Finance.  The Forum has concluded its work and the 116-page report was made publicly available on March 12^th.  It is entitled "Financing Transportation in the 21st Century: An Intergovernmental Perspective."
       Among its findings, the report recommended prompt action on the part of Congress and the administration to coordinate with state and local governments on ensuring the continuation of the Highway Trust Fund as well as other transportation revenue sources.  The report also said, "New capital investments as well as adequate funds to support operations, regular maintenance, efficient multimodal system design, and innovative congestion reduction initiatives are necessary to close existing and projected financial gaps to maintain existing facilities and to meet new program needs."
      The report is available at: http://www.ncsl.org/standcomm/sctran/NAPAreport0108.htm.

FHWA Seeks to Rescind Pending Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) For Inactive or Cancelled Road Projects

In an effort to improve the reported timeframes for completion of environmental impact statements for highway projects, the Federal Highway Administration is seeking to rescind notices of intent for EISs for projects that are inactive or cancelled, according to a series of memoranda sent from FHWA headquarters to the agency's division offices.  The latest memorandum on the effort, dated Feb. 13, asked divisions to take formal action to rescind notices of intent for projects identified as inactive.
      The effort was first launched in a July 6, 2007 memo from Gloria Shepherd, FHWA Associate Administrator for Planning, Environment, and Realty, to division administrators and environmental coordinators. In the July memo, Shepherd noted the agency's concern that its “key” performance measure to improve timeliness of environmental reviews was not meeting the 2007 and 2008 performance goal of 36 months for completion.
      The memo pointed to a total of 23 states that have one or more projects identified as inactive. The inactive list currently includes 55 projects.  The lists of inactive EISs may be accessed on the FHWA Environmental Review Toolkit website at http://environment.fhwa.dot.gov/projdev/inactive_eis.asp.

NCSL Supports Transportation in Budget Resolution

NCSL issued a letter March 12^th supporting an amendment by U.S. Senator Ben Nelson to S. Con. Res. 70—the Senate’s Resolution for the FY 2009 budget—increasing funding for transportation infrastructure should there be a second economic stimulus package.  The letter also expressed NCSL support for “provisions that continue or expand our collaborative efforts on numerous state-federal programs, that avoid cost shifts to states and that attempt to ameliorate the burdens of unfunded federal mandates on state budgets.”
      The letter is available at: http://www.ncsl.org/standcomm/sctran/BgtResLtr031208.htm.

Climate Change Will Hurt Gulf Coast Transportation System, DOT Study Finds

The Department of Transportation released a study March 12^th analyzing the potential detrimental impacts of rising sea levels and sinking land mass on transportation infrastructure in the Gulf Coast region.  The report, "The Impacts of Climate Change and Variability on Transportation Systems and Infrastructure: Gulf Coast Study, Phase I," analyzed the infrastructure's vulnerabilities in an area covering 48 contiguous counties in four states, from Galveston, Texas, to Mobile, Ala. 
      Analysts used models that simulated potential climate changes over the next 50-100 years. The study found that 27 percent of major roads, 9 percent of rail lines, and 72 percent of area ports are at or below four feet above sea level and could be subject to flooding due to rising sea levels, sinking land mass, or possibly both phenomena. The report is available at: http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/sap4-7/final-report/sap4-7-final-all.pdf .