Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 5753 - Intermodal Surface Transportation Technical Corrections Act

(House)
(Mineta (D) California and 3 others)

The Secretary of Transportation would recommend a veto of H.R. 5753 in its current form.

The Administration recognizes that technical corrections to the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) would be useful. H.R. 5753, however, includes objectionable substantive provisions. Many of these provisions would add new costs or significantly change the operation and administration of the surface transportation programs. For example, certain provisions would:

—   Permit States to deposit apportioned or allocated Federal-aid highway funds into a transportation revolving fund for loans to public and private entities for construction of projects (section 137). Such a program could divert resources from priority national needs.

—   Authorize the use of Federal highway funds to retire the interest on bonds issued by States, counties, and cities (section 115).

—   Increase spending on special interest demonstration projects included in previous legislation by over $25 million, and including new earmarkings of funds for new special interest projects. Such mandates and restrictions limit the States' flexibility in directing their transportation resources to their highest priority projects.

—   Allow Federal financing for toll projects prior to completion of Federal environmental requirements other than NEPA (section 120), and suspend for five years the implementation of permit requirements related to Wetlands preservation for a project on 1-287 (section 160). All generally applicable Federal requirements relating to the environment, civil rights, and other subjects should apply.

—   Allow the establishment of multiple Municipal Planning Organizations (MPOs) where there is now a single MPO, without the agreement of 75 percent of the governments within the boundaries of the existing MPO. This would undermine the coordinated planning process established by ISTEA and the Clean Air Act (CAA) for CAA nonattainment areas.

Pay-As-You-Go Scoring

Preliminary analysis indicates that a number of the provisions of H.R. 5753 could increase direct spending. If so, the bill would be subject to the pay-as-you-go requirements of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. Scoring estimates are currently under development.