WASHINGTON, DC –Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) released the following statement after the Senate passed a 6-year bipartisan surface transportation bill, the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy (DRIVE) Act (S. 1647). The bill provides long-term funding for state and local governments to improve our roads, bridges and other transportation projects.
Barrasso was successful in including key provisions that provide regulatory relief and flexibility for rural states like Wyoming.
“Ensuring the safety of our nation’s roads, bridges and infrastructure is absolutely critical,” said Barrasso. “Today, the Senate took the lead in passing a bipartisan, long-term solution to our transportation challenges. This bill doesn’t just address the needs of urban communities. It includes a number of important provisions that will provide flexibility for rural states like Wyoming, as well as communities across Indian Country. The House should waste no time in passing this bill immediately so we can send it to the president to sign into law as soon as possible.”
Background on Barrasso Provisions included in the Bill:
Rural Road Waivers
This provision provides the Secretary of Transportation with new authorities to provide exceptions and exemptions that provide regulatory relief and flexibility for rural road and rural bridge projects.
Indexing Categorical Exclusion Projects
This provision allows projects with categorical exclusions to adjust the project dollar amounts for inflation. MAP-21 currently allows for categorical exclusions for projects for any highway or transit project that receive less than $5 million in Federal funds. Unless those amounts are adjusted for inflation, the value of the categorical exclusion will degrade over time.
Critical Rural Freight Corridor Designation Flexibility
This provision provides the states with more flexibility to designate rural routes as critical rural freight corridors. This would include designating routes to agricultural and forestry facilities or energy development that connect to primary freight networks or interstate highways.
Tribal Transportation Program Funding
This provision includes language from Senator Barrasso’s Tribal Infrastructure and Roads Enhancement and Safety (TIRES) Act that increases available funding for the Tribal Transportation Program (TTP).
Tribal Administrative Expenses
Decreases administrative expenses paid by the Tribes to the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 6% to 5% of the total amount of the project. This provision will put more money into tribal projects instead of bureaucratic expenses.
Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) Program
This provision reinstates flexibility for states that have at least one nonattainment area to use CMAQ funding for rural transit operations or street sweeping equipment to limit particulate pollution in attainment areas.
Assistance for Major Projects Program (AMPP)
Provides language to ensure that, under the new assistance for major projects program, projects in a low population density state like Wyoming would be eligible at lower dollar amounts than the eligibility threshold for projects in more densely populated states.
TIFIA Qualification
Provides language in the bill to ensure that Wyoming “rural” projects would qualify for lower interest rates and require a lower project dollar amount in order to be eligible under the program.
Rural Road Data Collection Flexibility
Provides language in the bill that would provide an exemption from a MAP-21 requirement that State DOTs collect that same amount of data on a gravel road as a major intersection in Cheyenne.
Freight Program Requirement Delay
Provides language to ensure a reasonable transition period for states before the effective date of new requirements to establish a freight state advisory committee and a state freight plan under a freight program of the overall highway program.
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