Congress approves highway bill

Congress approved a two-year bill to overhaul federal highway and transit programs. Lawmakers completed final wording for the legislation to beat a June 30 deadline, when the government’s authority to spend transportation funds and levy federal gasoline and diesel taxes was scheduled to expire, according to The Associated Press (AP). 

Total funding for the transportation bill is about $105 billion. House and Senate negotiators reached compromises on environmental and safety issues that tied up the Congress for months. Some details of the agreement, as reported by AP, include:

• Dropping a provision by House Republicans that President Obama approve the Keystone XL pipeline to transport oil from Canada. House Republicans also dropped a provision calling for the administration to block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating ash generated by coal-fired power plants.
• The Senate compromised with House GOP demands to speed up the time it takes to complete environmental impact studies of highway and transit projects. The goal is to cut in half the estimated 15 years Republicans say it now takes for such assessments.
• The Senate agreed that bike paths, pedestrian safety and other so-called “transportation enhancements” must compete for funding with other transportation programs. Republicans said transportation funds are better spent on roads and bridges.

Transportation industry officials praised the compromise legislation. “The transportation construction industry has been languishing with uncertainty for too long,” National Asphalt Pavement Association President Mike Acott said in a statement. “This two-year bill is the right step forward.”

The agreement breaks the latest congressional logjam over transportation funding. The last comprehensive transportation plan ended in 2009, with Congress approving a series of extensions since then. 

The new measure does not address long-term solutions to highway and transit funding. Gas and diesel taxes no longer cover the cost of transportation funding and they are projected to bring in less revenue in the future.