New Administration Takes Form

The Bush Administration is taking shape. Andrew J. Card, Jr., who served as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation from 1992 - 1993 under President George Bush, has been appointed Chief of Staff.  Card was the President and CEO of the American Automobile Manufacturers Association  from 1993 - 1999.  In addition, New Jersey Governor Christine Whitman has been picked to head the Environmental Protection Agency. During her second term, Whitman pursued a smart growth agenda that includes a 10-year plan to preserve 1 million acres of open space in the state and policies to make it easier for developers to build on brownfields.

For more details on the Bush Cabinet, visit http://www.bushcheneytransition.com .

New Transportation Leadership Expected in the 107th Congress

The leadership of several Congressional committees is likely to change due to election results, the retirement of several lawmakers, and a policy that limits consecutive chairmanship of any House committee to three terms.  As a result of these changes, Rep. Don Young of Alaska is expected to become Chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, with Rep. Shuster falling back to chair the Ground Transportation Subcommittee. 

In the Senate, Sen. Bob Smith of New Hampshire will continue as Chair of the Environment & Public Works Committee, while Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada will likely take over as ranking Democrat from Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.  Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas will remain as Chair of the Senate Banking Committee, with jurisdiction over the federal transit program. Sen. John McCain or Arizona will chair the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee for at least another two years. 

It remains unclear whether the retirement of Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NJ) and Sen. William Roth’s (R-DE) loss in his bid for re-election will mean less support for balanced transportation policies at the federal level.  The High Speed Rail Investment Act was not included the final omnibus bill for the year despite requests by President Clinton and scores of lawmakers.  Both houses approved the budget package on 12/15, which included the New Markets Initiative bill as an amendment that will provide $25 billion in tax breaks to spur investment in poor urban and rural areas.

For more details, see http://www.senate.gov/~appropriations .  For information on high speed rail, see http://lautenberg.senate.gov/highspeed .

Final FY 2001 Appropriations Bill 
Includes DOT Provisions

The FY 2001 Final Appropriations Bill included several DOT provisions such as appropriations for the Newark-Elizabeth rail link project in New Jersey, a light rail extension in southeast Dallas, and for buses and bus facilities for Alabama A&M University from the mass transit account.  Other appropriations included $ 2,400,000 for the planning and construction of rural farm-to-market roads in California and $1,700,000 in TCSP funds for a Main Street Corridor in Houston.  The appropriations bill also directed that the Clean Fuels Formula Grant program does not apply to funds made available in FY 2001.

Final Rule for New Starts Published

On 12/7, the Federal Transit Administration published a final rule in the Federal Register on the evaluation process for New Starts projects.  The rule formalizes the process by which FTA evaluates and rates candidate projects for New Starts funding recommendations to Congress as required by TEA-21.  The new rule, which requires the integration of the Major Investment Study into the FTA/FHWA planning and environmental regulations, goes into effect on 2/5/01 and will put into regulatory form the process used since 1996.  To read the rule, visit http://www.fta.dot.gov .