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7/18/2002
TEA-21 Users Guide - Chapter 4
Potential Pitfalls
In Addition to the new opportunities created by TEA-21, there
are some new problems, or at least potential problems. The most
important are discussed in this chapter.
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The New Money:
A Recipe for Sprawl or a Chance for Wise Investment?
- TEA-21 represents a large increase in federal funds for
transportation.
- In general, areas with high population and economic growth will
receive the most new money, and this money may end up fueling more
sprawl.
- Under ISTEA, the share of federal funds going to new roads began
to decline, and this trend can continue. Most of the new money
provided by TEA-21 will go into categories that cannot fund new
roads.
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Distribution of Funding Increase By
End Use
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ISTEA
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TEA-21
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Difference
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Money That Must Be Used To Build New Highways
(Interstate Construction, ARC, earmarked funds)
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$13 billion
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$8 billion
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$ -5 billion
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Money That May Not Be Used to Build New Highways
(Bridge, Interstate Maintenance, CMAQ, Transit, Transportation
Enhancements, Safety, etc.)
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$74 billion
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$111 billion
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$37 billion
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Flexible Money
(Surface Transportation Program, “equity” categories, etc.)
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$68 billion
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$97 billion
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$29 billion
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Totals
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$156 billion
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$216 billion
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$61 billion
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Streamlined Environmental Review:
Better Coordination or Cutting Corners?
- TEA-21 requires federal agencies to establish new time periods
for reviewing the environmental impacts of proposed highway and
transit projects.
- Proposals were made to substantively weaken the environmental
review process, but these proposals were rejected.
- State transportation agencies are now allowed to pass TEA-21
funds through to federal or state environmental agencies to cover
the higher costs of expedited environmental review.
- New regulations will be written to implement the new system, and
advocates for sound environmental protections will need to make
their concerns known to USDOT.
TEA-21 Reference:
Section 1309.
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Congressionally Earmarked Funding:
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
- Earmarked funding is not new to TEA-21. Five percent of highway
authorizations are earmarked to specific projects, the same as in
ISTEA.
- The TEA-21 earmarks result in spending patterns similar to what
comes out of the underlying formulas—some good, some bad, and a
lot in the middle.
- Road projects that receive earmarked funds still have to follow
all the requirements that apply to federal funds, including
planning and NEPA review.
- A significant percentage of earmarked dollars goes to
transportation enhancement activities, transit and rail projects,
and highway system repairs. The percentage of earmarked dollars
going to new road construction is less than in ISTEA.
TEA-21 Reference:
Section 1602.
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The Surface Transportation Policy Project is a nationwide network of more than 800
organizations, including planners, community development organizations, and advocacy groups,
devoted to improving the nation’s transportation system.
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STPP
