Earlier this week, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) and Ranking Member Senator David Vitter (R-Louisiana) unveiled S. 2322, their Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) Reauthorization Act measure.  The Senate’s transportation bill would reauthorize the nation’s surface transportation program for six years at current funding levels plus inflation, which is estimated to cost $265 billion between fiscal year 2015 and 2020.  On Thursday, the full committee unanimously approved the measure.  The real challenge, however, rests with the Senate Finance Committee – how to pay the approximate $265 billion price tag.  Later this year, the full Senate will likely take up the bill, which will also include transit and safety titles that make up the entire transportation reauthorization bill.

In our cursory review, S. 2322 includes several provisions of interest to rural counties, including efforts to streamline various permitting processes and improving transparency, requirements for stronger cross-agency coordination, and increased flexibility for certain eligible rural roads and bridge projects, specifically those that reduce costs, expedite construction, or improve safety.  The bill also designates specific funding for rural areas for projects of national or regional significance, and includes a rural set aside within the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program to provide low-interest financing for eligible rural transportation projects.  The following amendments were taken during markup of the bill Thursday:

  • An amendment by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) to increase the proportion of National Highway Performance Program (NHPP) funds that can be used for non-National Highway System bridges from 10 percent to 15 percent.  Under this amendment, on-system bridges would be eligible for NHPP funding.
  • An amendment by Senators Boxer, Vitter, Tom Carper (D-Delaware), and John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) that requires states to invest in the greatest safety needs, however, would weaken safety performance measures and reduce consequences to states for not meeting safety performance. 
  • An amendment by Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) to reduce the TIFIA loan program by $250 million a year and using those funds for research and development, which would restore half of all research funding that was left out of the initial draft of the bill.

RCRC has adopted two key priorities as part of our MAP-21 reauthorization advocacy efforts – restore dedicated funding for high-risk rural roads and restore dedicated funding for local on-system bridges.  We are pleased to see Congress has taken action to address our two priority areas, but there is still much work to be done in both the Senate and the House.  RCRC is working with the National Association of Counties to provide recommendations on draft language they have developed to decrease the fatality rate on rural roads and to provide local agencies a seat at the table when states are making decisions that impact rural road safety.  We are hopeful that these legislative efforts would result in a more equitable distribution of Highway Safety Improvement Project funding between state and local government for safety improvement projects.

RCRC staff will provide more detailed analysis of draft legislative language that became available Monday, and amendments that were taken during markup this Thursday in subsequent articles. 

For additional information, please contact RCRC Legislative Analyst Randall Echevarria at 916.447.4806 orrechevarria@rcrcnet.org.