Statement of Principles for the Reauthorization
of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21)

American Council of Engineering Companies

Our member companies perform important services encompassing the full range of engineering disciplines and land surveying, for clients large and small. We represent small businesses, large international firms, minority, disadvantaged and women owned professional engineering and surveying firms. We are an important and integral component in the delivery of the nation's infrastructure facilities.

ACEC-member firms work closely with state departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, transit agencies, cities and counties across the country, helping to design and deliver the much needed infrastructure improvements that TEA-21 has made possible. Our combination of technical experience, program knowledge and widespread association with the state DOTs provides sound credibility from which to comment on the upcoming reauthorization of TEA-21.

Themes for Reauthorization
In 1998, Congress passed the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), a landmark measure that authorized $218 billion for our nation's highways, bridges and transit systems. Over the past six years this country has reaped the benefits of the investments made under TEA-21. These investments have helped to improve mobility, increase safety, protect the environment, boost productivity and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Even with the more than 40 percent increase in federal funding provided in TEA-21, our highways, bridges and transit systems are still not performing at an acceptable level. With 90 percent of all personal travel occurring on surface roadways, more and more travelers are sitting in congestion, resulting in billions of dollars in lost time and productivity. Despite safety improvements, far too many drivers are killed on our roads. Aging infrastructure takes its toll on vehicle wear and tear and requires increased maintenance expenses. And other transportation challenges remain, including ensuring the security of our transportation facilities.

ACEC has identified the following key themes to guide efforts in reauthorizing TEA-21:

• Reduce congestion and increase mobility through multi-modal approaches and better utilization of existing facilities and technologies.

• Enhance the preservation, performance and security of our transportation system.

• Improve safety for all modes.

• Facilitate economic development by improving transportation corridors that are vital to regional and interstate commerce.

ACEC's Key Reauthorization Principles
To help achieve these goals, ACEC has identified four key principles that should be addressed in the reauthorization of TEA-21:

• Increase funding for transportation by preserving TEA-21's funding guarantees and developing new, innovative funding mechanisms.

• Strengthen public/private relationships and increase the use of the private sector in designing and constructing the nation's transportation infrastructure.

• Promote environmental stewardship and improve project delivery by expediting project reviews.

• Enhance the delivery of the program through better oversight and expanded research and development activities.

Principle 1: Increase Funding

Despite the increased funding under TEA-21, current investment in transportation falls far below the amount needed to improve the current condition and performance of our transportation facilities. Current federal funding is approximately $30 billion per year for highways and $7 billion per year for transit. To help meet the U.S. Department of Transportation's goal of providing a safer, less congested and more durable transportation system, ACEC supports increasing federal funding to a level in the range of at least $45-$50 billion per year for highways and $10-$15 billion per year for transit.

The principle of ensuring that taxes paid by transportation users are protected in the Highway Trust Fund and used solely toward transportation funding is a hallmark of TEA-21 that must be preserved. At the same time, ways must be identified to secure the Highway Trust Fund and increase funding for all modes of transportation.

ACEC recommends:

• Preserve the firewalls and the principle of guaranteed funding.

• Retain the Revenue Aligned Budget Authority (RABA) mechanism but improve its reliability, stability, and predictability.

• Explore ways to better utilize Highway Trust Fund revenues by increasing flexibility between programs and improving and expanding opportunities to utilize innovative financing programs.

• Secure the integrity of the Highway Trust Fund by ensuring that all user revenues are collected into the Trust Fund and by addressing the negative effects of special tax treatments for alternative fuels.

• Continue the General Fund contribution for transit.

• Seek additional funding options for multimodal projects along critical national transportation corridors.

• Support high-speed passenger rail corridors and the elimination of strategic freight rail chokepoints using funding other than the Highway Trust Fund.

• Explore options for increasing Highway Trust Fund revenues.

• Examine long-term financing alternatives and new approaches to innovative financing.

• Consider options for developing new and additional revenue sources separate from the Trust Fund for critical transportation security improvements.

Principle 2: Improve the Transportation System Through Public/Private Innovation

Private sector design firms play an essential role, working in concert with public agencies, in effectively utilizing federal dollars to improve the condition and performance of our nation's highway and transit systems. Working together, public agencies and private sector engineering firms deliver higher quality transportation projects, greater innovation, and better value to the taxpayer.

In reauthorizing TEA-21, ACEC seeks to continue the valuable partnerships with the public sector. At the same time, ACEC encourages Congress to endorse and maximize the role of private sector design firms in developing transportation projects.

ACEC recommends:

• Encourage more outsourcing and public-private partnerships that promote and harness the capacity of private sector design firms to speed projects to construction while increasing innovation and reducing costs.

• Increase quality through competition by continuing and strengthening the commitment to Qualifications Based Selection (QBS).

• Promote value-based delivery systems (VBDS).

• Allow contract policies to be specific to each individual project rather than developing "one-size-fits-all" policies.

• Increase the use of performance specifications instead of warranties and guarantees.

• Improve fiscal management techniques to more effectively and efficiently administer outsourcing contracts and invoicing procedures.

Principle 3: Promote Environmental Stewardship and Expedite Project Reviews

Transportation projects should not only protect, but also find ways to enhance the surrounding environment. However, current environmental review processes cause needless delays and drive up costs. Recognizing these inefficiencies, Congress wisely called for improving the review and permitting process for transportation projects in TEA-21. However, the full intent of Congress to expedite the project development and review process has not been realized. Steps must be taken in reauthorization to ensure these objectives are achieved.

ACEC recommends:

• Develop legislative provisions that continue to expedite the environmental review and permitting process by clarifying and strengthening the leadership role of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

• Require review and decision time limits and carefully monitor and report on compliance.

• Establish a time period for responses and legal challenges.

• Establish high-level decision and dispute resolution processes to reduce and/or avoid costly litigation.

• Enhance the coordination of federal, state and local review and permitting agencies.

• Delegate approval and decision-making authority to the state level.

• Promote environmental stewardship and context sensitive solutions by preserving the flexibility and discretion under existing statutes to use federal funds in achieving transportation project stewardship objectives.

• Reform Section 4(f) requirements.

• Offer optional simplified NEPA and planning review and approval processes that link binding approvals made by resource agencies in the planning process to their actions on the same set of projects during the NEPA stage.

• Measure and report interagency cooperation and support for stewardship/ streamlining initiatives and actual elapsed time between critically important milestones with proven survey techniques.

Principle 4: Enhance Program Management

TEA-21, along with its predecessor ISTEA, established a sound basis for administering the nation's highway and transit programs. The two acts help to give greater control over funding decisions and other responsibilities to the state and local levels, providing them the flexibility to address their specific transportation needs.

Some improvements can be made to the program to better utilize limited financial resources.

ACEC recommends:

• Maintain the balance of responsibility and decision-making between federal, state, and local officials.

• Adopt a performance based approach to rule making, relying to the maximum degree on legislated language, specifying outcomes instead of prescriptive methods, and only those clearly specified in legislation.

• Use informal, non-regulatory means to convey best practices on methodologies.

• Modify the fiscally constrained requirements of STIPs and TIPs to be more flexible in accommodating requirements to fund large projects and programs that will involve a stretch of financial resources.

• Expand and simplify innovative financing.

• Encourage cooperative research and development activities and investment in promising new technologies.

Conclusion
The transportation system is the backbone of our nation's economy and a significant contributor to our personal freedom and mobility. It unifies us as a nation and is a contributing factor in making the United States a world leader. Developed through the contributions and strong partnership of the taxpayer/user, Congress, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and private industry, improving the condition and performance of the system is vital to the long-term interests and stability of our nation.

In order to address the challenges of preserving the existing system, improving system conditions and performance, improving system security, and developing innovative and secure long-term financing/funding, a committed and focused team effort will be required. The reauthorization of TEA-21 is a unique opportunity to establish legislation that will build upon the successes of TEA-21 through increasing funding, encouraging environmental stewardship, improving project delivery, enhancing program management, and increasing public-private partnerships.