Amendment to Highway Bill Targets Public Transit, Environment

[Modelcar]

....Driving around on our streets, road system I'd believe our transportation system is not the location to start the cuts....

[andrewjonathon]

The cuts listed above seem like the they are part of the fat of that seem so prevalent in every bill. To me it seems like there are studies upon studies done just for the sake of doing them. They rarely result in anything than a paper weight that gathers dust sitting on some polititians desk until it is decided to do yet another study because the previous one is too old.

One thing Bush does need to do is get spending under control because it has balloon out of control during his time in office. I am just glad to see that he is finally starting to take a stand. It started to feel like he never would.

[Anonymous]

Trust me on this one - The nation's air and water will be just as clean, if not cleaner, without these so-called "green" programs. Most of these well intentioned but misguided programs end up creating unintended consequences that actually cause more environmental harm, not to mention the well documented economic harm these programs cause.

[zardoz]

An amendment to the federal transportation bill, SAFETEA, to be introduced today by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) will eradicate $11 billion from public transit funding, public health, community development, and environmental programs.

Prior to Sessions' proposal, the Senate had proposed a total of $295 billion for the overall bill. But the Bush Administration has insisted it will veto any bill that exceeds $284 billion.

Critics contend that the Sessions amendment targets funding for some of the most successful, badly needed programs for the sake of White House approval of the overall cost.

"This amendment is really about telling Senators they can get a $295 billion highway bill at the $284 billion price tag requested by the President," said Colin F. Peppard, Transportation Policy Coordinator for Friends of the Earth. "Unfortunately, the $11 billion difference comes at the expense of our most popular and effective transportation programs."

Rather than receiving the necessary funding from the federal government, Peppard asserts that the Sessions amendment "pushes the costs of these programs onto states as unfunded mandates that will leave our air dirty, our roads congested, and our transit stalled in its tracks."

Among the programs being cut:

A $4 billion cut from Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) initiatives that are meant to reduce traffic and pollution while ensuring mobility, forcing ill-equipped local municipalities to cover the cost of Clean Air Act compliance.

A $5 billion cut from formula grants and research for public transit. These studies are geared toward enhancing security, planning, capital improvement, facility maintenance, and operating expenses.

A $1.1 billion cut from Surface Transportation Enhancement activities, one of the most popular programs. It funds historic preservation, community development, and water pollution mitigation.

A $100 million cut in transportation and community and system preservation programs (TCSP), which aim to improve synergy between transportation, community, and system development.

A $100 million cut to the Transportation and Finance Innovation Act, which provides federal credit assistance to major transportation investments of national importance.


from greenwatch.org