Alaska Priorities Included in Long-Term Highway Reauthorization Bill

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) voted in support of the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy (DRIVE) Act, a bipartisan six-year highway reauthorization bill, which passed the U.S. Senate on a vote of 65-34. 

"Our nation’s roads and bridges are critical to this country’s economic growth and our way of life,” said Senator Sullivan. "Today’s passage of the DRIVE Act will provide fiscal certainty and a funding structure for our country’s roads and infrastructure. In Alaska, the bill increases much-needed transportation funding for the core highway programs and for tribal transportation and the ferry system. It also cuts through project-killing red-tape and streamlines regulatory burdens, all without raising taxes on hard-working Alaskans.”

As a member of two of the four Senate committees with jurisdiction over development of the highway bill – the Senate Environment and Public Works and Commerce, Science and Transportation Committees – Senator Sullivan worked to secure a number of provisions that will increase funding for programs critical to Alaska’s transportation infrastructure, provide flexibility from federal one-size-fits all mandates, and work to minimize the project permitting time that currently leads to increased project costs and delays in the delivery of essential infrastructure projects.

Senator Sullivan delivers for Alaska:

• Maintains Alaska’s favorable current funding formula structure
• Overall and year over year funding increases for core highway programs
• Overall and year over year funding increases to the Tribal Transportation Program
• Overall and year over year funding increases to the Federal Lands Transportation Program
• Overall increase to the Federal Lands Access Program
• Flexibility and streamlining for certain rural road and bridge projects
• Increase of $400,000 annually in funding for Alaska’s ferry system
• Provides relief from the mandates of Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program by providing a PM2.5 waiver for rural areas (Fairbanks)
• Reduction of administrative costs for the Tribal Transportation Program
• Tribal Grant program funded at $150 million per year

• Inclusion of many provisions to streamline the environmental permitting process to deliver projects in a timely matter.

• Two portability provisions that provide greater ability to streamline the project permitting process
• Historic 4(f) reform

• Establishment of Infrastructure Permitting Center

• Includes performance measures and targets to provide more transparency and accountability to the project permitting process
• Mandates stakeholder and community engagement in Infrastructure Permitting Center activities

• Fix for Alaska land swap for a project that connect the communities of Southeast Alaska

DRIVE ACT APPORTIONMENT FOR ALASKA

Alaska’s FY14 total was $483,955,039.
 

Increases support for core formula programs:

The existing consolidated core highway program structure from MAP-21 is maintained including: the National Highway Performance Program; the Highway Safety Improvement Program; the Surface Transportation Program; and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program.

Each core formula program receives a proportionate increase in funding to support long-term state transportation investment plans.

Ferry Funding:

The bill increases funding for the ferry system from $67 million to $80 million a year.  This translates into $18.6 million for ferries in Alaska.  It’s an increase from $18.2 million in FY14 and will be an increase of $2.4 million over the course of the bill.

The Tribal Transportation Program (TTP):

The Tribal Transportation Program has been flat funded at $450 million in recent years.  This bill increases funding to $465 million in the first year and grows the program by $10 million a year for the following five years of bill.

PM 2.5 waiver for Congestion Mitigation program:

Provides flexibility for transportation funds under the CMAQ program with respect to the PM2.5 set-aside for states with low population densities.  This frees up funding to be spent on local priority projects rather than compliance with nonattainment standards.  This will provide flexibility for PM 2.5 nonattainment communities like Fairbanks, Alaska.

Land Swap in Alaska:
Language clarifies a 2005 statute to ensure the proper exchange of land between Alaska and the United States Forest Service.  This effort included 357 easements, 231 marine access points, 126 log transfer facilities, and 19 transportation and utility corridors.  The language included in the bill restores the intent of the law and will allow the exchange of all remaining reciprocal easements to continue. 

Regulatory Relief/ Permitting Reform Provisions

The environmental review process that is required for completing a highway project is slow and cumbersome.  Delays within the environmental review process can lead to increased costs, and delays in essential safety projects.  The bill improves the process for creating programmatic agreements to help streamline environmental reviews, improves collaboration between the lead agency and the participating agencies, allows for greater reliance on documents prepared during the planning process, and reduces duplication between agencies involved in the federal environmental review and permitting process.

Federal Lands Transportation Program: 

The Federal Lands Transportation Program has been flat-funded at $300 million a year.  This bill increases funding to $305 million in the first year and grows the program $5 million a year for the following 5 years of the bill.

Federal Lands Access Program:

The Federal Lands Access Program has been flat-funded at $250 million since 2012.  This bill increases funding to $255 million in FY17 and grows the program $5 million a year for each subsequent year of the bill.

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