Committee on TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE U.S. House of Representatives	Democratic  News
Room 2163 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC  20515 Telephone 202-225-4472	Rep. James L. Oberstar, Ranking Democratic Member

 

For Immediate Release                                                                                                      Contact:  Jim Berard

Wednesday, March 4, 2004                                                                                                          (202) 225-4472

 

 

Oberstar: DOT Still Lags in Rulemaking

DOT IG finds rules as old as 15.5 years still await action

 

==============================

 

 

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Transportation has improved its performance in completing Congressionally mandated rulemaking over the past four years, but rules dating as far back as 1987 are still pending, Rep. James L. Oberstar (Minn.) reported today.

 

Oberstar, Ranking Democratic Member on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the data is contained in a report he requested from the department’s Inspector General.  The study is a follow up to a 2000 report, also requested by Oberstar.

 

“There is good news and bad news from DOT,” Oberstar said.  “The good news is that the Secretary and his top lieutenants have made it a priority to clear their rulemaking backlog, and I applaud them for making significant progress since our 2000 investigation.  The bad news is that there are still a number of rules that have languished for more than a decade.”

 

The IG’s latest audit shows the department has decreased the average time to complete rulemaking from 3.9 years to 3.0 years, an improvement of nearly 25 percent.  If rules over eight years old are removed from the calculation, the average drops even further to 1.7 years.  In 1993, the average was 2.3 years for all rules.

 

The audit also found 14 rules that have been pending 10 years or more, the oldest dating back 15.5 years.  Forty rules are over five years old, and 13 rules with deadlines set by Congress are overdue.  In addition, DOT has set internal milestone dates for the each rulemaking process, but failed to meet these deadlines in 69 percent of rulemakings in the first half of 2003.  Unless this time is made up, the result will be further delays in issuing final rules.

 

Oberstar said he is hopeful the department’s reforms, including the development of a department-wide tracking system and the establishment of internal milestone dates and deadlines will enable DOT to continue to improve its track record, clear its backlog and complete rulemaking procedures in a reasonable amount of time.

 

###