First, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for holding this hearing today. This certainly is an issue in which an open dialogue between Members of Congress and the Administration will ensure that any final rule will be well written and balanced.
I also would like to take a minute to acknowledge the Ranking Member, Senator Baucus. It was not long ago that you, our current Chairman and my father were late-night partners putting the final touches on the landmark TEA-21 legislation. It was a job well done.
As my colleagues are well aware, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century was approved overwhelmingly in 1998. TEA-21, to which it is commonly referred, reauthorized surface transportation programs and funding through the year 2003. Included in TEA-21 was section 1309 entitled "environmental streamlining." The intent of this section was to make the permit and approval process for highway construction projects work in a more smooth and coordinated manner, while still ensuring protection of the environment.
As many know, there is a need to address the concerns raised by many project applicants, such as our state transportation officials, about delays in project approvals and the costs that are incurred by these delays -- which are not always inexpensive. However, I believe that any effort to achieve this goal should not be a means to weaken existing environmental standards that already have been established. We are here to discuss "streamlining" the process -- not "steamrolling" it.
This, my colleagues, is where the careful balance to which I referred at the beginning of my statement comes into play. How can our transportation projects move forward without circumventing environmental reviews or limiting a meaningful analysis of alternatives?
The proposed rule issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation has generated a great deal of discussion about what the intent was for section 1309. Further, there is discussion about what exactly "environmental streamlining" means to the different parties involved. In my homestate, this very issue has surfaced. In fact, I have been contacted by my state transportation director, Dr. William Ankner, about the need to keep an open dialogue on this issue. According to Dr. Ankner, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management are hosting a regional conference next week between the Northeast Association of Transportation Officials and their counterparts at the Environmental Council of the States to discuss environmental streamlining and to develop comments for the proposed regulations. Allowing comments to be submitted and reviewed will inevitably lead to a improved regulation.
I believe in the shared goal of working collectively to ensure that 1) environmental concerns are given appropriate and early consideration in the decision making process, and 2) project delays are minimized. With that goal in mind, the process for environmental streamlining will work and our environment will be preserved for future generations.
In closing, I would like to thank today's witnesses for taking time out of their busy schedules to be here, and for keeping the dialogue open for working toward a well balanced approach.