I am Vice President of Transportation and Planning for Anderson and Associates, a consulting firm in Blacksburg, VA. I presently serve as chair of the Transportation Committee for the American Consulting Engineers Council. I am pleased to have the opportunity to address you on behalf of ACEC, the largest and oldest organization representing engineering firms. The American Consulting Engineers Council (ACEC) is the largest national organization of engineers engaged in the independent practice of consulting engineering. ACEC has more than 5,700 member firms, employing nearly 250,000 engineers, land surveyors, scientists and technicians. Together they design over $250 billion in construction projects annually. More than 75 percent of these firms are small businesses, employing fewer than 30 people each.
ACEC's involvement in the areas covered by the proposed regulations is not new. ACEC played an important role in the enactment of TEA-21 where our Transportation Committee was a major participant in the formulation of provisions in the legislation relating to simplification of planning requirements, and the streamlining of the NEPA process as well as environmental permitting. Working as professionals on behalf of our clients, our member firms experience first hand the compelling need to reduce, and hopefully eliminate duplicative efforts, overly complicated and cumbersome processes, and inordinate delays that have become obstacles to the timely delivery of transportation projects. ACEC has frequently testified on these matters before the appropriate congressional subcommittees of both the Senate and the House.
The ACEC Transportation Committee has reviewed and analyzed the proposed regulations, and in particular, evaluated them in light of what Congress had intended. Regretfully, we can only conclude that these regulations are a missed opportunity.
TEA-21 provided a unique opportunity to accelerate the existing planning process, streamline environmental approvals, and ensure the continued high quality of America's transportation system all the while fulfilling the intent of Congress that protection of the environment not be diminished or compromised in any way. Regrettably, and much to our dismay, the proposed regulations, unless drastically revised, squander the unique opportunity of TEA-21 to streamline and simplify the planning and environmental processes. The proposed regulations fail, in our view, to follow the clear direction set forth by Congress and in fact, steer the process away from streamlining and simplifying.
The proposed regulations not only miss the opportunity to address the general intent of environmental streamlining, they also fail to address very specific provisions in TEA-21 relating to time limitations, concurrent reviews, and dispute resolution. While the narrative accompanying the regulations discusses environmental streamlining, the regulations themselves are virtually silent on this issue. It is difficult to understand how the proposed regulation could fail to support and amplify the intent of, and the specific provisions of Section 1309, and instead move further away from achieving the goal of streamlining the environmental review process.
The attempt to establish a relevant linkage between the planning process and the NEPA environmental review and project development process, while laudable, falls way short in many respects. The application of a mandatory MIS-type effort in metropolitan areas is completely contrary to TEA-21. Furthermore, the failure to provide any assurance that if project level environmental work (such as the MIS-type study and the preliminary purpose and need statement) is carried out in the planning phase that it will carry any weight and avoid re-visiting in the NEPA process is glaring.
Mr. Chairman, ACEC has been and continues to be, willing to work with your committee and with Federal Highway Administration officials in developing the kind of regulations envisioned in TEA 21 and desired by the citizens of this country. Regulations that will allow needed transportation projects, vital to our economy's continued growth, to move forward expeditiously and economically.
Mr. Chairman, I think it is important that I make one other point before ending. ACEC is asking for changes to the proposed regulations because, we feel that it is the right thing for the country. By promoting concurrent environmental approvals, we have chosen to emphasize broad societal interest over individual corporate gain.
ACEC supports the efforts of both the Federal Highways Administration and this Committee to promote environmental streamlining, but we do not feel that these regulations, as written, will accomplish the goals set out in TEA 21. We urge the Agency to stop the rule making process and to amend their proposal so that the goals of TEA 21 achieved. We stand ready to work with Committee staff and all interested stakeholders to make sure that happens.
At the appropriate time, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.