Transportation Equity Act - Amendment No. 14 Offered by Mr. Wu

TRANSPORTATION EQUITY ACT: A LEGACY FOR USERS -- PETITIONS, ETC. -- (House of Representatives - April 01, 2004)

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AMENDMENT NO. 14 OFFERED BY MR. WU

Mr. WU. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. The Clerk will designate the amendment.

The text of the amendment is as follows:

Amendment No. 14 offered by Mr. Wu:

In the matter proposed to be inserted as section 5309(e) of title 49, United States Code, by section 3010(d) of the bill after "or entered into a full funding grant agreement" insert the following:

or received an application for final design

MODIFICATION TO AMENDMENT NO. 14 OFFERED BY MR. WU

Mr. WU. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be modified in the form at the desk.

The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. The Clerk will report the modification.

The Clerk read as follows:

Modification to amendment No. 14 offered by Mr. Wu:

Insert the following in lieu of Amendment 14:

In the matter proposed to be inserted as section 5309(e) of title 49, United States Code, by section 3010(d) of the bill insert the following:

Subsection (d) does not apply to projects for which the Secretary has received an application for final design.

The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. Is there objection to the modification offered by the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu)?

There was no objection.

The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 593, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu) and a Member opposed will each control 5 minutes.

The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu).

Mr. WU. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, there are projects that have undergone all aspects of FTA New Starts review and have, in fact, received recommended ratings in the FTA 2005 New Starts Report, and they are simply awaiting approval to enter final design. These projects have been through financial review, environmental review, project management review, and have fulfilled all of the prerequisites for entering into final design.

However, under our subject legislation, only projects with a full funding grant agreement or letter of intent before enactment of this bill are exempt from the provisions for major projects and small starts. This is a serious problem for smaller projects like a commuter rail project in my congressional district, which are in final design or in the process of having final design approved. I might add this also affects a rail project in the San Diego metropolitan area.

These projects will essentially have to start all over again under the small starts program and, furthermore, such projects will have to await the promulgation of small starts rules before proceeding. This process will result in a year-long delay for projects that are near the end of an already lengthy Federal approval process.

In the case of the commuter rail project in my congressional district, this long delay will seriously endanger State funding and agreed-to rail agreements.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment will exempt projects for which the Secretary of Transportation has received an application for final design from the small starts provisions of the bill. This fair and balanced amendment will allow recommended new starts which have applied for final design to move forward on their original time line and avoid unnecessary delay.

This is expressly limited to subsection (d), small start projects only. My amendment will only affect two recommended small start transit projects in the entire country, but it will save unnecessary administrative delay and also improve the commuting lives of millions of citizens in Oregon and in the San Diego metropolitan area.

Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. WU. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume to assure the chairman and ranking member that as originally drafted it applied to both subsection (d) and (e), major starts and small starts. As redrafted in the modified language, this amendment applies only to subsection (d), the small starts provision.

So I want to assure the chairman and ranking member that it does only apply to small starts, what would otherwise be small starts.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. The question is on the amendment, as modified, offered by the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu).

The amendment, as modified, was agreed to.

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