and other federal environmental laws and regulations are major causes of delay in moving highway and transit projects from conception to completion. What the evidence appears to show is that while major highway and transit facilities do take a long time to plan and build, typically on the order of 10 to 15 years, much of the delay is unrelated to federally mandated environmental review. Developing a community consensus on what to do, securing the funding, and dealing with affected residents and businesses, including utility companies and railroads, all appear to be significant causes of delay. The report begins with an overview of the project delivery process for highway and transit projects. Highways

There may be as many as 200 steps in a major highway project, but these are typically grouped into five major phases: planning; preliminary design and environmental review; final design; right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation; and construction. The new process, mandatory for all projects requiring an EIS,
requires project sponsors to initiate the environmental review process by notifying DOT of the type of work, termini, length, general location of the proposed project, and a statement of any anticipated federal approvals; establishes a new entity required to participate in the NEPA process, referred to as a "participating agency," which includes any federal, state, tribal, regional, and local government agencies that may have an interest in the project; requires the lead agency to establish a schedule for coordinating public and agency participation in the environmental review process; establishes a 180-day statute of limitation on judicial claims on final agency actions related to environmental requirements (the previous limit had been six years, under provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act); and authorizes the use of federal transportation funds to help agencies required to expedite the environmental review process (similar to provisions in TEA-21). Another broad option would be the creation of an office within the Department of Transportation responsible for accelerating project delivery. This might involve establishing in law a requirement for a partnering plan, funding an awards program for outstanding collaboration, or creation of a special research and technical training center devoted to transportation project delivery. Such a step might make permanent SAFETEA's Pilot Program (§6005) and expand it to allow delegation of NEPA authority to any state that consents to accept that authority (see, for example, H.R. One option in reauthorization for overcoming this problem is to create an Integrated Planning Pilot Project, under the Special Experiment Program authority that currently exists for FHWA. Consequently, there have been suggestions to allow states to use their own procedures, provided that FHWA has certified that a state's procedures properly protects property owners and tenants. Another option is for Congress to provide FTA with the ability to "fast-track" projects that are low-risk, because the project sponsor is experienced and other reasons, or that involve a relatively low share of federal funds. STAA would also have done away with alternatives analysis required under the New Starts program, which is often seen as a duplication of the alternatives analysis required under the National Environment Policy Act (NEPA).
Major highway and transit facilities can take somewhere on the order of 10 to 15 years to plan and build. The environmental review process required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other federal environmental laws and regulations is often cited as the main culprit for long delivery times. Available data and research, however, show that environmental review is typically not the greatest source of delay in surface transportation projects. Developing a community consensus on what to do, securing the funding, and dealing with affected residents and businesses, including utilities and railroads, also contribute to the long timelines required to complete certain projects.
Project delay can occur during any of the five main phases in delivering major highway and transit projects: planning; preliminary design and environmental review; final design; right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation; and construction. If it wishes to address project delay in the pending reauthorization of surface transportation projects, Congress has several options that might broadly affect all phases of project delivery in both highway and transit projects. Other possible options are targeted to specific issues that affect just one or two phases of a highway or transit project.
Broad options that Congress might consider for accelerating project delivery are
devolving federal surface transportation funding and the associated federal requirements back to the states; creating an office within the Department of Transportation responsible for expediting project delivery; new initiatives for encouraging and rewarding collaboration between federal, state, and local agencies, such as a requirement in law for partnering plans, funding an awards program for outstanding collaboration, or creation of a special research and technical training center devoted to transportation project delivery.
More narrowly tailored options for specific phases or modes include
certifying states to use their own procedures to protect dislocated property owners and tenants; reducing the number of steps in the public transit New Starts program and the elimination of the alternatives analysis that is often seen as a duplication of the requirements in NEPA; providing the Federal Transit Administration with the ability to "fast-track" New Starts projects that are low-risk; creation of an Integrated Planning Pilot Project, under the Special Experiment Program authority that currently exists for the Federal Highway Administration; making permanent the Surface Transportation Project Delivery Pilot Program and expanding it to allow delegation of NEPA authority for highway projects to any state.