	Most Recent Developments

President Clinton signed the FY2001 Department of Transportation (DOT) Appropriations Act( P.L. 106-346 ) into law on October 23, 2000. The House and Senate had approved the conferenceagreement ( H.Rept. The FY2001 Act provides $57.978 billion forDOT. This is an increase of more than 14% over enacted FY2000 funding. The FY2001 Act appearsto be in conformance with the requirements of both the Transportation Equity Act for the 21stCentury (TEA-21) and the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century(FAIR21). It also includes, in modified form, a Senate provision to strengthen state drunk driverblood alcohol standards to 0.08%. In addition, the enacted bill permits the Federal Motor CarrierSafety Administration (FMCSA) to collect and analyze public comments and data on its proposedhours of service rules, but prohibits FMCSA from taking final action during FY2001. The FY2001 Act includes conference agreement provisions not found in either the Senate or House bills, such as, additional appropriations of $1.37 billion for miscellaneous highway projects,$600 million for the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, and $55 million for the Appalachiandevelopment highway system. Also provided is $720 million for the Emergency Relief Federal AidHighway Program. On December 21, 2000, President Clinton signed the FY2001 Consolidated Appropriations Act ( P.L. 106-554 ) which provided for a 0.22% government-wide rescission. The Act rescinded roughly$125 million from the DOT budget. However, the FY2001 Actprovides increases for all major DOT agencies except for the FRA budget which is funded at roughly1% below its FY2000 enacted level. 4475 . 4475 . The Senate version of H.R. The conference agreement includes penaltieson states for failure to adopt a 0.08 BAC law but phases them in at a rate of 2%annually over a four year period beginning in FY2004, to a maximum of 8%. The House version of H.R. The Administration proposal, House, Senate, and enacted versions of H.R. The Senate-passed version of the FY2001 appropriations bill provided FHWA with total budgetary resources of $30.7 billion, comparable to those found in theHouse-passed version of the bill, also $30.7 billion. 106-940 ; P.L. Congress hasrejected the Administration's proposed use of some RABA funding for transit. (11) The $ 6.3billion (an 8.4% increase over FY2000)provided for in the FY2001 Act, continues the impact of TEA-21 on transit spending.
President Clinton signed the FY2001 Department of Transportation (DOT) Appropriations Act ( P.L. 106-346 ; H.Rept. 106-940 ) on October 23, 2000. The agreement provides $57.978 billion forDOT. This is an increase of more than 14% over the enacted FY2000 level. The Act providesincreases for all major DOT agencies except the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). OnDecember 21, 2000, President Clinton signed the FY2001 Consolidated Appropriations Act ( P.L.106-554 ). The Act provided for a government-wide rescission of 0.22%. This cut $125 million fromthe DOT budget for FY2001.
Both houses of Congress had passed somewhat different versions of the FY2001 appropriations bill ( H.R. 4475 ). The House of Representatives version would have provided totalbudgetary resources of $55.2 billion; the Senate version $54.7 billion. The roughly $500 milliondifference was partly an outgrowth of the lower budget cap that Senators had to work with. For theoverall DOT budget, the Senate bill would have represented a 9.5% increase over the FY2000budget; the House bill a nearly 10.5% increase.
The FY2001 Act reflects the ongoing impact of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). It raises highway funding by 16% and mass transit funding by almost 8.5%.These spending levels meet or exceed TEA-21's requirements. The Administration had proposedincreases of 5% for highways and roughly 9% for transit.
The enacted version of H.R. 4475 appropriates additional funds not included in either the House or Senate-passed versions, such as: $1.37 billion for miscellaneous highwayprojects, $600 million for the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, roughly $55 million for theAppalachian development highway system; and $720 million for the Emergency Relief Federal AidHighway Program.
The Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (FAIR21) ( P.L. 106-181 )has also had a major impact on the FAA's funding for FY2001. H.R. 4475 ,in conformance with FAIR21, provides for an increase in the FAA's total budget of roughly 25%.
The FY2001 Act includes language to strengthen state drunk driver blood alcohol standards to 0.08% but phases in the highway funds reduction penalties more gradually than in the Senate passedbill -- at a rate of 2% annually beginning in FY2004 up to a maximum of 8%. It also permits theFederal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to collect and analyze public comments anddata on its proposed hours of service rules but prohibits FMCSA from taking final action duringFY2001.
Key Policy Staff
Division abbreviations: RSI = Resources, Science, and Industry Division.