The contents are presented in five sections, followed by an Authorization Table indicating the amounts, in millions of dollars, allocated to the different programs. The first section, Investing in Our Future, discusses funding level, highway funding equity, the Highway Trust Fund, and other revenue provisions. The next section, Improving Safety, discusses funding for driver and vehicle safety programs, infrastructure safety, motor carrier safety, recreational boating safety, and one-call notification (to reduce unintentional damage to underground facilities). The third section, Rebuilding America's Infrastructure, discusses TEA-21 provisions for Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, highway construction programs, transit programs, rail programs, and special programs such as Welfare to Work, the Appalachian Development Highway System, Ferry Boats, National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation, and the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge. The fourth section, Protecting Our Environment, discusses TEA-21 provisions for congestion mitigation and air quality improvement, transportation enhancements, bicycle transportation and pedestrian walkways, the recreational trails program, the National Scenic Byways Program, the Transportation and Community and System Preservation Pilot, planning, streamlining, and ozone and particulate matter standards. The final section, Advancing Research and Technology, addresses TEA-21 provisions for research and technology and Intelligent Transportation Systems.

Before final design activities, property acquisition, or construction for a federally funded surface transportation project can proceed, the Department of Transportation (DOT) is required by law to comply with environmental review provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.). In addition, any surface transportation project will potentially require compliance with a variety of federal, state, and local environmental laws, rules, and regulations, in turn requiring the cooperation of federal, state, and local agencies. Some Members of Congress have expressed concerns that the interagency coordination required to complete the environmental review process for large, complex transportation projects can lead to project delays. To address this concern, "Environmental Streamlining" provisions were included in legislation that reauthorized federal surface transportation programs for FY1998-2003 in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21; P.L. 105-178). During the 108th Congress, debate on the streamlining issue continued. Both House- and Senate- passed legislation to reauthorize surface transportation programs for FY2004-FY2009 (H.R. 3550 and S. 1072) included streamlining provisions. Conferees failed to reach an agreement on reauthorization before Congress adjourned. The 109th Congress is expected to revisit the streamlining issue when the reauthorization legislation is reintroduced in early 2005. Streamlining provisions from bills passed during the 108th Congress included the designation of DOT as the "lead agency" in the environmental review process; the designation of authority to the lead agency to define a project's purpose and need, and to determine the range of alternatives to be considered; the creation of a dispute resolution process to address issues of concern between agencies; amendments to current statutory requirements to potentially allow for the use of certain public lands or historic sites for transportation projects; delegation of certain authority to state agencies; and the establishment of a statute of limitations on final agency actions or comment deadlines applicable to agencies and the public. This report provides background and detail on streamlining provisions proposed during the 108th Congress that may be expected to be revisited in legislation proposed during the 109th Congress. This report will not be updated. For more information on issues regarding the environmental review process, see CRS Report RL32024, Background on NEPA Implementation for Highway Projects: Streamlining the Process.

NOTE: NO FURTHER DISCOUNT FOR THIS PRINT PRODUCT--OVERSTOCK SALE -- Significantly reduced list price while supplies last The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century was enacted June 9, 1998 as Public Law 105-178. TEA-21 authorizes the Federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit for the 6-year period 1998-2003 Federal and State Department of Transportation unit personnel will be most iinterested in this public law. Additionally, public transportation personnel may be interested in this public law that prompted a six-year analysis. Civil and construction highway/traffic crews plus vocational educational programs and civil engineers may be interested in this volume. Other related resources: Railroad & Trains resource collection can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/transportation-navigation/railroads-tr... Roads & Highways product collection can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/transportation-navigation/roads-highways Public Roads bimonthly print magazine subscription can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/transportation-navigation/roads-highwa...