On July 19th, Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that continued federal general fund transfers are “certainly a legitimate way to fund our highway needs.”
Congress has approved more than $270 billion in general fund transfers to the Highway Trust Fund to help support transportation investment levels since 2008.
“As we continue to transition toward electric vehicles and zero-emitting vehicles, it means that we’re going to need to have other means for filling gaps in the Highway Trust Fund,” Buttigieg said at the committee’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) implementation hearing.
When asked about inflation, and the rising cost of goods, Buttigieg said USDOT is focused on cost containment, however he did not offer specifics the agency is taking to address challenges facing state and local Department of Transportation's, or the transportation construction industry. One side urged Buttigieg to recognize that IIJA funds need to be disbursed to states more quickly.
Rep. Bruce Westerman said that USDOT may have exceeded its authority in its recent proposal requiring states to monitor greenhouse gas emissions related to transportation. Buttigieg responded, saying he was “extremely confident” the authority was given in 2012’s MAP-21 surface transportation law.
Buttigieg was asked for an update on the IIJA’s project approval process improvements known as “One Federal Decision". While there has been no specific plan as to how USDOT plans to meet the IIJA’s goal of a two-year average for project reviews, Buttigieg pointed to work being done on advancing smaller projects and underscored the importance of continuing to reduce delays in light of increasing materials costs.
This hearing was the first opportunity for committee members to ask the secretary questions about progress on the IIJA, signed into law in November of 2021.
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Source: ARTBA
