Air Quality and Transportation Enhancement Provisions in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency

Publication Date: June 1998

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Environment

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Abstract:

Federal funding to assist states in addressing the environmental impacts of surface transportation is a major issue for the second session of the 105th Congress. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991 (P.L. 102-240) authorized a total of $155 billion for transportation projects from FY1992 to FY1997. Of this amount, it reserved $6 billion for the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAQ) to assist states in complying with federal air quality standards by funding transportation projects that lower emissions, and it set aside $2.4 billion for transportation enhancements that are environmentally related. Funding authorized under ISTEA expired on September 30, 1997. The Surface Transportation Extension Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-130) provided interim funding through May 1, 1998, while Congress worked on a multiyear authorization. On May 22, 1998, the House and Senate passed the conference report on H.R. 2400 (H.Rept. 105-550), the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21). The President signed the bill on June 9, 1998 (P.L. 105-178), authorizing significant increases in funding for CMAQ projects and enhancements from FY1998 to FY2003. In addition to authorizing funding, the conference agreement revises the funding formula for apportioning CMAQ funds to states, allows states to transfer a limited portion of their funding for CMAQ projects and enhancements to other highway programs, alters the matching funds requirement for enhancements, and creates new categories of enhancement activities. It also includes numerous environmental provisions, including language to codify the Administration's schedule for implementing new air quality standards for ozone and fine particulates and regional haze requirements.