Environmentalists fought for years to divert a larger proportion of federal transportation funds away from highways -- which produced suburban sprawl and unchecked air pollution -- and toward alternatives like mass transit.
In 1991, Congress finally passed the landmark "ISTEA" bill, which began to instill some balance in the federal transportation programs. ISTEA gave communities greater flexibility in allocating transportation dollars and greater say in public decision-making.
But the Bush Administration has now proposed a new transportation bill that
would tilt funding and the environmental review process in favor of
highways over transit.
Every six years Congress reauthorizes the federal transportation funding bill, providing billions in federal highway and transit funding. How these funds are allocated has a huge impact on society.
In the 1950s and 60s, billions were poured into creating America's highway system, fueling massive sprawl, car dependence, and urban decay. In the process, one of the best passenger rail systems in the world was virtually dismantled. Community activists had to fight to save such national historic treasures as the French Quarter in New Orleans, Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, and Fort McHenry in Baltimore.
President Bush’s proposed transportation bill would roll back 40 years of hard-fought environmental gains and protections for communities, parks, and historic resources. The public and local elected officials would have fewer opportunities to influence transportation decisions. Under the Administration bill state and local officials would be eligible for four times more federal funds for every local dollar invested if they build roads instead of transit, rather than the equal funding available under current law.
The Bush Administration bill would also set short time limits on legal challenges to environmental reviews, forcing opponents to file lawsuits instead of working through issues with agencies like the Federal Highway Administration. Finally, the Administration's bill would weaken accountability for the air quality impacts of major new road projects.
"The President's bill won't repeal the Clean Air Act or the National Environmental Policy Act, or the basic architecture of ISTEA," Michael Replogle, Transportation Director of Environmental Defense told BushGreenwatch. "It would, however, eviscerate these laws with respect to highways. The President's plan would lift many of the safeguards that currently prevent a repeat of past abuses of communities and the environment by the road builders."
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