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HEADLINE: Coalition to Watch Over Transportation Funds

BYLINE: Don Phillips, Washington Post Staff Writer

BODY:


The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced yesterday that it has formed a coalition of transportation groups to help ensure that transportation trust funds are spent only on transportation and not diverted by Congress for other purposes.

Chamber President Thomas Donohue said overburdened roads, airports, ports and railroads are already costing the economy billions of dollars, and movement of freight and passengers is expected to triple by 2015.

"The future of transportation will work no better than the California energy system unless we keep Congress on track," Donohue said at a lunch announcing the coalition, called Americans for Transport Mobility. With a new surface transportation reauthorization bill due in 2003, many in the transportation industry are expressing fears that money may be diverted to other purposes. Under current legislation, money from the aviation, highways and ports trust funds -- which comes from user fees -- is supposed to be reserved for transportation.

But the new chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), told the group that efforts are already underway, during the appropriations process, to spin off some of the funds.

"They will try to take the money away from us again," Young said.

Donohue and Young also said they will push to prevent environmental groups from repeatedly delaying construction of roads and new runways by stretching out the environmental permit process.

Young said it takes an average of 15 years to complete the permit process for runways and about 12 years for a new highway.

"Cars and trucks should be moving people and products, not idling in traffic adding pollution to the environment," Donohue said.

He said the group will spend at least $ 1 million on a program of public education and lobbying. Donohue said unions and other interested groups will be asked to join the coalition.



LOAD-DATE: June 27, 2001