Table Of ContentDEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND
RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS
FOR 1994
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BEFORE A
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND
RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS
BOB CARR, Michigan, Chairman
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia
MARTIN OLAV SABO, Minnesota TOM DeLAY, Texas
DAVID E. PRICE, North Carolina RALPH REGULA, Ohio
RONALD D. COLEMAN, Texas
THOMAS M. FOGLIETTA, Pennsylvania
Delacroix Davis III, Richard E. Efford, Cheryl L. Smith, and Linda J. Muir,
Subcommittee Staff
PART
3
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: p^^^
Coast Guard 713
Office of the Inspector General 297
Office ofthe Secretary 505
Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation 153
Secretary of Transportation i 1
RELATED AGENCIES:
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance
Board .^.^i 255
Panama Canal Commission 187
Printed for the use of the,C,oftmimHJi2tKttteeie|^jo)nn AApppprroopprriiaattiioonnss
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND
REUTED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS
FOR 1994
HEARINGS
BEFORE A
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND
RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS
BOB CARR, Michigan, Chairman
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia
MARTIN OLAV SABO, Minnesota TOM DeLAY, Texas
DAVID E. PRICE, North Carolina RALPH REGULA, Ohio
RONALD D. COLEMAN, Texas
THOMAS M. FOGLIETTA, Pennsylvania
Delacroix Davis III, Richard E. Efford, Cheryl L. Smith, and Linda J. Muir,
Subcommittee Staff
PART
3
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION:
Page
Coast Guard 713
Office of the Inspector General 297
Office of the Secretary 505
Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation 153
Secretary ofTransportation 1
RELATED AGENCIES:
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance
Board 255
Panama Canal Commission 187
Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
67-709O WASHINGTON 1993
:
ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice
SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington,DC 20402
ISBN 0-16-041064-9
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
WILLIAM H. NATCHER, Kentucky, Chairman
JAMIE L. WHITTEN, Mississippi, JOSEPH M. McDADE, Pennsylvania
Vice Chairman JOHN T. MYERS, Indiana
NEAL SMITH, Iowa C. W. BILL YOUNG, Florida
SIDNEY R. YATES, Illinois RALPH REGULA, Ohio
DAVID R. OBEY, Wisconsin BOB LIVINGSTON, Louisiana
LOUIS STOKES, Ohio JERRY LEWIS, California
TOM BEVILL, Alabama JOHN EDWARD PORTER, Illinois
JOHN P. MURTHA, Pennsylvania HAROLD ROGERS, Kentucky
CHARLES WILSON, Texas JOE SKEEN, New Mexico
NORMAN D. DICKS, Washington FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia
MARTIN OLAV SABO, Minnesota TOM DeLAY, Texas
JULIAN C. DIXON, California JIM KOLBE, Arizona
VIC FAZIO, California DEAN A. GALLO, New Jersey
W. G. (BILL) HEFNER, North Carolina BARBARA F. VUCANOVICH, Nevada
STENY H. HOYER, Maryland JIM LIGHTFOOT, Iowa
BOB CARR, Michigan RON PACKARD, California
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois SONNY CALLAHAN, Alabama
RONALD D. COLEMAN, Texas HELEN DELICH BENTLEY, Maryland
ALAN B. MOLLOHAN, West Virginia JAMES T. WALSH, New York
JIM CHAPMAN, Texas CHARLES H. TAYLOR, North Carolina
MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio DAVID L. HOBSON, Ohio
DAVID E. SKAGGS, Colorado ERNEST J. ISTOOK, Jr., Oklahoma
DAVID E. PRICE, North Carolina HENRY BONILLA, Texas
NANCY PELOSI, California
PETER J. VISCLOSKY, Indiana
THOMAS M. FOGLIETTA, Pennsylvania
ESTEBAN EDWARD TORRES, California
GEORGE (BUDDY) DARDEN, Georgia
NITA M. LOWEY, New York
RAY THORNTON, Arkansas
JOSfi E. SERRANO, New York
ROSA L. DeLAURO, Connecticut
JAMES P. MORAN, Virginia
DOUGLAS "PETE" PETERSON, Florida
JOHN W. OLVER, Massachusetts
ED PASTOR, Arizona
CARRIE P. MEEK, Florida
Frederick G. Mohrman, Clerk and StaffDirector
(ID
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND RE-
LATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 1994
Thursday, March 25, 1993.
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
WITNESSES
FEDERICO PENA, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
KATHERINE COLLINS, ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR BUDGET AND
PROGRAMS
Introduction
Mr. Carr. Good morning. We will call this session of the Trans-
portation Appropriations Subcommittee to order.
Good morning, Mr. Secretary.
Secretary Pena. Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Carr. It is a pleasure to welcome you back to the subcom-
mittee. We appreciate you being with us today. The purpose, of
course, is to support the Department's fiscal year 1994 budget re-
quest.
We are proceeding a little out of order because we still haven't
received the details of the President's budget, which I understand,
0MB
will be submitted to Congress about April 5th. However, is
permitting cabinet members to testify in advance of that date. The
only budget information provided so far is the document accompa-
nying the President's February 17th speech.
The appropriation request, apparently, will be released by the
Department today. So we do not have available to us the normal
amount of information that we have at the time of the Secretary's
hearing, but I am sure that we have enough to have a meaningful
exchange. I know that the members will want to quiz you about
that information as the country is very interested in the direction
for the Department.
For fiscal year 1994, the Department has requested for programs
under the jurisdiction of this subcommittee a total of $39.9 billion
in appropriations, obligation limitations, and other authority. This
amount compares to $35.9 billion currently available to the Depart-
ment and the $40.1 billion that will be available if the supplemen-
tal is enacted as it has passed in the House earlier this month.
Mr. Secretary, for the past 2 days the subcommittee has taken
testimony from public witnesses on a host of issues. Thus far, their
requests have exceeded the budget authority by $1.5 billion. I
should add that the subcommittee will hold 3 or 4 more days of
(1)
hearings from public witnesses so the total is bound to grow consid-
erably.
Obviously, it will not be possible to accommodate all these re-
quests, nor should we. Not all projects for which the funding is
sought are of high quality and are nationally worthwhile. I am
sure they are all in various forms locally worthwhile. In some
cases, people are looking for funding far in advance of actual need.
In other instances, new projects are proposed that just barely meet
the non-Federal share requirements. In today's budget climate, I
am not sure that is good enough.
During the hearing today, among many other topics, I want to
explore with you ideas on how we both can do a betterjob ofensur-
ing that only quality projects will be funded and that limited tax
dollars will be used for good, long-term economic growth opportuni-
ties for the Nation.
Once again, Mr. Secretary, it is a pleasure to have you with us.
We appreciate your accommodating our schedule.
Secretary Pena. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And good
morning to the members ofthe Committee.
Mr. Carr. Your statement in full will be placed in the record. I
ask that you hit the high points so that we can get right to ques-
tions.
Statement of Secretary Pena
Secretary Pena. I will do that, Mr. Chairman.
I thank you and the members of the Committee for the leader-
ship the Committee has provided over the past few years in helping
guide us through difficult waters as we have made investments in
transportation. I think today, because of this committee's very
active involvement, we have been able to see significant improve-
ments in our programs and policies. I look forward to working with
you and continuing that relationship so that we can make the kind
of investments that are important for the country, as you said, Mr.
Chairman.
I don't have to say to any member of this Committee that invest-
ment in transportation policies and programs and infrastructure is
absolutely key to our domestic economy and to improving the qual-
ity of life for Americans. We are very much committed to that. I
think the budget request that we're making reflects that commit-
ment.
On the other hand, we are also very sensitive to the point you
made, Mr. Chairman, in that we want to be sensitive to the costs
involved and also committed to another goal—, and that is deficit re-
duction. So trying to do both ofthose things investing in a quality
way and in a targeted way, but at the same time to be thoughtful
of our expenditures and not to exacerbate our deficit situation is a
dual goal that we would like to support.
budget overview
Secondly, let me talk very generally about the budget overview.
You have already indicated that our budget request is about $39.9
billion. That does not include MARAD, for obvious reasons. But
this represents about a 10.9 percent growth over the fiscal year
1993 enacted level. Let me emphasis that if the President's stimu-
lus package is passed, and if you add the stimulus amount to the
fiscal year 1993 enacted level, then you will see that the fiscal year
1994 requested amount is about the same that we would be funding
in fiscal year 1993.
I make that point because I know at our last session a number of
members raised the question about the continuity of our invest-
ment program and whether or not the stimulus package was
simply a one-shot effort. As you see, the fiscal year 1994 invest-
ment proposal continues the investment we started with the stimu-
lus package.
Also, we are proposing to reduce staffing by almost 1,800 FTE by
the end of fiscal year 1994. And we are committed to reducing ad-
ministrative expenses by $28 million in fiscal year 1994.
Those are the general points I want to make in giving you an
overview ofthe budget. Now let me talk about the themes.
DEPARTMENTAL THEMES
There are five themes—that the fiscal year 1994 budget reflects.
One—is making strategic and I want to emphasize the word strate-
gic transportation investments to strengthen our economy to en-
courage the full economic potential of the Nation, ensuring that
our transportation systems do not become a constraint on our eco-
nomic activity. Recognizing that $1 out of $6 of GDP are now in-
volved in one fashion or another in transportation-related activities
emphasizes the need for us to have a speedy system, one that is re-
liable, and one that is cost-effective.
Our budget has included in it $28.4 billion for infrastructure in-
vestment, which is about 71 percent of our overall budget. This
gives you a sense of our priority and where most of the money is
going in the entire budget, 71 percent is going for direct infrastruc-
ture spending.
As we shape the fiscal year 1994 budget, there are two particular
industries where you will see us spend some time and attention:
the revitalization of the airline industry and the maritime indus-
try.
The second general point is safety. Safety is going to continue to
be a primary responsibility for the Department. It ranges from
safety inspections to maritime safety to safety grants to States and
localities. The budget proposes $1.95 billion for safety programs. It
also involves a commitment to hazardous materials training and
also reducing highway deaths through a number programs that we
have in the Department.
A third theme for fiscal year 1994 budget is strengthening the
link between transportation and environmental policy. We want to
support and promote planning and projects which will support the
environment and to mitigate environmental damage. We do this,
for example, through the congestion mitigation funds which are
available under the highway law. We want to work closely with the
Environmental Protection Agency and other Federal agencies so
that we are not at cross purposes. Oftentimes those cross purposes
result in funds getting bottled up in the pipeline and not being
used for investment in communities.
We want to encourage States to identify environmentally sound
alternatives, reducing automobile congestion. We want to ensure
compliance with our own cleanup responsibilities at DOT because
we ourselves have been responsible for environmental degradation.
The fourth general theme is advancing transportation technol-
ogies and expertise. The President has spoken about our commit-
ment to ensuring that we make a very significant commitment to
new technology in our country. We want to do that in the area of
We
transportation. are going to do that by leadership.
Very specifically, we have been given the opportunity to demon-
strate leadership in the area of high speed rail and some type of
maglev program. We are entrusted with the responsibility of devel-
oping that program and I would be happy to talk about that as we
answer
questions.
Other examples would be ensuring that the intelligent vehicle
program really becomes something that is unique and fully opera-
tive throughout the country. That is a major priority of the Trans-
portation Department. —
Usage of new navigation aids, like global positioning which I
think is something we want to do not only on the aviation side, but
also on the ground side to ensure that we continue to be the lead-
ers in high technology.
The fifth general theme of the Department is making intermoda-
lism a reality and to make it an expectation of consumers through-
out the country. We want to find ways to connect goods and people
in a more safe and efficient manner so that we develop almost a
seamless transportation system so that we have choice available to
consumers and more competition in the marketplace, and coordina-
tion to improve transportation services generally.
Those are the five themes I think you will see in this budget.
Now let me very specifically address some of the key budget areas
because I know you don't have budget detail presented to you thus
far. Let me do this by each mode, although there is more informa-
tion in the prepared material I have submitted for the record.
BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS
Let me first discuss highways. We are proposing full ISTEA
funding for the Federal-aid highway program. Included in that is
We
$214 million for intelligent vehicles. are proposing funding of
NHTSA at a 14 percent increase, for a total of$307 million.
In the area oftransit, we are proposing $4.6 billion, which is a 21
We
percent increase over the fiscal year 1993 enacted level. are
proposing more growth in transit in one year than transit has re-
ceived in the past 4 years. We make this commitment because we
think it is important to reducing air quality problems and to reliev-
ing congestion. Our commitment to transit is going to focus on cap-
ital so that the formula capital grants will be at about $1.46 billion,
which is a 22 percent growth, and discretionary grants at $1.78 bil-
lion.
We
are going to freeze operating assistance at $802 million for
transit. We feel that it is far better to make the investment on the
capital side than on the operating assistance.
The third budget area is railroads at $1.05 billion. We want to
continue to fund Amtrak at current levels, $633 million, and also
the Northeast Corridor. We want to make a major initiative in the
area of high speed ground transportation. Our proposal is to have
$140 million in fiscal year 1994 and $1.3 billion over the next 5
years. We are going to use a combination ofboth general funds and
existing trust funds in this effort. We want to focus on increasing
speeds in selected corridors. We want to do further analyses of
maglev to determine what position we are going to take on that
technology.
Another area is the FAA. We are proposing $9.2 billion for FAA.
This is about a 3.5 percent increase in growth over fiscal year 1993.
You will see an investment in F&E and research to deal with air-
space modernization. You will also see some significant belt-tight-
ening in the area of operations and a very special focus on ensur-
ing that the AAS system meets its timetables and its budgetary
targets.
Lastly is the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard will see about a 4
percent increase over fiscal year 1993, for a total of $3.7 billion.
The Coast Guard will essentially continue its multi-mission activi-
ties as it has in the past. We want to continue to be supportive of
its efforts.
In closing, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I
wanted to give you a general overview of the fiscal year 1994
budget themes that the Department will support, our overall focus
as it respects specific aspects of the Department of Transportation,
and an indication to you that we want to work with you as we
move forward in this budget year and the years to come.
Let me stop with those comments, Mr. Chairman, and I would be
happy to answer your questions.
[The prepared statement of Secretary Peha follows:]
OPENING STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE FEDERICO PENA
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
BEFORE THE HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON, D.C.
MARCH 25, 1993
Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, I am pleased to
appear before you to discuss the Department's budget request for
Fiscal Year 1994. This Subcommittee has provided strong support
for transportation programs and the effectiveness of our programs
has benefitted from the guidance you have provided. If this
nation is to have a sound, competitive transportation system to
support our economy and our quality of life, we must invest in
our transportation systems. At the same time, I am sure that you
share the concern for deficit reduction and efforts to reduce the
cost of Government.
The President's FY 1994 budget for the Department of
Transportation will ask this Subcommittee to approve
$39.9 billion in appropriations, obligation limitations and
exempt obligations. (This excludes $380 million requested for
the Maritime Administration which is considered by another
Subcommittee.) This request is 10.9 percent above the FY 1993
enacted level. Assuming enactment of the President's FY 1993
stimulus proposals, our request for FY 1994 is essenti xy the
same as the FY 1993 level, reflecting a continuing commitment to
investment in the capital needs of our transportation systems.
The Department's FY 1994 budget responds to the President's
emphasis on investment for the future, while moving concurrently
to reduce the costs of government. Our request includes an
increase of $3.7 billion for investments, focused heavily on
infrastructure improvements. As a means of reducing government's
burden on the taxpayer, we propose a reduction of 1,114 Full Time
Equivalent (FTE) staff in FY 1993 and a further reduction of 651
FTE in FY 1994 from the 1993 enacted level. The budget reflects
savings of $28 million in administrative expenses and proposes no
new funding for certain programs funded in FY 1993 which saves
$431 million from the baseline.
This budget request supports a national goal of creating jobs and
stimulating the economy on more than a short-term basis. In
particular, capital investment in infrastructure, which totals
$28.4 billion and accounts for almost 71 percent of the budget,
supports job creation both directly and indirectly and
facilitates the productivity of American business by supporting
more efficient transportation.
As we look forward to the next four years and to the goals we
seek to accomplish, there are several key themes which I will
stress as we manage our programs, develop our policies and
