Secretary Anthony Foxx

Oral Testimony Before the Senate Commerce Committee
Washington, DC • June 8, 2016

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Chairman Thune, Ranking Member Nelson, and Members of this Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today on the Department’s progress in implementing the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.

Mr. Chairman, when I last was before you one of our points of discussion was the need for Congress to provide funding certainty to states, and pass a long-term transportation bill.  While the FAST Act is not everything we need, I thank you for heeding our nation’s, and the Department’s, call by passing this bipartisan long-term measure. It has removed the cloud of uncertainty hanging over our surface transportation system for the better part of a decade, and is a down payment for building a 21st Century transportation system.

I also want to applaud this Committee for including, for the first time, intercity passenger rail programs in a comprehensive, multimodal surface transportation authorization bill.

Mr. Chairman, since the FAST Act was enacted last December, we have been laser focused on distributing as much available funding as possible to states and other grantees through formula dollars and discretionary grant opportunities.

We have also identified five key program areas to focus our implementation efforts – safety, project delivery, freight, innovative finance, and research.

First, as you know, safety continues to be our top priority.  And we have taken a number of steps to implement FAST Act provisions in this area as quickly as possible. For example, in March, we issued a rule that raises maximum fines against non-compliant auto manufacturers from $35 million to $105 million. We also moved quickly to solicit nominations for FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program working group to analyze the formula for the program, which provides much needed support to state agencies. In the coming months, we will seek public comment on new authority to prohibit rental car companies from knowingly renting vehicles that are subject to safety recalls. This provision gives NHTSA an important tool to protect the safety of U.S. motorists, as rental agencies operate some of the largest fleets in the country. 

Second, in the area of project delivery, the FAST Act adopted a number of Administration proposals to further speed the review and permitting processes while still protecting our nation’s environmental and historic treasures.  Just last week the public comment period opened to review FRA’s survey of categorical exclusions used in railroad transportation projects.  We also have a number of additional guidance and rulemaking documents underway to implement provisions that eliminate duplication of environmental reviews.

Third, there are a number of freight programs and related provisions in the FAST Act that address challenges outlined in our “Beyond Traffic” study released last year.  As our study indicates, it is estimated that by the year 2045 freight volume will grow to 29 billion tons—an increase of 45 percent from 2014 levels. The freight programs in the FAST Act now provide, for the first time, dedicated federal funding that will allow us to fund freight and highway projects, including multimodal projects, to deal with these growing needs. We just closed the application period for the freight and highway competitive program we call FASTLANE last month, which will provide $759 million in grants for critical projects.

Fourth, I am pleased that Congress sought to build on the Administration’s successful Build America Investment Initiative by establishing a “National Surface Transportation and Innovative Finance Bureau” in the FAST Act.  In the next few months, we will provide updated guidance for the RRIF program that incorporates changes provided under the FAST Act, including revised application processing procedures and an application dashboard.

And finally, something that goes hand and hand with all of the Department’s efforts, is research and innovation deployment.  In March, we began the competition for UTC grants, which allows students and faculty to work together toward innovative transportation solutions. We have received 212 applications for the 35 grants available.

I am proud of the work that the Department has accomplished in such a short period of time. But this is just the beginning. We will continue our aggressive schedule to execute the reforms you put into place, because if our nation is going to have the type of transportation system tomorrow that is better than it is today, wasted time is something we cannot afford.

Thank you – I look forward to answering your questions.

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