On April 18, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4348, a 90-day extension of their version of the Federal Transportation Bill, and it includes some dramatic changes to the environmental review process as well as a mandate to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline. H.R. 4348 can serve as the companion bill to the Senate’s MAP-21 Federal Bill and thus opens up the door to a conference committee. In conference, the final bill is limited to elements included in one of the House and Senate bills.
The Senate MAP-21 bill includes a “recission” clause that requires the return of funding to the Federal Government for projects that are not “obligated” by June 30, 2012 under the current Federal funding cycle. What does this mean? Many projects with good bike/ped elements in Alameda and Contra Costa County could lose funding if your city has not “obligated” their projects funded with Federal $$$. If your City’s project is in this list, then they need to obligate their project by April 30, or risk losing the funding. East Bay cities such as Albany, Livermore, Oakland, Pleasanton, Concord, San Ramon, Pittsburg, Richmond, Alameda and El Cerrito could lose funding for good bike projects.
- Albany: Buchanan Street Bikeway $1,702,000
- Livermore: Iron Horse Extension in Downtown $1,566,000
- Oakland Foothill Blvd Streetscape Improvements $2,200,000
- Pleasanton I-880/Foothill Blvd Intersection/Bike/Ped Improvements $709,000
- Concord Monument Blvd Corridor Shared Use Project $666,000
- San Ramon Streets Smart Safe Routes to School Program $365,000
- Pittsburg N.Parkside Drive Bike Lanes $900,000
- Richmond Nevin Avenue Streetscape Improvements $4,000,000
- Richmond Barrett Avenue Bike Lanes $600,000
- Alameda Shoreline and Westline Drive Bike Lanes $7,355
- El Cerrito Ohlone Greenway In-Pavement Crosswalk Lights $468,306
The East Bay Bicycle Coalition has requested that each of the above cities get their E-76 obligation paperwork in order by the April 30 deadline. A friendly reminder from our members can only help. We will keep you posted.
Senator Barbara Boxer (CA) Keeps Pressure on the House to Pass MAP-21, the Senate’s 2-Year Federal Transportation Bill
Washington, D.C. — Following the Senate’s action this afternoon to pass the House of Representatives’ 90-day stop gap extension of transportation programs, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, issued the following statement.
Senator Boxer said: “The House sent us a 90-day stop gap extension of the nation’s transportation programs with not one dime of revenue to fund them, and the Highway Trust Fund is on the road to bankruptcy. House Republicans sent out a signal that America should be ready for job losses and hardship, because they didn’t even have the decency to put in that extension a written commitment to produce a bill, to get to conference with the Senate, and to get a bill to the President. Thousands of businesses are at stake, and eventually we are talking about nearly three million jobs at stake. There are many people on both sides of the aisle in the Senate who want to get our bill, MAP-21, passed into law, and I am going to do everything I can to keep the pressure on the Republican House to do just that.”
At the National Bike Summit last week, the East Bay Bicycle Coalition and many of California’s representatives met Senator Barbara Boxer’s staff and thanked her for all of the work she has done hammering out and getting approved the Senate Transportation Bill-Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21). This Senate bill keeps funding for bicycling and walking but with reduced protections, and guarantees local access to funding. In California, we are going to do well if the House passes a similar bill during the 90-day extension, given the support we have from local elected officials. This week in Washington, Senator Boxer along with our East Bay Congressmembers and the Obama Administration lead by USDOT Director Ray LaHood are pushing the House to pass HR 14, their version of the Senate Bill, and these efforts will resume over the coming months. At the Bike Summit, EBBC pinch hit on lobby day and visited some Republican Congressmembers’ offices in California where no local bike coalition exist, and asked for support from their Republican Representatives for HR 14 and the Senate Bill. While the reception was chilly in these Republican confines, their staff appreciated the fact sheets on the benefits of bicycling that Dave provided. Aware of the coordinated work we are doing in California, Former Congressman James Oberstar told his colleagues, “every state ought to do like California is doing.”
Please note that all of the East Bay Congressmembers support HR-14 and the Senate Transportation Bill. Please check back for updates.