Peace Garden News

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee convened to officially start discussions on the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill. The U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, testified, outlining the Trump Administration's priorities. Before his current role, Duffy served Wisconsin's 7th district in the House of Representatives.

Senator Kevin Cramer, chair of the Senate EPW Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, raised questions about the One Federal Decision framework. Originally championed during the first Trump administration, this framework was included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to streamline permitting processes, aiming for quicker infrastructure development.

Cramer expressed concerns, stating, “One of the things we did put in the current bill is codifying the One Federal Decision rule of the first Trump administration, and yet I haven't seen a great application of that for the last four years in the permitting of a lot of these projects either.”

He emphasized the need for further streamlining of the permitting process, as envisioned by the One Federal Decision language.

During the hearing, Cramer also addressed the significance of distributing highway funds to states through a predetermined formula, not just allocating resources to urban areas. He supported EPW Committee Chairman Shelley Moore Capito’s approach to maintaining this method in the new reauthorization bill. This approach ensures states have steady funding to meet their transportation needs, especially in rural areas. Cramer illustrated the importance of well-maintained rural routes by citing how North Dakota's durum wheat becomes pasta in New York.

He inquired about Secretary Duffy's commitment to formula funding in the upcoming bill. "I know the political realities of it as well, but I would just be interested in you, coming from the middle of America in a pretty rural district, if you could just elaborate maybe a little bit on that commitment to formula funding in the next bill as well, helping people understand formula funding recognizes that the miles of road are just about as important as how many people are in any particular mile of that road?”

Cramer stressed, “We can't focus on urban centers, and forget rural America. Making sure that, again, a lot of products come from the places where we live and they might move from roads to trains to ships, but making sure that there's a complete view of infrastructure is incredibly important. And I would share the view of this committee, I think that we have to have a holistic view of how we build out infrastructure.”