Oberstar Proposes Bridge Repair Fund, Says Fuel Tax Hike an Option to Pay for It

By Transport Topics Staff

This story appears in the August 13 print edition of Transport Topics

The chairman of the House Transportation Committee last week called for a special bridge-repair fund, following the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, and said a temporary federal fuel tax increase was among the options to pay for it.

Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), at an Aug. 8 press conference in Minneapolis, proposed a trust fund dedicated to bridge repair and said a three-year, 5-cent-a-gallon increase in the fuel tax could raise $25 billion, Bloomberg News reported.

“We cannot wait for another tragedy. We must act, and act quickly,” he said.

“The fuel tax has traditionally been the source of revenue for federal highway, bridge and transit projects,” Oberstar said. “While it is natural that this avenue be considered to fund the bridge initiative, no firm decisions have yet been made on the amount of revenue we need to raise or the source of that revenue. There are a number of funding options under study.”

Oberstar spokesman Jim Berard said other funding options could include a per-barrel tax on crude oil, general-fund revenues, “and I’m sure the Republicans would want to throw tolling in there.”

President Bush last week said he opposed increasing the fuel tax, but Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), who vetoed a state fuel tax increase in May, suggested he may now agree to raising the fuel tax as part of a transportation program.

Pawlenty “has had a conversion, and I expect the president will, as well,” Oberstar said, according to television station KARE.

However, Bush said during a press conference that Congress should reexamine how
it spends money for infrastructure.

“Before we raise taxes, which could affect economic growth, I would strongly urge the Congress to examine how they set priorities,” he said.

Oberstar, meanwhile, said his House transportation committee would hold a hearing Sept. 5 on bridge problems and that he would “immediately begin work” on a bill to set up the special trust fund, modeled on the Highway Trust Fund, “to provide a dedicated source of revenue for the repair, rehabilitation and replacement of structurally deficient bridges.”
He said more than 73,000 bridges are deemed structurally deficient, with 6,000 of them on the national highway system.

Oberstar said his bridge initiative would improve bridge inspection requirements and that, unlike the Highway Trust Fund, the special bridge fund would not allow politically motivated “earmarks.”

Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), the ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee, called Oberstar’s plan “a Band-Aid approach to a critical national transportation infrastructure problem.”

Mica said he wanted a national strategic plan for infrastructure, “redefining the federal role in transportation.”

“A knee-jerk reaction to the critical problem facing our transportation and infrastructure systems will only result in a continued failure to address the deteriorating conditions of our highways, ports, airports and rail systems,” Mica said in an Aug. 8 statement.

The American Road and Transportation Builders Association praised Oberstar’s plan, saying it was “a necessary first step toward legislatively refocusing and reinvigorating” federal investment in surface transportation.

Shortly after the bridge collapse, Congress passed and Bush signed legislation increasing to $250 million from a $100 million cap the amount of emergency road funding for which Minnesota can apply.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters also ordered inspection of more than 750 “steel-deck truss bridges” across the country. The I-35W bridge is a steel-deck truss span.

“Even though we don’t know what caused this collapse, we want states to immediately and thoroughly examine all similar spans out of an abundance of caution,” Peters said.

She also directed Calvin Scovel, the DOT’s inspector general, to “conduct a rigorous assessment of the National Bridge Inspection Program,” the department said.

Scovel said the audit’s first stage will be an assessment of what the Federal Highway Administration has done since the latest audit in 2006. The second would be a study of “the extent to which states effectively and efficiently use . . . funds to repair and replace structurally deficient bridges.” The third stage is a “comprehensive review of FHWA’s oversight activities to ensure the safety of National Highway System bridges across the country.”

On Aug. 3, the Senate approved a bill, sponsored by Sens. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Norm Coleman, (R-Minn.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) that would establish a national commission to review all of the nation’s infrastructure issues.

“Our infrastructure is collapsing, due to insufficient funding. When enacted, this commission will lead the way in providing long-term solutions to the dire problems we currently face,” Voinovich said.

The nation’s “roadways, bridges, railroads and other infrastructure are aging and facing growing strain,” Clinton said. “It is vital that we make needed investments to rebuild and strengthen our infrastructure, and this bill will put us on the path toward meeting this pressing need.”

Under the bill, a commission would review the condition of the nation’s infrastructure and report to Congress on its findings by February 2010.