PREPARED REMARKS
U.S. SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION RODNEY E. SLATER
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1999
I am delighted to join you here in Tulsa for AASHTO’s 85th Annual Meeting.
Before I begin my prepared remarks, please join me in remembering the life and accomplishments of the Federal Highway Administration’s first administrator, Frank Turner, who died last week. He was a public servant whose long and productive career in the field of transportation remains unsurpassed for its professionalism and commitment to excellence. Frank has been called the most distinguished engineer in the history of FHWA. We mourn his passing.
It has been a special pleasure to work with President Dan Flowers this past year. When you talk to a fellow Arkansan, there are some things you just don’t have to explain. I also want to acknowledge Dan for his work in Arkansas pulling together a five-state alignment for the route of the I-69 Trade Corridor, which is a centerpiece in America’s long-term NAFTA strategy. Although NAFTA has only been in operation for five years, U.S.-Mexico trade is already more than twice pre-NAFTA levels. So Dan’s work is important not only to Arkansas and neighboring states, but also to the future economic well being of all Americans. Dan has also demonstrated his leadership in innovative financing, by obtaining $800 million in "Garvey" bonds for the Interstate repair program.
I’m also looking forward to working with your incoming President, Tom Warne, during the coming year. Tom’s commitment to opening up new lines of communication with the U.S. Department of Transportation promises to raise our partnership with AASHTO to even ‘higher heights’ in the coming year. Tom also did a great job using $1.5 billion in innovative contracting to complete the I-15 ‘design-build’ project three years ahead of schedule, in time for the Olympics.
Tom is a key player in environmental streamlining. As he himself put it, "In the beginning of the Interstate era, we built the greatest freeway system in the world; but aesthetics and preserving the environment weren’t part of that mission. Now we need another transformation." This commitment to "thinking beyond the pavement" is exactly what President Clinton and Vice President Gore’s had in mind when they created the Livable Communities initiative.
Let me say a word about your new Executive Director, John Horsley. I know from his work for me at U.S. DOT, that he is committed to the intermodal approach this country needs for 21st century transportation. John had big shoes to fill when he took this position, but he is clearly up to the challenge.
This is the last AASHTO annual meeting of the 20th century. Is America’s transportation system ready for the challenges of a new century and a new millennium? My response is that the state of America’s transportation infrastructure is good -- and getting better. But there is still important work to be done. And we need AASHTO’s help to do it
Under the President and Vice President’s leadership, this nation has established an unprecedented economic base for growth. Over the last six and one-half years, we have created the longest peacetime economic expansion in history, with more than 19 million new jobs, the lowest unemployment in 29 years and the lowest welfare rolls in 32 years. We also have the first back-to-back surpluses in 42 years, the highest home ownership in history and the largest federal budget surplus ever -- some $115 billion for the fiscal year that ended last week.
We reached yet another economic milestone just last Thursday, when President Clinton announced that median family income in the United States is now the highest that it has ever been, up by more than $5,000 per year per family since he took office in 1993.
To support even more growth in the future, we have used our solid economic achievements to launch an unprecedented investment in transportation infrastructure. On June 9th we celebrated the one-year anniversary of the centerpiece of that program, The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). By setting our fiscal house in order, the President made possible this record-level $200 billion investment in the future of our highways, rail and mass transit. AASHTO worked closely with us during the legislative process that led to passage of TEA-21. I hold that cooperative effort to be the single most important achievement in the history of the partnership between U.S. DOT and AASHTO.
Our top priority in implementing TEA-21 -- and in everything else that we do -- is safety. As I reported to the Board during your April meeting in Little Rock, U.S. DOT is grateful for our partnership with AASHTO on the safety front. Your goal of saving an additional 5,000 to 7,000 lives over the next five to seven years closely tracks the U.S. DOT goal of a 20 percent reduction in transportation-related fatalities and injuries over the next 10 years. By working together we can make it happen.
One important development since I spoke to you in April is that we have significantly raised the bar for Commercial Vehicle Safety, which had been set at 20 percent over the next 10 years. In May, we set a tougher goal -- cutting the number of truck and bus deaths by 50 percent within the decade. As of today, I can’t tell you exactly how we will accomplish this, but I know that stretch goals work and I am confident that with AASHTO’s help, we will reach this safety milestone.
These achievements represent the success of our vision, but to protect and build on these successes, we must also remain vigilant. It was vigilance that led President Clinton to veto the tax-cut bill sent to him by Congress two weeks ago because -- in his words, "It ignores the principles that led us to the sound economy we enjoy today and emphasizes tax reduction for those who need it least."
The Congressional tax-cut bill would have absorbed virtually all of the projected budget surpluses, leaving next to nothing to address the long-term solvency of Social Security and Medicare or the funding of other national priorities, such as education. It also would have forced interest rates higher, imposing what amounts to a tax increase on everything and everybody, including state highway funding.
We also must remain vigilant with respect to other legislation. On Monday night we expect this year’s appropriations bill to pass the Senate. While the bill contains the largest transportation appropriation in history -- some $50 billion -- it also contains two troubling provisions. First, the bill does not meet the Administration’s request for Federal Aviation Agency operations or capital programs; and second, 90 percent of the discretionary money in the bill has been earmarked, eliminating much of the flexibility TEA-21 was supposed to provide.
Let me briefly respond to some of the concerns you may have about the implementation of TEA-21 and other programs:
The purpose of the Environmental Streamlining provision of TEA-21 is to simplify and speed up environmental approvals for highway and mass transit projects, without compromising environmental protection. We are still working out the coordination on this, but making solid progress. I mentioned that Tom Warne has taken a strong interest in streamlining, and I am confident that AASHTO and U.S. DOT can work together to make this entire process run more smoothly.
The Administration has decided not to contest the March 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals decision that struck down several provisions of EPA’s air quality conformity regulation, including the "grandfather" clause allowing projects approved before EPA issued the regulation to proceed, even if they fall short of full conformity. By disallowing this exemption, the court has significantly affected transportation programs in several states.
I am committing the Department to work closely with State DOTs and municipal planning organizations to quickly resolve any conformity problems, while still meeting the requirements of the Clean Air Act. We believe this approach is preferable to trying to amend the Clean Air Act, a step which would add further delays to projects and create new uncertainty as well.
One of the most significant provisions of TEA-21 is the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program that helps insure that minority and women-owned businesses can participate in TEA-21 funded programs. I know that some of you are wondering whether states that missed the October 1st deadline for an approved DBE plan will now have to forfeit federal funds.
My answer is that we are committed to our partnership with State DOTs. Your cooperation is essential to the success of the DBE program. Only one state has yet to submit its plan in accordance with the regulation. So our intention is to work with your staffs to meet legislative, judicial and regulatory standards. So long as you are making a good faith effort -- as almost all of you are -- it is in no one’s interest to threaten to cut off funds without cause.
However, in those very few cases where a state cannot or will not take the actions needed to conform to the regulations, we will take whatever action is necessary to assure compliance.
President Clinton has said "Investing in technology is investing in America’s future." Both the public and private sector are investing in advanced technologies that will produce major innovation in structures and materials, such as high performance concrete and advanced forms of asphalt, and ‘intelligent’ materials that give advance warning of impending failure.
Many of these concepts are already being tested in first-generation experiments across the country. When fully deployed this technology will lead to improved safety as well as reduced maintenance and replacement costs.
One terrific example of reducing maintenance costs is the 25-year research agreement to be signed tomorrow, between the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) and the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department. Under this agreement, RSPA will validate New Mexico’s actual cost-savings under an innovative highway construction and maintenance contract with a private contractor, in which the contractor will guarantee roadway infrastructure performance for 20 years or more. New Mexico estimates it will save $89 million dollars.
I also expect the digital revolution will have a major impact on future highways. A complex, interconnected transportation system is emerging, brought about by advances in navigation, communications, and computing technologies. Through Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receivers, we will be able not only to know exactly where we are -- we will also know about traffic conditions and safety hazards on the road ahead of us. This will result in safer, less congested travel.
However, we don’t always take advantage of benefits of technological innovation. The new Plexiglas stop sign is a perfect example. It is not only cheaper than aluminum signs, but offers better reflectivity. It also lasts longer, is graffiti-proof and bulletproof. Despite these advantages, and despite national certification by the Civil Engineering Research Foundation, it is not yet in use because plastic doesn’t meet state standards specifying aluminum.
No sermon is complete without an altar call. Today I am asking AASHTO to work with us in eliminating the barriers to getting new or existing infrastructure technologies into practice "better, cheaper and faster."
The next century will bring changes that we cannot even imagine today. By putting our economic house in order, so that we can afford to invest in our future, we have established a firm foundation for an era of unprecedented prosperity for all Americans, whatever emerges from the laboratory.
President Clinton has said that "Now is not the time to rest, but to but a time to build." The task ahead is to build on our solid economic achievements by committing ourselves to the new possibilities created by innovation. Now is the time to move from "strength to strength" to assure that America’s best days are yet to come."
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