Summary
of Recommendation:
The Commonwealth should ensure that federal program funds
– specifically those funds directed to specific areas
within the state (known as RSTP) as well as funds reserved
to local areas in non-attainment of applicable federal air
quality standards (known as CMAQ) – are expended at
the same rate as other program funds to the state.
Specifically,
VDOT’s allocation procedures and other practices in
allocating federal program dollars result in smaller funding
commitments to selected local areas in the Commonwealth,
principally the largest metropolitan areas in the state
(i.e. Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads) than
what federal law directs and/or anticipated.
This
can be corrected in the new budget by directing VDOT to
reduce any funding shortfalls by:
1)
giving priority to RSTP and CMAQ project investments in
these areas when allocating the state’s obligation
limitation; and
2)
reserving a share of available state funds to satisfy federal
matching requirements (i.e. 20 percent non-federal share).
Background:
Continuing VDOT spending practices have resulted in the
under commitment of federal highway program dollars to selected
areas within the Commonwealth, specifically the larger metropolitan
areas as well as some additional areas that are in non-compliance
with ambient federal air quality standards (i.e. ozone and
carbon monoxide).
Longstanding
provisions of federal law – under ISTEA of 1991 and
TEA-21 of 1998, and continued under SAFETEA-LU of 2005 –
direct VDOT to reserve a relatively small share of its annual
federal highway funding (i.e. about 6 cents of every federal
dollar it receives) for expenditure by selected regions
within the state.
Virginia
continues to struggle in complying with this now 15-year
old federal requirement that requires these STP dollars
be reserved for the three largest metropolitan areas in
the state – Hampton Roads, Northern VA and Richmond.
As of September 30, 2004, VDOT owed these areas more than
$120 million in obligations under what is called the RSTP
program. (As of FY’03, federal law specifically directed
that $89 million of this balance should have been obligated
by Virginia by that date.)
Similarly,
since 1991, federal law has reserved that a small portion
of each year’s federal highway dollars be reserved
to projects in local areas of the state with air quality
problems, under a program known as the Congestion Mitigation
and Air Quality Improvement program (CMAQ). These CMAQ dollars
can only be expended within jurisdictions in non-compliance
with federal air standards. In Virginia, these jurisdictions
are largely found in the broad swath that runs from the
Richmond area to Northern Virginia. Historically, VDOT has
not made CMAQ funding a priority. As of April 30, 2005,
Virginia had nearly $100 million in unspent CMAQ program
balances.
