[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 68 (Wednesday, May 21, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E994-E995]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              FEDERAL LANDS TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOHN R. THUNE

                            of south dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 21, 1997

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a bill that 
recognizes a unique transportation need for many States. That need is

[[Page E995]]

created by a dominating presence of Federal lands, whether those lands 
be national parks, national forests, Indian trust lands, or other 
Federal holdings.
  While these lands are located in our States, they serve national 
interests and national priorities. Despite that fact, States often are 
obliged to serve those lands with roads funded either through the 
State's Federal allocation or from State tax dollars. The fact is these 
lands--though important--are largely unproductive in economic terms and 
make it difficult to support the infrastructure.
  To ensure national interests are served, there must be a mechanism in 
place that allows States to maintain transportation infrastructure to 
and across Federal lands. My bill would do this.
  As my colleagues are aware, the present surface transportation 
program authorized under the Intermodal Surface Transportation 
Efficiency Act provides funding for roads serving Federal lands. 
However the funding is confined to certain roads maintained by the 
Federal Government. Some examples include Indian reservations roads, 
public lands highways, and parkways and park highways. By no means does 
the current program support many of the important transportation links 
that serve Federal lands.
  The Federal Lands Transportation Improvement Act would establish a 
new category of funding within the existing Federal Lands Highway 
Program. The program, to be known as the Cooperative Federal Lands 
Program, would complement existing programs for investments in Federal 
holdings. The bill would authorize $200 million for this program. This 
amount, combined with present funding levels for existing Federal lands 
programs, would increase the overall Federal Lands Highway Program's 
effort to a level roughly proportionate to the overall program 
increases that have been discussed in the Transportation and 
Infrastructure Committee. Under this proposal, funding for the 
important needs in the current Federal Lands Highway Program would be 
maintained while making room for the previously mentioned critical 
need.
  The criteria establishing qualification is simple. States that have 
at least 4.5 percent of their total land area owned or held in trust by 
the Federal Government would qualify for a portion of these funds. 
These States then would be eligible to apply to the Secretary of the 
Department of Transportation to receive funding for specific project 
needs. Once applications have been filed, projects would be funded in 
qualifying States in proportion to the percentage of the State which is 
Federal lands. The approval of the Secretary would help ensure the 
projects serve Federal lands, and are separate and apart from the other 
needs the State may have.
  Serving Federal lands should be a shared responsibility. As the 
Federal Government holds lands in the public interest, there comes the 
responsibility to provide the public adequate access to, across, and 
from those lands. States do enjoy some benefits from public areas. 
However, the ability of States to generate tax revenue within those 
areas is limited. A modest reserve of Federal lands may provide few 
problems and some tax-generating opportunities. However, expansive 
Federal lands do not provide proportional enhancement. States then 
suffer from the diminishing marginal utility of additional Federal 
lands. In other words, the presence of an inordinate amount of Federal 
lands creates more of a burden than it reaps in benefits.

  Representing a State that has a significant Federal lands presence 
has its own unique challenges when it comes to transportation 
infrastructure. This bill would improve the responsiveness of the 
Federal Government to meet the transportation needs on Federal lands.
  I have submitted a chart to be printed in the Record following my 
remarks that outlines which States would qualify under this legislation 
as well as the level of funding for which each State could qualify.
  I thank my colleagues, Representatives Young of Alaska, Hill of 
Montana, and Cubin of Wyoming for joining me as original cosponsors of 
this bill. I hope other Members will join them in their support of this 
legislation.


            COOPERATIVE FEDERAL LANDS TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM
  Est. Funds Provided to Secretary of Transportation To Be Utilized On
     Projects in States That Have Significant Federal Land Holdings
                      Descending Order Distribution
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Total
                              State land
                               owned or       Total         Estimated
                                held in   distribution    distribution
            State              trust by    (sect. 206)       (sect.
                                Federal     (percent)      101(5)(B))
                              Government
                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nevada......................       92.77         7.50        $37,500,000
Arizona.....................       71.94         7.50         37,500,000
Utah........................       68.55         7.50         37,500,000
Alaska......................       66.55         7.50         37,500,000
Idaho.......................       63.74         7.41         37,034,743
Oregon......................       61.20         7.11         35,557,673
Wyoming.....................       52.79         6.13         30,671,114
California..................       47.39         5.51         27,536,041
New Mexico..................       43.33         5.03         25,172,713
Colorado....................       37.45         4.35         21,755,842
Montana.....................       33.45         3.89         19,433,113
Washington..................       32.68         3.80         18,986,531
Dist. of Columbia...........       24.24         2.82         14,085,782
Delaware....................       19.09         2.22         11,090,356
Hawaii......................       16.76         1.95          9,738,069
South Dakota................       15.93         1.85          9,255,826
Minnesota...................       15.75         1.83          9,153,717
New Jersey..................       13.26         1.54          7,703,270
New Hampshire...............       13.22         1.54          7,680,985
Michigan....................       12.97         1.51          7,538,281
Virginia....................       11.85         1.38          6,884,715
Wisconsin...................        9.54         1.11          5,540,516
Arkansas....................        8.73         1.01          5,071,024
Maryland....................        8.39         0.97          4,873,581
Florida.....................        8.06         0.94          4,682,675
North Carolina..............        7.98         0.93          4,633,560
Vermont.....................        7.28         0.85          4,231,503
West Virginia...............        7.09         0.82          4,118,025
North Dakota................        6.08         0.71          3,529,762
Tennessee...................        5.85         0.68          3,399,695
Missouri....................        4.76         0.55          2,768,253
Mississippi.................        4.55         0.53          2,644,933
Oklahoma....................        4.50         0.52          2,615,275
                             -------------------------------------------
Georgia.....................        4.50         0.52          2,612,425
      Total (34)............                   100.00        500,000,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: GSA ``Summary Report of Real Property Owned by the United States
  Throughout the World As of September 30, 1994'' August 1996


  

                          ____________________