[Senate Report 107-121]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 275
107th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                    107-121

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          EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION FUNDING FOR DISASTER RELIEF

                                _______
                                

               December 10, 2001.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Jeffords, from the Committee on Environment and Public Works, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [to accompany S. 1637]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Environment and Public Works, to which was 
referred a bill (S. 1637), a bill to waive certain limitations 
in the case of use of the emergency fund authorized by section 
125 of title 23, United States Code, to pay the costs of 
projects in response to the attack on the World Trade Center in 
New York City that occurred on September 11, 2001, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon and recommends 
that the bill do pass.

                               Background

    Title 23, Section 125 of the U.S. Code authorizes the 
Secretary of Transportation to administer emergency highway 
relief funds. The Secretary administers emergency funds for the 
repair or reconstruction of highways on Federal-aid highways 
and related facilities damaged by a natural disaster or an 
externally-caused catastrophic failure.
    Title 23 currently limits emergency relief expenditures 
from a ``single catastrophic failure in a State'' to $100 
million, and further limits total emergency relief obligations 
to $100 million per State per fiscal year. The World Trade 
Center collapse severely damaged many city and State roads in 
lower Manhattan. Excess weight trucks removing debris from the 
site have damaged regional highways. Additionally, for security 
purposes New York City closed the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel for a 
time. During the closure, substitute ferry service, eligible 
for Title 23 emergency funding, ran between Brooklyn and 
Manhattan. The combined eligible highway and ferry expenses 
attributable to the September 11th terrorist attack on New York 
City may exceed $100 million.
    Title 23 also limits the Federal share of authorized repair 
and reconstruction costs to 100 percent during the first 180 
days following a disaster and 80 percent thereafter. The tragic 
events of September 11th left a mountain of debris and damaged 
and inaccessible roads. Before the work of rebuilding lower 
Manhattan can begin, crews must remove over a million tons of 
debris from the site, a process that will likely take more than 
a year. Physical reconstruction of destroyed buildings and 
roads is most likely years away.
    The committee anticipates that the Secretary will use 
existing guidelines to determine eligibility for section 125 
emergency funds.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

Section 1. Expenditures for Emergency Relief in Response to Terrorist 
        Attack

                                Summary

    Section 1 allows for 100 percent Federal share for Title 23 
projects undertaken in New York City in response to the World 
Trade Center attacks and allows the Secretary of Transportation 
to exceed the emergency funding caps per fiscal year and per 
State in helping to rebuild New York City.

                               Discussion

    S. 1637 would expand the Federal Highway Administration's 
emergency relief program to fund certain road projects 
following the attack on the World Trade Center. The bill 
provides relief from Title 23, section 125(d) limits on 
emergency relief highway funds. Notwithstanding Title 23 
limitations, the bill allows for 100 percent Federal share for 
repair and reconstruction of Federal-aid highways, even those 
expenditures after the first 180 days. Also, S. 1637 allows the 
Secretary to obligate more than $100 million in a fiscal year 
and to obligate more than $100 million to New York for projects 
associated with the September 11th attack. These provisions are 
necessary due to the enormity of the attack and the expected 
time and cost of repairs in New York City.

                          Legislative History

    Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton introduced S. 1637 on 
November 6, 2001. The Senate Committee on Environment and 
Public Works voted to report the bill on November 8, 2001.

                                Hearings

    On November 8, 2001, the committee met to consider S. 1637, 
a bill to waive certain limitations in the case of use of the 
emergency fund authorized by section 125 of title 23, United 
States Code, to pay the costs of projects in response to the 
attack on the World Trade Center in New York City that occurred 
on September 11, 2001, receiving testimony from to waive 
certain limitations in the case of use of the emergency fund 
authorized by section 125 of title 23, United States Code, to 
pay the costs of projects in response to the attack on the 
World Trade Center in New York City that occurred on September 
11, 2001

                             Rollcall Votes

    The Committee on Environment and Public Works met to 
consider S. 1637 on November 8, 2001, and reported S. 1637 by 
voice vote.

                      Regulatory Impact Statement

    In compliance with section 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the committee makes evaluation of 
the regulatory impact of the reported bill.
    The bill does not create any additional regulatory burdens, 
nor will it cause any adverse impact on the personal privacy of 
individuals.

                          Mandates Assessment

    In compliance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(Public Law 104-4), the committee finds that S. 1637 would 
impose no unfunded mandates on local, State, or tribal 
governments.

                          Cost of Legislation

    Section 403 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment 
control Act requires that a statement of the cost of the 
reported bill, prepared by the Congressional Budget Office, be 
included in the report. That statement follows:
                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                 Washington, DC, November 19, 2001.

Hon. James Jeffords, Chairman,
Committee on Environment and Public Works,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared 
the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1637, a bill a bill to waive 
certain limitations in the case of use of the emergency fund 
authorized by section 125 of title 23, United States Code, to 
pay the costs of projects in response to the attack on the 
World Trade Center in New York City that occurred on September 
11, 2001.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Rachel 
Milberg, who can be reached at 226-2860.
            Sincerely,
                                             Dan L. Crippen
                              ----------                              

S. 1637, a bill to waive certain limitations in the case of use of the 
        emergency fund authorized by section 125 of title 23, United 
        States Code, to pay the costs of projects in response to the 
        attack on the World Trade Center in New York City that occurred 
        on September 11, 2001, as ordered reported by the Senate 
        Committee on Environment and Public Works on November 8, 2001

                                SUMMARY

    S. 1637 would expand the Federal Highway Administration's 
(FHWA's) Emergency Relief program to fund certain road projects 
following the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 
11, 2001. The bill would waive the requirement for the State of 
New York to pay a certain percentage of the projects' costs; it 
would waive the limitation on the amount of funding provided to 
New York from the Emergency Relief program; and it would 
increase the program's total authorization level. The Emergency 
Relief program is run by FHWA as part of the Federal-Aid 
Highways program.
    CBO estimates that enacting S. 1637 would increase direct 
spending by $75 million over the 2002-2004 period. Because S. 
1637 would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures 
would apply.
    S. 1637 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 
and would impose no costs on State, local, or tribal 
governments. The bill would benefit New York City by raising 
the limit on the amount
    of money available from highway emergency funds for 
projects arising from the September 11, 2001, attack on the 
World Trade Center.

                ESTIMATED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

    The estimated budgetary impact of S. 1637 is shown in the 
following table. The costs of this legislation fall within 
budget function 400 (transportation).


                 By Fiscal Year, in Millions of Dollars
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   2002    2003    2004    2005    2006
------------------------------------------------------------------------
         DIRECT SPENDING
FHWA Emergency Relief...........
Spending Under Current Law......
    Estimated Budget Authority..     100     100     100     100     100
    Estimated Outlays...........     109     105     103     101     100

Proposed changes................
    Estimated Budget Authority..      75       0       0       0       0
    Estimated Outlays...........      30      30      15       0       0

FHWA Emergency Relief...........
Spending Under S. 1637..........
    Estimated Budget Authority..     175     100     100     100     100
    Estimated Outlays...........     139     135     118     101     100
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                           BASIS OF ESTIMATE

    For this estimate, CBO assumes that S. 1637 will be enacted 
by the end of this calendar year. Current law authorizes an 
indefinite amount of contract authority (a mandatory form of 
budget authority), and $100 million in obligation authority for 
the Emergency Relief program each year (budget authority is 
assumed to equal obligation authority for the program). S. 1637 
would allow the use of additional contract authority for 
certain projects in New York by allowing FHWA to exceed the 
$100 million obligation limitation for this purpose.
    Based on information from FHWA, CBO estimates that road 
projects in New York that would be eligible for funding under 
the bill would cost $75 million over the next three years. 
These projects would include managing traffic, building a 
temporary road and hauling debris, repairing State Route 9A on 
the west side of the World Trade Center, and surface repairs to 
other roads close to the World Trade Center.

                      PAY-AS-YOU-GO CONSIDERATIONS

    The Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act sets 
up pay-as-you-go procedures for legislation affecting direct 
spending or receipts. The net changes in outlays that are 
subject to pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in the following 
table. For the purposes of enforcing pay-as-you-go procedures, 
only the effects in the budget year and the succeeding four 
years are counted.


                                     By Fiscal Year, in Millions of Dollars
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             2002   2003   2004   2005   2006   2007   2008   2009   2010   2011
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes in outlays........................     30     30     15      0      0      0      0      0      0      0
Changes in receipts.......................    N/A    N/A    N/A    N/A    N/A    N/A    N/A    N/A    N/A    N/A
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

              INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND PRIVATE-SECTOR IMPACT

    S. 1637 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on State, 
local, or tribal governments. The bill would benefit New York 
City by raising the limit on the amount available from highway 
emergency funds for projects arising from the September 11, 
2001, attack on the World Trade Center.

Estimate Prepared By: Federal Costs: Rachel Milberg; Impact on 
State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Susan Sieg Tompkins; 
Impact on the Private Sector: Jean Talarico.

Estimate Approved By: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    Section 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the 
Senate, provides that reports to the Senate should show changes 
in existing law made by the bill as reported. Passage of this 
bill will make no changes to existing law.

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