About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

GAO-03-338R 1 (2003-01-16)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaamdi0001 and id is 1 raw text is: I Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548 January 16, 2003 The Honorable Don Young Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure House of Representatives Subject: High way Infrastructure: FHWA Has Acted to Disclose the Limitations of Its Environmental ReviewAnalysis Dear Mr. Chairman: Environmental reviews of complex federally funded highway construction projects may take years.' The Congress has an interest in identifying and, if necessary, addressing the reasons to expedite highway projects. To better understand these reasons, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) surveyed its 55 division offices to determine why the environmental review of certain highway projects took more than 5 years. In September 2000, FHWA made the results of its analysis of 89 projects it identified available to the Congress, and in December 2000, it posted the results on its Web site. As the reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century approaches, transportation stakeholders have used the results of this analysis in discussions about whether legislative reforms are needed for environmental reviews of federally funded highway projects. You requested that we determine (1) the reasonableness of FHWA's survey methodology and offer suggestions for improvement, if appropriate, and (2) the feasibility of resurveying the same projects to gain an additional understanding about why environmental reviews took more than 5 years. To carry out this work, we interviewed FHWA officials about how they selected projects, surveyed their division offices, and analyzed the responses they obtained. In addition, we applied the lessons learned from FHWA's original approach to assess the feasibility of resurveying the same projects. 'Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the consequences of proposed transportation projects and alternative choices on the environment and on historic properties, if any, must be identified and assessed. Federally funded highway project construction cannot begin until environmental and historic preservation issues are addressed, if needed. GAO-03-338R Federal Highway Environmental Analysis

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most