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[House Report 107-649]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                                       
107th Congress                                            Rept. 107-649
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                      Part 1

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  PROVIDING A TEMPORARY WAIVER FROM CERTAIN TRANSPORTATION CONFORMITY 
  REQUIREMENTS AND METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING REQUIREMENTS 
 UNDER THE CLEAN AIR ACT AND UNDER OTHER LAWS FOR CERTAIN AREAS IN NEW 
 YORK WHERE THE PLANNING OFFICES AND RESOURCES HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BY 
               ACTS OF TERRORISM, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

 September 9, 2002.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Tauzin, from the Committee on Energy and Commerce, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 3880]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Energy and Commerce, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 3880) to provide a temporary waiver from certain 
transportation conformity requirements and metropolitan 
transportation planning requirements under the Clean Air Act 
and under other laws for certain areas in New York where the 
planning offices and resources have been destroyed by acts of 
terrorism, and for other purposes, having considered the same, 
report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that 
the bill as amended do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Amendment........................................................     2
Purpose and Summary..............................................     3
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     3
Hearings.........................................................     4
Committee Consideration..........................................     4
Committee Votes..................................................     4
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     4
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............     4
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures     5
Committee Cost Estimate..........................................     5
Congressional Budget Office Estimate.............................     5
Federal Mandates Statement.......................................     6
Advisory Committee Statement.....................................     6
Constitutional Authority Statement...............................     6
Applicability to Legislative Branch..............................     6
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation...................     6
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     8
Exchange of Committee Correspondence.............................     8

                               AMENDMENT

  The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. CLEAN AIR TRANSPORTATION CONFORMITY; TEMPORARY WAIVER FOR 
                    NEW YORK AREAS.

  (a) Temporary Waiver.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
until September 30, 2005, the provisions of section 176(c) of the Clean 
Air Act, and the regulations promulgated thereunder, shall not apply to 
transportation projects, programs, and plans (as defined in 40 C.F.R. 
Part 93, Subpart A) for the counties of New York, Queens, Kings, Bronx, 
Richmond, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, or the towns 
of Blooming Grove, Chester, Highlands, Monroe, Tuxedo, Warwick, and 
Woodbury in Orange County, New York. The preceding sentence shall not 
apply to the regulations under section 176(c)(4)(B)(i) of such Act 
relating to Federal and State interagency consultation procedures.
  (b) Interim Progress Report.--Not later than January 1, 2004, the 
Governor of New York shall submit to the Committees on Energy and 
Commerce and Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 
Senate, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and 
the Secretary of Transportation a report regarding the status of the 
State's progress towards achieving compliance with the provisions of 
law and regulation subject to the temporary waiver provided by 
subsection (a). Such report shall explain in detail the steps that the 
State has taken towards achieving such compliance and identify the 
necessary steps that remain to be taken by September 30, 2005, in order 
for the transportation projects, programs, and plans for the counties 
referred to in subsection (a) to be in compliance with the provisions 
of section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act, and the regulations promulgated 
thereunder, by September 30, 2005. The report shall also include a 
regional emissions analysis generally consistent with the requirements 
of 40 CFR 93.122, together with the relevant air quality data.

SEC. 2. METROPOLITAN PLANNING REQUIREMENTS; TEMPORARY WAIVER FOR NEW 
                    YORK AREAS.

  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, until September 30, 2005, 
the provisions of sections 134(h)(1)(D), 134(i)(3), 134(i)(5), and 
134(l)(1) of title 23 of the United States Code and sections 
5304(a)(1), 5305(c), and 5305(e)(1) of title 49 of the United States 
Code and the regulations promulgated thereunder, shall not apply to the 
New York Metropolitan Transportation Council or to the Metropolitan 
Planning Organization designated under section 134(b) of title 23 of 
the United States Code.

SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.

  (a) Prohibition on Capacity Expansion.--During the period of the 
temporary transportation conformity waiver for transportation plans, 
programs, and projects under section 1, no regionally significant 
capacity expanding highway project shall be added to the Regional 
Transportation Plan for the counties referred to in section 1 and no 
such project may be advanced from the out years of the Plan into the 
TIP, except as provided in subsection (b).
  (b) Exception.--Any regionally significant capacity expanding highway 
project south of Canal Street and West of Broadway in Manhattan may be 
added to the Plan referred to in subsection (a) if--
          (1) the project is part of a redevelopment plan for lower 
        Manhattan subject to NEPA and the New York State Environmental 
        Quality Act, as applicable; and
          (2) any projected increases in transportation related 
        emissions resulting from the project are offset by 
        corresponding reductions within the affected county, with best 
        efforts made to secure reductions from within the immediate 
        area affected by the project's emissions.

                          PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    The purpose of H.R. 3880 is to provide the State of New 
York a temporary waiver from certain Clean Air Act (CAA) 
transportation conformity requirements and related metropolitan 
planning requirements of the Transportation Equity Act for the 
21st Century (TEA-21) until September 30, 2005, so that New 
York can implement adjustments necessary after the September 
11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. In 
addition, the bill requires that New York file an Interim 
Progress Report no later than January 1, 2004, detailing the 
manner in which the State will achieve compliance with the 
transportation conformity requirements no later than the 
expiration of the temporary waiver.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Section 176(c) of the CAA requires that transportation 
activities ``conform'' to State air quality plans before the 
federal government funds these activities. This conformity 
determination is made when the state adopts a transportation 
plan or transportation improvement program (TIP) and is based 
on a complex computer model of emissions from regional 
transportation activity known as a ``regional emissions 
analysis.'' The CAA requires that the regional emission 
analysis used for a conformity determination must be less than 
three years old. New York's current regional emissions analysis 
will reach its three year expiration date on October 1, 2002. 
Accordingly, unless the State submits a conformity 
determination using an updated regional emissions analysis, New 
York's conformity determination will ``lapse'' on October 1, 
2002. After a conformity lapse, only certain exempt 
transportation projects are eligible to receive federal 
funding.
    New York State officials have concluded that the aftermath 
of the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center tragedy makes it 
impossible for New York to meet the October 2002 conformity 
determination deadline. The Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) agree with 
that assessment. As explained below, New York's transportation 
planning offices have suffered a tremendous loss of personnel 
and resources. Moreover, the regional transportation landscape 
has been so significantly altered after September 11 that the 
State cannot simply update its old regional emission analysis 
to reflect new trends, but must instead build an entirely new 
computer model, a task that New York officials, EPA, and DOT 
agree cannot be completed by the current October 2002 deadline.
    The headquarters of New York Metropolitan Transportation 
Council (NYMTC) were located on the 82nd floor of One World 
Trade Center. NYMTC offices, equipment, and files were 
destroyed when the tower collapsed. Three staff members are 
still missing and presumed dead. NYMTC has set up temporary 
offices in Long Island City, but it will take over a year for 
NYMTC to be able to function effectively again.
    In addition to the destruction of the office and the loss 
of staff, the terrorist attack changed the economic geography 
of the New York City region. For example, New York State 
officials estimate that up to 50 million square feet of office 
space was destroyed or damaged as a result of the World Trade 
Center attack, more than all of the office space in Columbus, 
Ohio. Consequently, tens of thousands of workers are now 
commuting to other parts of the region. This movement has 
significant short-term and long-term impacts on the 
distribution of jobs in the region. NYMTC estimates that it 
will take two to three years to understand how these shifts in 
employment concentrations will affect local and regional travel 
patterns. Additionally, new federal security procedures are 
likely to alter the movement of goods via air, water, and land 
in the region. Until this extraordinary period of uncertainty 
passes, NYMTC believes that it will be impossible to collect 
the data and identify the inputs needed to develop an accurate 
computer model for the regional emissions analysis.
    Without temporary relief from the requirement for an 
updated regional emissions analysis, New York will be in a 
conformity lapse on October 1, 2002, and, after that date, 
could receive federal transportation funding only for certain 
exempt projects. This would have a significant effect on the 
region, as NYMTC estimates the total value of highway and 
transit projects that would not proceed during a conformity 
lapse at $4.6 billion.

                                HEARINGS

    The Committee on Energy and Commerce has not held hearings 
on the legislation.

                        COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

    On July 24, 2002, the Subcommittee on Energy and Air 
Quality met in open markup session and approved H.R. 3880 for 
Full Committee consideration, without amendment, by a voice 
vote, a quorum being present. On Thursday, September 5, 2002, 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce met in open markup session 
and favorably ordered reported H.R. 3880, as amended, by a 
voice vote.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires the Committee to list the record votes 
on the motion to report legislation and amendments thereto. 
There were no record votes taken in connection with ordering 
H.R. 3880 reported. A motion by Mr. Tauzin to order H.R. 3880 
reported to the House, as amended, was agreed to by a voice 
vote.

                      COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    The Committee has not held oversight or legislative 
hearings on this legislation.

         STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    The goal of H.R. 3880 is to provide the State of New York 
with a temporary waiver from certain CAA transportation 
conformity requirements and related metropolitan planning 
requirements of TEA-21 so that the State can implement 
adjustments necessary in response to these unique 
circumstances.

   NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY, AND TAX EXPENDITURES

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee finds that H.R. 
3880 would result in no new or increased budget authority, 
entitlement authority, or tax expenditures or revenues.

                        COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE

    The Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared 
by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to 
section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

                  CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTIMATE

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the following is the cost estimate 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                 Washington, DC, September 6, 2002.
Hon. W.J. ``Billy'' Tauzin,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3880, a bill to 
provide a temporary waiver from certain transportation 
conformity requirements and metropolitan transportation 
planning rerquirements under the Clean Air Act and under other 
laws for certain areas in New York where the planning offices 
and resources have been destroyed by acts of terrorism, and for 
other purposes.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Susanne S. 
Mehlman (for federal costs), and Susan Tompkins (for the state 
and local impact).
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 3880--A bill to provide a temporary waiver from certain 
        transportation conformity requirements and metropolitan 
        transportation planning requirements under the Clean Air Act 
        and under the laws for certain areas in New York where the 
        planning offices and resources have been destroyed by acts of 
        terrorism, and for other purposes

    H.R. 3880 would waive certain Clean Air Act provisions that 
require transportation programs to conform with approved state 
air quality plans in order to receive federal funding until 
September 30, 2005, for certain areas in the state of New York. 
This legislation also would exempt certain areas of New York 
(until September 30, 2005) from several reporting requirements 
under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century.
    Based on information from the Environmental Protection 
Agency and the Department of Transportation, CBO estimates that 
enacting H.R. 3880 would not have a significant effect on the 
federal budget. Without the waiver from current law that is 
contained in this legislation, it is possible that New York 
City would become ineligible to receive certain federal 
transportation funds. In that event, such funds would be spent 
on transportation projects in other areas of the state. Because 
the bill would not affect direct spending or receipts, pay-as-
you-go procedures would not apply.
    H.R. 3880 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would impose no costs on state or local governments. Overall, 
the bill would benefit both the state of New York and New York 
City by preserving the flow of federal highway funding. If the 
reporting requirements under current law were not met, the New 
York metropolitan region could lose as much as $1 billion 
funding for certain highway and transit projects during fiscal 
years 2003 and 2004.
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Susanne S. 
Mehlman (for federal costs), and Susan Tompkins (for the state 
and local impact). This estimate was approved by Peter H. 
Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                       FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT

    The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal 
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act.

                      ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

    No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this 
legislation.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee finds that the 
Constitutional authority for this legislation is provided in 
Article I, section 8, clause 3, which grants Congress the power 
to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the several 
States, and with the Indian tribes.

                  APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

             SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION

Section 1. Clean air transportation conformity; temporary waiver for 
        New York areas

    Section 1 provides a waiver from CAA section 176(c) 
transportation conformity requirements until September 30, 2005 
for the relevant New York City area. It is the intent of the 
Committee that the operation of H.R. 3880 and current law will 
require that New York complete the development and adoption of 
a revised regional transportation plan and TIP no later than 
September 30, 2005, that will achieve the budgets for motor 
vehicle emissions contained in the applicable implementation 
plan for the New York metropolitan nonattainment area for 2005 
and 2007. The Committee intends that the waiver provided in 
this section applies only to transportation conformity 
requirements; the waiver does not apply to the general 
conformity requirements established by regulation promulgated 
pursuant to CAA section 176(c). This intent is expressed by the 
use of the phrase ``transportation projects, programs, and 
plans'' that contains terms used and defined in transportation 
conformity regulation issued by EPA and promulgated at 40 CFR 
Part 93 Subpart A.
    Section 1 also requires that New York continue certain 
Federal and State interagency consultation procedures and that, 
not later than January1, 2004, the Governor of New York submit 
an interim progress report to the Committees on Energy and Commerce and 
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate, EPA, and DOT. 
The report shall explain in detail the steps that the State has taken 
towards achieving compliance and identify the necessary steps that 
remain to be taken by September 30, 2005. It is the intent of the 
Committee that the Interim Progress Report contain information 
demonstrating the manner in which New York will meet the following 
milestones:
          (a) Not later than April 1, 2003, the collection and 
        analysis of new travel surveys, along with new job, 
        labor force, and household data to describe the revised 
        travel and activity patterns in the New York 
        metropolitan area and support refined validation of the 
        Best Practices transportation model for the region;
          (b) Not later than February 1, 2004, the development 
        of revisions to the Best Practices transportation model 
        needed to reliably replicate observed travel patterns 
        in the New York metropolitan area;
          (c) Not later than September 1, 2004, preliminary 
        modeling analyses of motor vehicle emissions using the 
        latest travel survey data, the revisions to the Best 
        Practices model, and the latest iteration of EPA's 
        MOBILE model to demonstrate expected emissions of 
        pollutants subject to the requirements of 40 CFR 
        Sec. 93.118 in 2005, 2007, 2015 and 2025, with 
        applicable models and data available for independent 
        public oversight;
          (d) Not later than April 1, 2005, the submission of 
        the proposed regional transportation plan, TIP and 
        emissions analyses to the public for review and comment 
        pursuant to 40 CFR Sec. 93.105; and
          (e) Not later than October 1, 2005, the adoption of 
        such additional measures as may be necessary to achieve 
        the levels of motor vehicle emissions required by the 
        emissions budgets contained in the applicable 
        implementation plan no later than the year by which 
        such budget is to be attained, and such additional 
        measures as may be necessary to maintain the latest 
        budget during the years following the last budget year.

Section 2. Metropolitan planning requirements; temporary waiver for New 
        York areas

    Section 2 provides New York with a waiver until September 
30, 2005 of certain transportation conformity-related 
metropolitan planning requirements for the relevant New York 
City area. The Committee notes that these waivers do not affect 
environmental review requirements such as those established by 
the National Environmental Policy Act.

Section 3. Additional requirements

    Section 3 provides that, generally, during the period of 
the transportation conformity waiver established by section 1, 
New York cannot add regionally significant capacity expanding 
highway projects to the Regional Transportation Plan for the 
New York City area, and that no such project may be advanced 
from the out years of the Plan into the TIP. However, section 3 
does not affect regionally significant capacity expanding 
highway projects taking place in the immediate area of the 
World Trade Center reconstruction. These projects are subject 
to specific emissions offset requirements.
    It is the understanding of the Committee that New York will 
undertake other, additional air quality related measures to 
reduce emissions in the region. For example, the Committee 
understands that New York will require ultra low sulfur diesel 
(15 ppm sulfur or less) and best available retrofit technology 
to reduce emissions of fine particulate matter and 
NOx from construction machinery used instate agency 
and authority fleets and contracts in the reconstruction of 
lower Manhattan. The Committee also views favorably New York's 
commitment to work with the environmental community and other 
stakeholders to identify and implement transportation control 
measures and other control strategies to further reduce 
emission in the region.

         CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    This legislation does not amend any existing Federal 
statute.

                  EXCHANGE OF COMMITTEE CORRESPONDENCE

                          House of Representatives,
            Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
                                 Washington, DC, September 9, 2002.
Hon. W.J. ``Billy'' Tauzin,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, 
        Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC.
    Dear Chairman Tauzin: I am writing with regard to H.R. 
3880, which was ordered reported with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute by the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
on September 5, 2002. As you know, the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure was named as an additional 
Committee of jurisdiction upon the bill's introduction.
    I recognize your desire to bring this bill before the House 
in an expeditious manner. Accordingly, I will not exercise my 
Committee's right to a sequential referral of the legislation. 
By agreeing to waive its consideration of the bill, however, 
the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure does not 
waive its jurisdiction over H.R. 3880. In addition, the 
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee reserves its 
authority to seek conferees on provisions of the bill that are 
within its jurisdiction during any House-Senate conference that 
may be convened on this legislation. I ask for your commitment 
to support any request by the Transportation and Infrastructure 
Committee for conferees on H.R. 3880.
    I request that you include a copy of our exchange of 
letters in your Committee's report on H.R. 3880 and in the 
Congressional Record during consideration on the House Floor. 
Thank you.
            Sincerely,
                                                 Don Young,
                                                          Chairman.
                                ------                                

                          House of Representatives,
                          Committee on Energy and Commerce,
                                 Washington, DC, September 5, 2002.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of 
        Representatives, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC.
    Dear Chairman Young: Thank you for your letter regarding to 
H.R. 3880, a bill to provide a temporary waiver from certain 
transportation conformity requirements and metropolitan 
transportation planning requirements under the Clean Air Act 
and under other laws for certain areas in New York where the 
planning offices and resources have been destroyed by acts of 
terrorism.
    As the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure was 
named as an additional Committee of jurisdiction upon the bills 
introduction, I acknowledge and appreciate your willingness not 
to exercise your full referral on the bill. In doing so, I 
agree that your decision to waive consideration of the bill 
will not prejudice the Committee on Transportation and 
infrastructure with respect to its jurisdictional prerogatives 
on this legislation or similar legislation. Further, I 
recognize your right to request conferees on those provisions 
within the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's 
jurisdiction should they be the subject of a House-Senate 
conference.
    I will include your letter and this response in the 
Committee's report on H.R. 3880.
            Sincerely,
                                     W.J. ``Billy'' Tauzin,
                                                          Chairman.

                                
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