Brad Plumer investigates widely echoed Republican claims that environmental rules are a major reason why it takes so long to build highways and bridges, and finds scant evidence to back up the claims.
A major piece of the GOP transportation bill released this week would streamline environmental review procedures to speed up approval and construction of highway projects. However, according to Plumer, only 4 percent of federal highway projects require an Environmental Impact Statement from federal agencies in the first place.
Plumer finds that the evidence simply isn't there (due to lack of study or lack of results) to support the conclusion that environmental regulations are a major contributor to project delays, or that prior efforts to streamline regulations have had any significant impact. One of the few instances cited by Plumer in which delays have been studied is a 2000 Federal Highway Administration survey of, "89 large projects that had suffered long delays, [which] found that just 19 percent were bogged down due to environmental concerns (resource agency review, endangered species, or wetlands)."
"The Obama administration, for its part, has taken a different approach to this issue, selecting 14 specific infrastructure projects that have been especially plagued by delays and pushing those through expedited approval. Many environmental groups and transit advocates prefer this strategy of focusing on the tiny subset of projects that are actually causing problems rather than broad legislative changes."
FULL STORY: Is this duck delaying your highway?
Transportation Bill Clears House Committee
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San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research