Senate Environment Committee leaders James Inhofe (R-Okla) and Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.) have plotted a new Equity Bonus plan for highway funding as a component of the next transportation funding bill. The plan aims to increase the minimum rate of return for donor states based on their contribution to the federal Highway Trust Fund. Under the proposal, all donor states would reach a 95% return on trust fund contributions by 2009, and all states would take home more money than they have under the bill's predecessor, TEA-21. The plan would mandate that no state would get less than 10% more money than its TEA-21 levels, but no state would get less than 90.5% in any year. The proposal addresses states with lower tax bases, meaning those with low population, low population densities or low income, by guaranteeing them at least the same rate of return as they received under TEA-21.

Dollars Flowing for Highway, Airport Projects

The transportation-funding picture for this year has finally cleared somewhat. President Bush signed a massive appropriations bill in which the transportation piece was entangled. The legislation deals with funding for 11 federal agencies and sets highway spending for FY2004 at $33.8 billion, $4.5 billion more than what Bush originally sought. The bill includes $3.4 billion for the Airport Improvement Program. The AIP funding level fits with last year's Vision 100 legislation re-authorizing federal aviation programs. The law, which Bush signed at the end of 2003, sets AIP funding levels at $3.5 billion in FY2005, $3.6 billion in FY2006, and $3.7 billion in FY2007.

Silica Issues at the Fore

The federal government's effort to regulate silica is a front-burner issue. The Mine Safety and Health Administration has tentative plans to issue a proposal in May. And the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reviewing the report of the Small Business Advocacy Review Panel on the agency's draft standard. Prompted by input from small entities, the review panel recommends that OSHA consider an alternative approach to setting a tougher exposure standard. The panel says OSHA should improve enforcement and conduct expanded outreach for the existing limits rather than create a new rule. The group wants OSHA to asses the effects of its existing compliance and outreach efforts. The panel also made recommendations, should the agency move forward with a new rule. It recommends that OSHA: reassess its seemingly low compliance cost estimates for the proposed rule; re-evaluate cost impacts of engineering controls for specific industries; re-evaluate the projected costs of exposure monitoring, and health screening and hygiene provisions; and assess the costs of the ban on dry sweeping, which was not included in OSHA's initial estimates.

Supreme Court to Rule on Value of Sand and Gravel

Later this year, the U.S. Supreme Court is expect to issue an opinion in BedRoc Ltd. & Western Elite, Inc., v. U.S. BedRoc challenged an assertion that sand and gravel extracted from its property near Las Vegas is controlled by the U. S. government under a 1919 law known as the Pittman Act. The act says that land issued to U.S. citizens includes a reservation to the government of “all the coal and other valuable minerals in the lands.” BedRoc argues the materials should not be covered under the statute because they were not valuable at the time the land was patented, but attained value later due to a building boom.

Charlotte S. Garvey is a Washington, D.C.-based writer specializing in environmental, natural resources, and other public policy issues.