Meeting_Body
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
AUGUST 18, 2016
Preamble
Motion by:
MOTION BY GARCETTI, KNABE, ANTONOVICH, SOLIS,
DUBOIS & FASANA
August 18, 2016
Federal Freight Funding Program Update
In December 2015, Congress passed a multi-year surface transportation-funding bill known as the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act).
The FAST Act contains provision, National Highway Freight Program (NHFP) which provides funds to support freight related projects.
The funds are both apportioned a formula basis to the states and distributed on competitive basis under provisions of the FASTLANE program.
This year, eighteen projects were selected nationwide to receive $760 million in total FASTLANE grant dollars.
Of the twenty-four projects that California submitted to USDOT for funding, nine of which were located in Los Angeles County, only one project received FASTLANE grant money-SR 11 Enrico Fermin to Otay Mesa East Point of Entry Improvement Project in San Diego, a project that promotes faster border crossing by commercial trucks at the U.S.- Mexico border.
The six-county area that stretches from Ventura to Imperial Counties and include Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange and San Bernardino Counties did not receive a single funded project.
Yet, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach make up close to 40% of the nation's freight movement at approximately $400 billion dollars a year and the volume of goods is expected to more than double over the next thirty years.
Being that the FAST Act authorized the FASTLANE Program for $4.5 billion dollars through 2020 with competitive years for projects each year, it is incumbent upon this Board to approach these grant opportunities with the utmost urgency in planning and strategy to allow us to reduce congestion and pollution and move freight more efficiently through the region.
Over the authorization period of the FAST Act the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is anticipated to apportion t...
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