Representative
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

RE: Oppose SAFETEA bill and support sane transportation policy

Dear Representative ,

I strongly urge you to support transportation legislation that protects air quality and public health, preserves public input into transportation decisions, and protects our historic and natural areas, and to OPPOSE the administration’s proposals to weaken long-standing laws protecting clean air, public health, parks, wildlife refuges, wild and scenic rivers, and historic sites, as part of the reauthorization of the federal transportation law, TEA-21.

Please OPPOSE provisions in the Administration's SAFETEA bill and in other legislative proposals that would weaken the Clean Air Act and other core environmental laws. Rather than relaxing clean air standards, we must have a transportation bill that strengthens accountability for health and the environment and doubles funding for transit, clean air programs, and transportation, land use, and natural resource planning. These must also include opportunities for ample public involvement.

Every six years Congress reauthorizes the federal transportation funding bill, providing billions in federal highway and transit funding. How these funds are allocated has a huge impact on society. In 1991, Congress finally passed, and the first President Bush signed, the landmark "ISTEA" bill, which began to instill some balance in the federal transportation programs. ISTEA gave communities greater flexibility in allocating transportation dollars and greater say in public decision-making.

But this Bush Administration is pushing a transportation bill that would tilt funding and the environmental review process in favor of highways over transit. President Bush's proposed transportation bill would roll back 40 years of hard-fought environmental gains and protections for communities, parks, and historic resources. The public and local elected officials would have fewer opportunities to influence transportation decisions. Under the Administration bill state and local officials would be eligible for four times more federal funds for every local dollar invested if they build roads instead of transit, rather than the equal funding available under current law.

The Bush Administration bill would also set short time limits on legal challenges to environmental reviews, forcing opponents to file lawsuits instead of working through issues with agencies like the Federal Highway Administration. Finally, the Administration's bill would weaken accountability for the air quality impacts of major new road projects.

Please stand up for our future and for the health and security of all Americans by stopping any transportation bill that does not uphold environmental protections, equal funding for public transportation, and strong public and local review.