"The regulatory review called for by the president and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood provides another avenue to deliver transportation improvements to the American public faster," Horsley said. "The current delays brought about, in part, by federal regulations cost the country a great deal. Lives are lost when safety improvements are delayed. Taxpayers get less for their dollar. Fewer jobs are created, and economic recovery is slowed when projects are needlessly delayed."

USDOT held the meeting in response to an executive order issued by President Barack Obama in January. The order requires federal agencies to ensure that regulations protect the nation's safety, public health, and environment while promoting economic growth. It also orders a review of existing rules to remove outdated or ineffective regulations that stifle job creation and make America's economy less competitive. (see Jan. 21 AASHTO Journal story)

"It's a pleasure to work for a president who recognizes that these principles should not only guide the government's approach to new regulation, but to existing ones as well," LaHood wrote on his blog Monday. "And it's a pleasure to be able to say that the Department of Transportation has already launched its regulatory review."

Monday's meeting was attended by Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez, the general counsels for USDOT and all of its modal agencies, and about 60 other participants.

During his comments, Horsley commended Mendez for his "Every Day Counts" initiative to cut in half the time it takes to deliver highway projects. Mendez unveiled the "Every Day Counts" initiative last May at the AASHTO Spring Meeting in Natchez, Mississippi. (see May 28 AASHTO Journal story)

In advance of Monday's meeting, AASHTO staff developed 19 recommendations on regulatory changes that the association believes would be helpful. Horsley briefly outlined five of those:

1. National Environmental Policy Act Review: "Over the last 10 years, the time required to complete a NEPA Environmental Impact Statement on a major highway project has averaged five to seven years. We would like to see that average reduced to one-third of that time."
   
   
2. Program Delivery: "Years ago, we believed FHWA and states had agreed that the time had come for FHWA to change its oversight role from one of project-by-project review, to one of programmatic review of the program each state was conducting with federal funding. FHWA no longer has the staff to do project-by-project reviews well, states now have the capability to manage projects on their own, and there is little to no value added by duplicative reviews by FHWA on individual projects."
   
   
3. Use of Proprietary Products: "AASHTO, as well as a number of organizations like ARTBA, ATSSA and others, have concerns that current federal regulations ... impose broad restrictions on the states' ability to utilize proprietary methods, materials, and equipment on federal-aid projects. As a result, this limits the development of new products and discourages innovation."
   
   
4. Bridges: "The Highway Bridge Program is known as one of the most restrictive funding sources within the federal funding program. The addition of flexibility to the provisions within this program would allow for better overall management of the nation's bridges."
   
   
5. Privatization of Rest Areas: "Many states have been forced to close rest areas over the past several years due to lack of funds to pay for security and maintenance of these facilities. Current federal transportation law prohibits the privatization or commercialization of interstate rest areas. This is despite the fact that private industry stands ready to compete for opportunities to build, maintain, and operate rest areas with high levels of quality at no cost to the taxpayer."

Horsley's entire statement is available at bit.ly/Horsley031411.

AASHTO has asked all state DOTs and AASHTO committees to have their recommendations regarding needed improvements to USDOT regulations in to the association by next Friday, March 25. AASHTO intends to compile all comments it receives so it can submit a comprehensive and consolidated set of recommendations to US DOT by March 31.

For others desiring to make comments, USDOT has created a website, dotregreview.ideascale.com, where you can give input to help guide the department's regulatory review.

"If you know of a rule that is outdated, ineffective, or excessively burdensome, this is your chance to participate and point us in the right direction," LaHood wrote.

The secretary urged commenters to include the citation to the regulation you're commenting about, a description of your concern, and any supporting information that would help USDOT make a decision, such as a citation to a duplicate regulation or actual cost information.