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Transportation News July 30, 2008

Focus on Senate as House Approves Highway Fix
The House, by a vote of 387 to 37, agreed last week to deposit $8.017 billion from the government's General Fund into the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund to cover a projected $3.3 billion shortfall next fiscal year. Supporters note the transfer simply restores money taken out of the Highway Trust Fund in a 1998 budget deal. All members of the Kentucky Delegation voted for H.R. 6532. Congressmen Ben Chandler and John Yarmuth were cosponsors. The objective now is to get a clean bill, H.R. 6532, on the Senate agenda when the Senate returns in September from the August recess. Kentucky has some $200 million and an estimated 5,600 jobs at stake in the legislation.

Replacing Nation’s Deficient Bridges Could Cost $140 Billion
Making all of the needed repairs or upgrades to the nation’s deficient bridges could cost $140 billion, according to a report released this week by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. SAFETEA-LU would provide $5.4 billion for the bridge program in FY 09. One bridge in four needs to be modernized or repaired. Some 31.5 percent of Kentucky’s bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, according to FHWA. KYTC is working continuously to ensure the safety of the state’s nearly 14,000 bridges, but the increasing age of the bridges and the lack of funds to repair or replace them, or to build new ones to relieve congestion problems, remains a primary concern.

Agencies Sue State for Diverting Fee Revenue
A group led by the Catholic Conference of Kentucky has filed suit challenging the General Assembly's practice of transferring funds from the state Department of Charitable Gaming to help shore up the General Fund budget. The lawsuit would stop the practice of taking revenue the department raises through license fees on nonprofit groups. The suit raises the broader question of whether the legislature can legally take millions of dollars from boards and commissions that license and regulate various activities in state. The current budget transfers a total of $481.5 million from various designated accounts to the General Fund budget. The transfers include a new record, $117.6 million in funds directly contributed by highway users.

Transportation News July 19, 2008

U. S. Needs More Conservation AND More Energy of All Kinds
There is no issue more immediately critical to the nation’s future than developing a national energy policy that reduces our dependence on foreign oil. The current energy crisis threatens irreparable damage to the U. S. economy and our way of life. The wealth of the nation is being exported to oil producing countries.

Inevitably, the nation will have greater reliance on more efficient transportation – public transit, rail and waterway – and more efficient vehicles. Natural gas may be one of the most efficient, least expensive alternatives to oil to fuel transportation. The U. S. has an abundance of natural gas. Natural gas is inexpensive in comparison to oil and is cleaner burning. Natural gas is used in many parts of the world to fuel automobiles and trucks. Fueling the nation’s highway vehicles with natural gas rather than electricity would make it easier to retain the painless, time-tested pay-as-you-go method of funding highway programs.

Energy Giants Collaborating with State to Study CO2 Storage
Kentucky is partnering with the newly created Western Kentucky Carbon Storage Foundation to advance the science of long-term carbon dioxide storage opportunities in the commonwealth. CO2 emissions are one of the impediments to coal-to-liquid development.

Pike County Makes Plans for Coal-to-Liquid Plant
Pike County Judge-Executive Wayne T. Rutherford announced this week the selection of a site for what officials expect will eventually be a coal-to-liquid plant that will produce 50,000 barrels per day of liquid fuel. They estimate the cost of the plant at $4 billion.

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