The Federal Budget: Truck Safety Gets Hefty Increase
Oliver B.Patton
Washington Editor
Truck safety is one of the few domestic programs in the Bush administration budget that is not being frozen or cut back. In fact, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is budgeted for a 22% increase next fiscal year over this year.
The agency has scheduled hefty increases for its safety programs and its grants to states, partly in order to enforce its plans to conduct a safety audit on all new entrants into the business. Each year some 40,000 new entrants apply for a DOT license, and each of them will have to be audited within 18 months of when they open their doors.
The safety agency's $447 million budget for fiscal year 2004 is just a drop in the Transportation Department's overall request for $54.3 billion. And, big as it is, DOT's budget is loose change compared to Social Security at $497 billion, defense at $390 billion, unemployment and welfare at $325 billion and interest on the national debt at $176 billion.
President Bush's $2.34 trillion federal budget emphasizes defense over domestic programs. It projects a $304 billion deficit, or 13.6% of the budget. That is almost double the deficit incurred this fiscal year, and it does not include the cost of a possible war in Iraq or other anti-terrorist campaigns such as the U.S. effort in Afghanistan.
The deficit is not welcome but it is necessary, said newly appointed Treasury Secretary John Snow, former chairman of rail giant CSX Corp.
A newcomer in the budget is the Department of Homeland Security, which has taken over the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and a number of important truck security functions, as well as the Coast Guard. The new department is budgeted for $36.2 billion, and TSA's budget has been cut from $5.3 billion to $4.8 billion, a move that has drawn criticism from security experts who say the government needs to spend more, not less.
DOT's $54.3 billion is a 6% increase over last year's budget. A key element for trucking is that the department intends to preserve the balance in the Highway Trust Fund — the key mechanism for funding the national highway system — and maintain the firewalls that prevent diversion of highway tax receipts to other funds. It does not envision any increases in user fees such as fuel or excise taxes, and it ends the current practice of diverting gasohol tax receipts to the general fund. That change will add about $600 million per year to the Highway Trust Fund. DOT also wants to carve a new, $1-billion Infrastructure Preservation and Maintenance program out of the trust fund for immediate highway needs.
This approach is not completely satisfactory to Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which oversees DOT. Young acknowledged the 6% increase, but said it is not enough. In particular, he complained that funding for highway infrastructure is too low. The budget calls for $29.3 billion for federal-aid highways, an 8.5% decrease from this year.
Young pointed to highway congestion as proof that infrastructure needs are not being met. "The average cost of congestion for every driver is $1,160 a year, and the American worker loses more than a week and half of productivity a year sitting in traffic," he said in a statement. However, he said he is "encouraged" by the new $1 billion fund for immediate needs.
The 22% increase at the motor carrier safety administration includes significant new dollars for enforcement. Specifically, the agency wants $33.2 million to fund the new entrant rules. Around $16 million of that will go to hiring 32 full-time staff to manage the program. The balance will go to the states to hire and train 67 third-party contractors to conduct the 12,000 audits that will be needed in 2004.
FMCSA Acting Administrator Annette Sandberg said the independent contractors will conduct audits in the 18 states that are not able to manage the program themselves. The independent contractors will be certified by FMCSA, using a process that was established during creation of the border enforcement system, Sandberg said.
The agency's budget also includes about $109 million for the safety enforcement program along the Mexican border. President Bush opened the border in January, but a court-ordered stay of that decision has blocked any long-haul Mexican trucks from entering (see sidebar).
Another item is $10 million for hazmat security, including background checks on CDL holders who haul hazardous materials. That requirement was imposed following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and was supposed to begin more than a year ago, but it was stalled due to the difficulty of getting the federal bureaucracy to work out the details. According to Sandberg, TSA has been given primary responsibility for administering the program. She said the trucking industry can expect to see user fees to support the program.
Other FMCSA budget items:
• $9 million for increased enforcement of hazmat safety and a new hazmat permit program.
• $2 million for tougher enforcement of household goods mover violations, and a consumer complaint hotline.
• $29 million for administration and computer systems in order to improve management.
• $223 million, a 13% increase over this year, in grants to states for safety enforcement and hazmat safety along the Canadian border.
The agency is aiming to cut the fatality rate from 2.4 per 100 million miles in 2002, to 2.07 in 2004. The long-term goal is a rate of 1.65 by 2008.
The budget process now enters the debate phase, a process that will take at least six months.
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