Highway Transportation Extension Trust Fund bill

Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2004, Part V - Extends Federal highway, highway safety, motor carrier safety, and transit programs for seven months, and authorizes appropriations, through May 31, 2005.

(Sec. 2) Directs the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) apportion funds made available for Federal-aid highway programs under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) to each State according to the ratio of the State's FY 2004 obligation authority to the FY 2004 obligation authority for all States; and (2) ensure that each State is apportioned funds for the Interstate maintenance program, the National Highway System program, the bridge program, the surface transportation program, the congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program, the recreational trails program, the Appalachian development highway system program, and the minimum guarantee.

Amends the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2003 to extend the off-system bridge set-aside through May 31, 2005.

Directs the Secretary to reduce the amount that would be apportioned, but for this Act, to a State for Federal-aid highway programs for FY 2005, under a multiyear law reauthorizing the Federal-aid highway program that is enacted after enactment of this Act by the amount that is apportioned to each State under this Act for each such program. Authorizes the Secretary to establish procedures under which certain funds apportioned for a program category for which funds are not authorized under the multiyear law may be restored to the Federal-aid highway program.

Amends Tea-21 to extend through May 31, 2005, certain advanced authorizations from the Highway Trust Fund.

Revises the amount of obligation limitation that is to be distributed by the Secretary.

Sets a cap upon the total amount of obligation authority distributed through May 31, 2005.

Prohibits the obligation of funds after May 31, 2005, for any Federal-aid highway program project until the date of enactment of a multiyear law reauthorizing the Federal-aid highway program.

(Sec. 3) Allows a State to transfer unobligated apportionments of funds for certain Federal-aid highway program projects to any other of those Federal-aid highway program projects. Prohibits any transfer from unobligated amounts apportioned for: (1) the congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program; and (2) the surface transportation program.

(Sec. 4) Makes specified funds available from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for administrative expenses of the Federal-aid highway program for FY 2005.

(Sec. 5) Extends through May 31, 2005, the authorization of appropriations under TEA-21 for: (1) Federal land highways (Indian reservation roads, public lands highways, park roads and parkways, and refuge roads); (2) national corridor planning and development and coordinated border infrastructure programs; (3) construction of ferry boats and ferry terminal facilities; (4) the national scenic byways program; (5) the value pricing pilot program; (6) highway use tax evasion projects; (7) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Highway Program; (8) safety grants; (9) the transportation and community and system preservation pilot program; (10) transportation infrastructure finance and innovation; (11) a center for national scenic byways; (12) surface transportation research; (13) the technology deployment program; (14) training and education; (15) the Bureau of Transportation Statistics; (16) intermodal transportation system (ITS) standards, research, operational tests, and development; (17) ITS deployment; (18) university transportation research; (19) metropolitan planning; (20) the Territories of Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; (21) the Alaska highway program; (22) Operation Lifesaver; (23) the bridge discretionary program; (24) interstate maintenance; (25) recreational trails administrative costs; and (26) railway-highway crossing hazard elimination in high speed rail corridors.

Extends through May 31, 2005, the authorization of appropriations for skills training and on-the-job training to implement a specified nondiscrimination program.

(Sec. 6) Extends the authorization of appropriations for highway safety programs, including (1) seat belt safety incentive grants; (2) prevention of intoxicated driver incentive grants; (3) highway safety research and development (R&D); (4) occupant protection incentive grant; (5) alcohol-impaired driving countermeasures incentive grants; and (6) the National Driver Register.

(Sec. 7) Extends through May 31, 2005, the authorization of appropriations for: (1) administrative expenses of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA); (2) the motor carrier safety assistance program; (3) information systems and commercial driver's license grants; (4) emergency commercial driver license (CDL) grants; and (5) continuation of a crash causation study.

Makes certain Federal hours-of-service regulations with respect to property-carrying commercial drivers (contained in the Final Rule published on April 28, 2003, 68 Fed. Reg. 22456-22517, as amended on September 30, 2003, 68 Fed. Reg. 56208-56212), and made applicable to motor carriers and drivers on January 4, 2004, effective until the earlier of: (1) the effective date of a new final rule addressing the issues raised by the July 16, 2004, decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Public Citizen, et al. v. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (No. 03-1165); or (2) September 30, 2005.

(Sec. 8) Extends through May 31, 2005, the authorization of allocations and apportionments for Federal Transit programs, including: (1) fixed guideway modernization; (2) formula grants; (3) capital programs; (4) planning; (5) research, including university transportation research; (6) the job access and reverse commute program; (7) the rural transportation accessibility incentive program; (8) urbanized area formula grants; (9) the fuel cell bus and bus facilities program; (10) the advanced technology pilot project; (11) projects for new fixed guideway systems and extensions to existing systems; and (12) the New Jersey urban core project.

(Sec. 9) Amends the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fishing Restoration Act to extend through May 31, 2005, authorizations of appropriations for: (1) the National Outreach and Communications Program; and (2) qualified projects under the Clean Vessel Act of 1972.

Amends Federal maritime law to increase the authorization of appropriations for personnel and activities expenses of the Coast Guard directly related to the national recreational boating safety program.

(Sec. 10) Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) and TEA-21, respectively, to set related discretionary spending limits and obligations for the highway and mass transit categories for FY 2005.

Expresses the sense of Congress that with respect to any multiyear reauthorization of the Federal-aid highway program that the alignment of highway spending with revenues under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act should be restructured to minimize year-to-year fluctuations in highway spending levels.

Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the level of obligation limitations for FY 2005 under the highway category and the mass transit category under TEA-21, as amended and extended, should equal the obligation limitations for such categories authorized in any multiyear law reauthorizing the Federal-aid highway program and enacted after this Act; and (2) the highway account category obligation limitation level for FY 2005 should equal the sum of the Federal Highway Administration (FHA), National Highway Safety Administration (NHSA), and FMCSA obligation limitations for FY 2005 in such multiyear law; and (3) the mass transit category obligation limitation level for FY 2005 should equal the sum of budget authority and obligation limitation authorizations for Federal Transit Administration programs for FY 2005 in the multiyear reauthorization.

(Sec. 12) Amends the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2003 to extend highway programs through the end of FY 2004.

(Sec. 13) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend until June 1, 2005, the authorization for the use of the HTF (including the Mass Transit Account) and the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund (including the Sport Fish Restoration Account and the Boat Safety Account) for obligations under TEA-21.

Extends through FY 2005 authorities for the transfer of a certain percentage of excise tax revenues for alcohol-blended fuels to the HTF.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov