▶ 0:15:46Chair Capito: Good morning everybody and thank you for your help as we determine the next surface reauthorization bill. This is the first of may two part series and I really want to thank secretary duffy for being here with us. My vision is simple but important, we want to improve the movement of people and goods. Our roads and bridges are what connect us to the people and places in our lives.
▶ 0:16:15Chair Capito: They help american businesses large and small create jobs and economic opportunities and enable competitiveness in the global marketplace. They connect everything around us, and every state has transportation needs and stands to benefit from the reauthorization bill. West virginia is pursuing important projects like the coalfields expressway and I am specifically mentioning these because he will be hearing from me on this.
▶ 0:16:45Chair Capito: Also to better link our communities to essential services and economic opportunity. This provides the funding and establishes policies and programs that enabled the improvement of surface transportation networks. Since the enactment of the bipartisan invest -- investment and jobs act we have reviewed and conducted oversight of the existing policies and programs. We have learned a lot about what is working and what is not.
▶ 0:17:14Chair Capito: That effort has provided me with three key principles, by focusing on these principles, I am confident that we can work towards bipartisan legislation that will deliver results for the american people. Principle one, improving the safety and reliability of america's surface transportation network with impactful investments. In recent years we have seen an increase in the number and scope of federal transportation programs.
▶ 0:17:40Chair Capito: They have often had duplicative purposes and project availability. And ineligibility. This leads to an expensive process to get funding out the door that disrupts the focus of federal funding and lessens the impact that the legislation can make. As we craft the next bill we must make investments that instead optimize the impact of federal funding and give the state partners the confidence that they can invest over a longer period of time.
▶ 0:18:13Chair Capito: We should focus on eliminating duplicative programs and increase funding for the highway formul programs that the states rely on and have a proven track record of success. Reforming and modernizing federal programs and policies to increase efficiency. We know that federal requirements can add red tape that increase costs, time and slow down the completion of projects. We want to deliver transportation benefits faster and save money for american taxpayers.
▶ 0:18:45Chair Capito: We need to take a serious look at the federal requirements to determine how to make meaningful improvements to our planning and procurement procedures, environmental rugae -- review processes for projects and discretionary grants and loan requirements. By reforming and modernizing we can create certainty for the partners who make these projects happen and make sure that the public receives the benefits of these needed investments quickly.
▶ 0:19:12Chair Capito: Principle three, addressing the variety of surface transportation needs. Obviously, different states have different needs. I would not expect west virginia with our mountainous peaks and valleys to prioritize the same transportation projects in other states and other parts of our country. By avoiding top-down mandates from washington and giving states the flexibility to address their individual improvements, that is what we need to be looking at.
▶ 0:19:41Chair Capito: The bill can support our common goals while ensuring that federal regulations programs and policies recognize a different needs of our states. It will take collaboration. From colleagues and take holders in the trump administration to complete the bill before the expiration in september 2026. We must be pragmatic and work in a bipartisan way to develop a senate bill that sets us up for a productive conversation on this effort with colleagues in the house.
▶ 0:20:11Chair Capito: I am grateful to the secretary who is here to share the trump administration's priorities and I look forward to learning more about those priorities. The department of transportation's technical assistance and support will be part of the process. There is an -- this is an excellent opportunity in the transportation network. Each of us knows how important that network is in the role that it plays in keeping the country's economy and people on the move.
▶ 0:20:40Chair Capito: I am excited to get to work to continue the bipartisan tradition of developing the legislation and I want to thank the witness and members for participating in this hearing. I would like to turn to the ranking member for his statement.
▶ 0:20:54Sen. Whitehouse: Welcome secretary duffy, it is good to be here. A strong bipartisan commitment to infrastructure got us the historic infrastructure investment and jobs act. Last week I attended the unveiling of the 2025 infrastructure report card.
▶ 0:21:14Sen. Whitehouse: We are not a student's, but it shows progress thanks to the infrastructure law and the reflation induction -- reduction act which are delivering real results. At the start of the biden administration our infrastructure was crumbling. 46,000 bridges were in poor condition and more than 170,000 miles of major roads were in poor condition. We had unreliable transfers -- transit systems.
▶ 0:21:44Sen. Whitehouse: We began turning this around with long-overdue investments in roads, bridges, transit, drinking and wastewater, and other systems that are the backbone of the economy. We see this progress in rhode island's bridges going from 27% structurally deficient in 2016 to 12% in 2025.
▶ 0:22:07Sen. Whitehouse: Not a student's, but progress and it brought 100 progress -- projects closer to completion in rhode island alone. As we think about the future, it is incumbent on us to address a big obstacle, unreasonable delays. China builds high-speed rail, airports and ports at warp speed while we tread water.
▶ 0:22:31Sen. Whitehouse: Even france lampooned for embodying bureaucracy build subway and rail projects faster and at less cost than we do. Delays take many per dust forms. There is permitting and I am pleased to work with the chairman on permitting reform. There is bureaucracy and as I have mentioned, we have to manage this inner agency process monster better.
▶ 0:22:59Sen. Whitehouse: And, to be clear, I and many of my colleagues rode the biden administration hard about delays of infrastructure and other projects. This is often legislative versus executive search -- separation of powers issues where the executive branch hides under interagency process it -- process and bad execution.
▶ 0:23:27Sen. Whitehouse: We should take our oversight responsibilities seriously no matter who is in the white house. The most recent spate of delays is the trump freeze of bridge investment and protect funding. Thousands of projects are backed up so they could be screened for d.e.I. Or other maga heresies by rattled and shrunken agencies.
▶ 0:23:52Sen. Whitehouse: I want to start by thanking the chair and her staff for helping unstick previous funding for the washing team -- washington bridge. In secretary duffy I would like to thank you for your work and delivering discretionary grants including the washington bridge funds. That is a crucial project not just for rhode island but the region, it is where you go towards the cape.
▶ 0:24:19Sen. Whitehouse: I hope that we can rapidly deliver previously awarded funding for the array of I-95 bridges that need the work and for the mount hope bridge which I want to show because setting aside how important it is as a piece of transit infrastructure, it is also gorgeous. It is one of the most beautiful bridges in the country and is 100 years old. We can extend its life and we need to get this done.
▶ 0:24:47Sen. Whitehouse: As I said in our call and as the chair knows I am eager to work on permitting reform and the scope and conversation with our colleagues at the energy committee has already begun. I am eager to do a robust, water resources bill and highway authorization. These three bills could be big, and they could be transformational.
▶ 0:25:11Sen. Whitehouse: I cannot do any of that while the trump administration blockades authorized and appropriated funds for approved projects, particularly if it blockades selectively. And I cannot do that, if the trump administration avoids its duty to execute the bipartisan laws faithfully, and not with favoritism.
▶ 0:25:37Sen. Whitehouse: So, the door is open in this committee to big bipartisan things for our infrastructure and I encourage you to walk through the open door. If I may just revert to one other topic for a moment. I addressed last week the mischief and nonsense that has surrounded the green infrastructure fund. And we have seen senator sullivan is a former attorney general and U.S. attorney.
▶ 0:26:10Sen. Whitehouse: When you are firing courier staff that disagree with you and proceeding with only political signatures without any career staff and when you are getting shot down in one court and told there is no evidence in another court and you are still sending fbi agent to harass employees, and particularly when you make derogatory accusations of fraud and criminality which administrators eldon has done, it is a violation of doj process. As a matter of law it is defamatory, per se.
▶ 0:26:41Sen. Whitehouse: And it appears by the rejection by the career staff and the magistrate judge and the finding of no evidence by the federal judge that this was a knowingly defamatory stat -- set of statements made by the epa administrator and acting U.S. attorney. We will continue to drill down into that misconduct and I will ask for the moment that the article today "epa hunt for shady deals and gold bars comes up empty" be made a matter of record.
▶ 0:27:10Chair Capito: Without objection.
▶ 0:27:12Sen. Whitehouse: Thank you.
▶ 0:27:13Chair Capito: This morning we are honored to be joined by the U.S. transportation secretary, sean duffy. He was approved to be secretary of transportation with 77 affirmative votes by the senate and was sworn in on january 28. Prior to his service in the cabinet, as many who served in the house no, he was not just a successful district attorney that a member of the house of representatives.
▶ 0:27:41Chair Capito: Where I had the privilege of serving with him on the financial services committee. Thank you again for being here, you are recognized for your opening statement.
▶ 0:27:49Sec. Duffy: Thank you. I appreciate you all inviting me to the committee today. And maybe I could just first talk about the bipartisanship of this committee. Per senator whitehouse's comments, I think that senator o has talked -- capito has talked more about your projects and her projects as evidence that you work together in a bipartisan fashion so thank you.
▶ 0:28:20Sen. Whitehouse: I am going to call you after this hearing. [laughter]
▶ 0:28:25Sec. Duffy: I think it is one of the unique spaces in our government when we work together because our roads and bridges, airplanes, airports and the safety of the cars is a bipartisan american issue and not a red or blue issue.
▶ 0:28:42Sec. Duffy: My aim is to provide you a sense of the administration's priorities as we work on surface transportation and reauthorization and embark on what I hope will be the golden age of transportation. I took office just over two months ago and my first day on the job we experienced a sobering reminder of why the top priority is and must always be safety.
▶ 0:29:09Sec. Duffy: I know the hearing is about surface transportation and I want to highlight some of the steps that we are taking in the immediate aftermath of the midair collision on the approach to dcaa. Because they underscore how we are going to approach the overall mission as we move forward. The department of transportation has been refocused on our mission of safety.
▶ 0:29:32Sec. Duffy: Following the midair collision we restricted helicopter traffic in the vicinity of dcaa and reviewed the air traffic control workforce, policies and procedures. At the end of february, I announced my plan to streamline the hiring process for air traffic controllers and increasing pay for new students that attend the academy.
▶ 0:29:56Sec. Duffy: In march, I announced that the faa will permanently restrict nonessential helicopter operations around ronald reagan airport, and eliminate mixed air -- mixed helicopter and fixed wing traffic. We will continue to push for a state-of-the-art air traffic control system. I think america deserves it, and america needs it, and it will be a process that will take all of us working together.
▶ 0:30:26Sec. Duffy: And I look forward to sharing with you what I have seen with regard to our antiquated system. And I think, when we have those conversations, I think the senate and house together are going to work with us. Our air traffic control system is using world war ii era technology. Floppy disks are common in the towers.
▶ 0:30:50Sec. Duffy: With your help we can propel the aviation system into the modern era by embracing the most advanced 21st-century technology that makes our system safe to -- safer, more affordable and efficient.
▶ 0:31:07Sec. Duffy: So whether taking road, rail l, sea or air, cutting red tape and building beautiful infrastructure is a top priority and let us do it efficiently. We can still protect the environment let us move the projects faster. Lawmakers can agree that infrastructure projects are taking way too long to complete.
▶ 0:31:32Sec. Duffy: The recent reconstruction of interstate 40, the critical appellation artery between north carolina and tennessee that was washed away demonstrates what is possible when everyone is working together. To expedite rebuilding we found creative ways to source materials closer to the job site, saving taxpayers time and money. It is this kind of innovation and problem solving that moves projects faster and more efficiently.
▶ 0:32:01Sec. Duffy: There is so much more that we can do together. I look forward to working with the congress on surface transportation reauthorization. I appreciate you senator, starting the hearings early. As we are just beginning a conversation and in congress sometimes we start late. But to go through the regular order will be a real benefit for the american people.
▶ 0:32:26Sec. Duffy: We leave that it is built with speed, ingenuity and durability so that americans can reap returns on their investments not just for this generation but generations to come. Thank you for having me and I look forward to taking in your questions.
▶ 0:32:40Chair Capito: Thank you. We appreciate that. You are still yielding back. That is good. [laughter] I do appreciate the beginning statements on the air traffic control system. And I know that you guys have been working on that, but safety is safety whether you are driving, flying or on a train.
▶ 0:33:07Chair Capito: I would like to ask you about bridges. Senator whitehouse mentioned that we still have a ways to go before the bridge infrastructure is where it needs to be for the future. You know, in my state we have a lot of rivers and mountains, we have a ton of bridges.
▶ 0:33:28Chair Capito: Need your partnership to make sure that we are going to have the ability to fix and we are in the process of some major projects fixing some of our business -- bridges and maintaining them. What can you say in terms of what you have seen in improving nation's bridges and much -- what more would we need to do to address the issues with bridge safety and maintenance?
▶ 0:33:51Sec. Duffy: Not far from where I grew up in wisconsin, the I-35 w I believe it was bridge in minnesota collapsed. It is a bridge I have gone over many times. The francis scott key bridge that collapsed. We see that people lose their lives when the bridges are not safe. I know it is a top priority for this committee and for the department as well.
▶ 0:34:17Sec. Duffy: We will make sure that the grants that have been awarded were expedition -- and we are expeditiously moving through and making sure we have the funding that was awarded. Beyond that, we have to take a look at the list of priorities and the oldest and may be the most dangerous bridges have to be funded first in those projects and to get underway.
▶ 0:34:42Chair Capito: Thank you. For the past couple of years I voted for theiija and I am glad I did. I raise concerns about the implication -- simple mentation in the competitive grant programs. And the time it takes is a repetitive theme, but the time it takes to get it out the door. Can you please commit to a timely execution? We know that there are numerous projects that have been promised and are not through the pipeline.
▶ 0:35:14Chair Capito: Promised by the previous administration, which is fine, but they did not move them. Can you talk about that and how you think that you can improve that process in your department?
▶ 0:35:26Sec. Duffy: Thank you. Many of you have called and said where is my project, where is the money? Can you speed this up? I will talk to senator whitehouse about questions from him on did we slow or pause or stop? There are 3200 announced projects at the department that do not have signed grant agreements. 3200.
▶ 0:35:55Sec. Duffy: We are going to work through those projects. If you say where is my projects, I am not looking at 10. Some of them date back to 2022. There is a lot of workload to get these projects -- the grant agreements completed and out the door to your states.
▶ 0:36:16Sec. Duffy: I will note that senator, usually and historically, there was 47 to 107 projects announced between election and inauguration day. This last administration announced 950. Almost 1000% increase. Everybody wants their projects and I will do my best to get it out the door, but it is a historic number announced.
▶ 0:36:44Sec. Duffy: And it is easy to blow the kazoo and send up the balloons when you announce a project. The hard work is doing the grant agreement. And I am committed to make sure that we get those grant agreements signed and out the door, but especially in the spring building season, that is a top priority. The first bridge and the first project that we got through and don was senator whitehouse's.
▶ 0:37:12Sec. Duffy: Infrastructure is not partisan, we all use roads and bridges and I am committed to making sure that we have a nonpartisan view as we move money.
▶ 0:37:19Chair Capito: I am interested in the 3200 projects that landed on your desk the day that you got sworn in that were not completed. Can you flesh out a little bit why they not be? It might be that it is environmental review or financing? Could you line out a little?
▶ 0:37:39Sec. Duffy: Some of them are the nepa work that had not been done yet. There were others that would expand capacity. So if you are going to expand capacity from two to four lanes it is my understanding that there was a set of ideas that they did not want to expand the capacity. They would redo current capacity, but if it was expanded those projects that.
▶ 0:38:07Sec. Duffy: So when the announcement goes, I am going to work for all of you to get these projects up. But I have a lot of complaints. It is a lot of projects that we have to get done to make sure to get done the commitments. And most of these are good projects. I have not found too many that I disagree with and it is good work.
▶ 0:38:27Chair Capito: Senator whitehouse.
▶ 0:38:29Sen. Whitehouse: Again, thank you secretary for being here and your assistance with that bridge construction support. I guess, also, thank you.
▶ 0:38:46Sen. Whitehouse: There was a misbegotten effort at the department of transportation to require your office's approval anytime any one the 50 states wanted to change their state transportation plans. I think probably on a bipartisan basis, state transportation directors said what? Why do you need to improve -- to approve our state transportation plans.
▶ 0:39:17Sen. Whitehouse: You backed that off and thank you because that would've been an unnecessary addition to the bureaucracy that doubles projects. But we still have the 3200 projects. My concern is that while some of them -- a lot of what you described as the problems on the way to final agreement would actually have been considered and resolved when the grant was awarded. Right?
▶ 0:39:48Sen. Whitehouse: You do not put a grant into a project when you do not know if it is two or four lanes. So it strikes me that one of the reasons for the 3200 case backlog that you have got is that you are trying to plow through these executive orders, many of which I believe are both illegal and nonsense, to examine each one of them to see if there are any maga hobgoblins or
▶ 0:40:20Sen. Whitehouse: Heresies in them like strip out the word climate or strip out the word equity and that kind of stuff. Which when you are fixing a bridge, if the word equity popped up, that is not that interesting to me. Getting the bridge fixed is what is interesting to me. If the word climate popped up, that is not that interesting to me. Getting the bridge fixed is what is interesting to me.
▶ 0:40:47Sen. Whitehouse: By the way, we just got a significant grant for the newport bridge, which is the key artery from the mainland to the island and a lot of traffic goes over it. The problem was that the cabling was rusting because there is a higher level of humidity.
▶ 0:41:08Sen. Whitehouse: So we had to install dehumidification equipment in the cabling between the cladding of the cable and the cable itself inside of the cladding to both solve the problem of rust and reduce the rate of rusting. So, that grant application would have the word climate in it.
▶ 0:41:33Sen. Whitehouse: Because the increase in humidity can be tracked to climate change. So, if you want to stop a project like that to scrub out the word climate, you are wasting an enormous amount of time. There is a climate related reason for it.
▶ 0:41:53Sen. Whitehouse: If you are dealing with coastal highways there are roads all over rhode island and I am not surprised that if west virginia with river and rainstorm flooding, you have roads that needs repair on a more rapid basis. If the applicant said this is going to continue to be a problem because of climate change, you have to go back and undo that. That seems massively unnecessary bureaucracy.
▶ 0:42:21Sen. Whitehouse: So, could you give me your I do not think you have a study on this, but could you give me your take on what you have seen so far as to how many of those 3200 stock projects are stuck because of the demand from the white house to have words they do not like like equity and climate scrubbed out to meet I guess the
▶ 0:42:55Sen. Whitehouse: New anti-heretical requirements of these orders. And how much of it is actually like a submissive -- substantive project -- problem?
▶ 0:43:10Sec. Duffy: Many of them date back 3.5 years. So, do think that we can move through in two months 3200 announced projects is impossible for us. So quickly the problem is not that we are going through these grant nofo's looking for the green and social justice.
▶ 0:43:36Sec. Duffy: But we are looking for because it might not be interesting to you, but you are putting on additional requirements with regard to green or social justice, that drives up the cost of a project and takes the project a longer timeframe in which to complete. I would note that all of you on this committee and body, you considered should we include green and social justice requirements in theiija, you debated it and did not put it in there.
▶ 0:44:06Sec. Duffy: And the last administration actually put the requirements that you considered and did not include but in the grant agreements. I am complying with the will of the congress by pulling it out. Because it will take longer and cost more.
▶ 0:44:20Sen. Whitehouse: Let me ask you to consider whether the delay of going through the heresy hunt.
▶ 0:44:25Sec. Duffy: It is not a heresy hunt.
▶ 0:44:27Sen. Whitehouse: That it is worse than whatever the cost is from having the words included.
▶ 0:44:33Sec. Duffy: I have been there for two months. And I do not believe following the will of congress is heresy. When I do not follow the will of congress I will here for you. I have due respect for you and the body and I am following your will by pulling out green and social justice which is not just language. There are requirements in these proposals.
▶ 0:44:59Sen. Whitehouse: To be continued. Thank you very much for being here and we will continue this conversation but I am taking my colleague's time.
▶ 0:45:07Sec. Duffy: I appreciate your invitation to rhode island.
▶ 0:45:11Sen. Whitehouse: You are going to love it.
▶ 0:45:15Sen. Cramer: I want to make sure that the minute and a half that he went over really is not my time. It was worthwhile. You know, I was not going to get into any of this but I cannot resist asking, is humidity along the coast new to climate change, or was there humidity before that had to be considered? I think that is a relevant question at the moment.
▶ 0:45:40Sec. Duffy: I am not a climate science -- scientist and I think it existed at sometimes.
▶ 0:45:47Sen. Cramer: I admire that this one is green and others are rusty. The other thing I have to say is I think all of us on this side of the dais that worked through the current bill and worked closely with your predecessor, secretary buttigieg, and I like him a lot. I will tell you, he liked announcements a lot. He was very good at announcements and there were a lot of announcements.
▶ 0:46:17Sen. Cramer: He showed up at a lot and we are grateful. But your point that the announcement is not the grant is an important one to continue to remind us of. Those who hate bureaucracy, they also recognize that there is some legitimacy for going through the grant application and having signatures.
▶ 0:46:37Sec. Duffy: The grant agreement announcing that you got a project is fun. It is a great process. You all celebrate. Cake and ice cream and you cut a ribbon. But truly the hard work is getting the grant agreement signed and the money out the door. That is the hard work. So when I say there is 3200 it will take us some time. I know you all want the projects done, I want the projects done.
▶ 0:47:05Sec. Duffy: What is great is that the president loves infrastructure and he wants big beautiful roads and bridges. It is not just you putting pressure that it is a president who will say why aren't you getting more money out the door and get these projects done. Everyone around agrees on infrastructure.
▶ 0:47:21Sen. Cramer: Since we are on that point, Mr. secretary, welcome and it is great to see you. The first several of us served with you in the house. Some of them are not even here yet. Well and congratulations. Along those same lines, one of those things that we did put in the current bill is the one federal decision, codifying the one rule of the first trump administration.
▶ 0:47:47Sen. Cramer: And yet, I have not seen a great application of that for the last four years in the permitting of a lot of these projects. I do not know if you have a comment on that.
▶ 0:47:59Sec. Duffy: We do have to streamline the process, even further with the federal decision taking the full meeting -- meeting of the legislation and language.
▶ 0:48:12Sen. Cramer: The remaining half of the discussion at this moment, I would point to the emphasis that the chairman put on the formula funding and the history of formula funding. I like to refer to the fact that you cannot reserve 300 miles for gravel along interstate 94 or durham to north dakota would never become pasta in new york.
▶ 0:48:39Sen. Cramer: And by the way, and I strongly support the chairman's emphasis on applying that formula to even more grant programs and discretionary grant programs to the degree that we can do that. I would be interesting. You coming from the middle of america and a pretty rural district. If you elaborate may be a little bit on that commitment to formula funding in the next bill as well.
▶ 0:49:06Sen. Cramer: Formula funding recognizes that the miles of road are just as about as important as how many people are in any particular mile of the road.
▶ 0:49:14Sec. Duffy: It is a good point. North dakota, west virginia and wisconsin, senator lummis knows rural as well.
▶ 0:49:25Sen. Cramer: Better than anybody.
▶ 0:49:27Sec. Duffy: It is an important point. Making sure that -- our urban centers are important, but we cannot focus on urban centers and forget rural america. And making sure that a lot of products come from the places where we live. And they might move from roads to trains to ships, but making sure there is a complete view is important.
▶ 0:49:53Sec. Duffy: I share the view of this committee and I think we have to have a holistic view of how we build out.
▶ 0:49:58Sen. Cramer: Great point. Some of us have our favorite types of transportation. Just so people know, 90% of the durum wheat is grown and north dakota. And that is what becomes semolina flour, and that becomes pasta. Literally. It does not go on the interstate. A little bit that's on rail or a boat every now again.
▶ 0:50:28Sen. Cramer: Just know that that will be a point of emphasis for a lot of us.
▶ 0:50:34Chair Capito: Senator husted.
▶ 0:50:39Sen. Hassan: -- husted: I wanted to just talk about the concept of time is money in this process. I come from ohio. And you know, I have only been in the senate for 10 weeks. And I have viewed the federal government from afar. And things take so much longer.
▶ 0:51:05Sen. Hassan: I will give you an example and this is not directly related to the department of transportation. Broadband. Passed a bill in congress in 2021 about rural broadband and still nothing has been billed.
▶ 0:51:20Sen. Hassan: We passed a law in the state of ohio to do rural broadband with state -- state money and we did it in two years I basically saying this is what we want, you bid on it, you deliver and do it in a timeframe. In preparation I was looking how long does it get to get a new exit on the highway. Five to 15 years. How long does it take to build a new bridge? Seven to 20 years.
▶ 0:51:51Sen. Hassan: Typically closer to 20. What is it that you are doing to institutionalize and to look at how we can deliver this faster and how can we help you?
▶ 0:52:04Sec. Duffy: Thank you for the question and welcome to the senate. Congratulations.
▶ 0:52:09Sen. Husted: Thank you. So far with these delightful colleagues it has been wonderful.
▶ 0:52:15Sec. Duffy: You make an important point and senator whitehouse made the point that in china and other places they build their infrastructure faster. We have decades of laws and rules and regulations that make it complicated. What we have done at the department is that there are requirements put on funding that is in the bill that we have to do.
▶ 0:52:42Sec. Duffy: I have asked, let us take out all of the other requirements put on from the department so we can build projects faster. We are going to work on nepa reform. I know that all of the body bipartisan wants to work on regulation reform. We can protect the environment and move projects faster. We are not doing it smartly. It will be whole of government.
▶ 0:53:13Sec. Duffy: We recognize what sounded like a good idea at the beginning is becoming a weight around our neck as we try to build infrastructure. I would love to work with you on what we can do at the department and what we can do in the senate. If we do that instead of taking 10 to 20 years we can take three to five years.
▶ 0:53:33Sen. Husted: I am going to ask you about being intentional about it. Is there -- is it anybody's job inside the department to figure out if we can go faster?
▶ 0:53:45Sec. Duffy: What is important for the department is to streamline the process for the states. To take off as much of the weight as possible so that they can build faster and spend more time turning dirt and less time doing paperwork. We are the department doing that part. There are some requirements that the congress has put on us that we include in these agreements that states have to comply with.
▶ 0:54:12Sec. Duffy: Offering more flexibility to states who have a more vested interest in moving these projects faster is a key part of this. Texas has been a great example of delegating authority to texas and move quickly on projects.
▶ 0:54:25Sen. Husted: We have the rules and regulations in place to protect people and to protect the environment and to make the process more accountable. It actually -- the delays end up costing taxpayers more and not less because of inflation and other consequences of the delays. It is a competitive item for this nation.
▶ 0:54:55Sen. Husted: I take the three things that happened. Rural broadband and charging stations, the chips act and how long it takes the money to get out the door for the construction to go while china is innovating nuclear power plants. You go through the list of how long it is taking us as a nation to literally get government money out the door to build the things we say we need to compete and defend ourselves for economic and national security takes longer.
▶ 0:55:27Sen. Husted: I would argue that these rules and regulations are at the expense of americans. If we know that there is a traffic issue that is a safety issue and we take years to get it accomplished, people are dying. It is not good for the environment. All of these things add up and I just urge you to help us.
▶ 0:55:48Sec. Duffy: I look forward to working with you. Time is money. We saw with integration over the last four years that these projects have become more expensive because I did not move more quickly. Could I take one moment.
▶ 0:56:03Chair Capito: Go ahead.
▶ 0:56:04Sec. Duffy: The cost of a whole project, upwards of 40% of the cost is compliant with the rules and regulations. We are not building bridges. We are actually giving this to consultants and money to consultants as we try to go through the regulatory process. If the american people knew that they would be outraged.
▶ 0:56:29Sec. Duffy: And by the way, if we streamlined the process and it is maybe 15% we build more bridges and roads and you get more projects and americans are happier.
▶ 0:56:40Sen. Husted: Every time you have a compliance officer and attorney that is one less construction worker that you are employing.
▶ 0:56:49Chair Capito: I am turning slowly to senator merkley because senator whitehouse wanted to make a comment.
▶ 0:56:57Sen. Whitehouse: I wanted to remind you that my distaste for interagency process is something that can be regular lead -- remedied within the executive branch by adding transparency so that someone is in charge when the interagency process fails or derails, so please keep considering that both the chairman and I are eager to give you a blessing if you can clean up the swamp of interagency process.
▶ 0:57:23Sec. Duffy: I am not going to hide behind that. I will join that in the effort.
▶ 0:57:29Sen. Merkley: Thank you very much. And I really appreciate the point that you are making about time is money. Really the concerns that people have back home in oregon is that projects instead of expeditiously going forward, that they are being delayed. Everything that you are saying I am like yes. And I am basically asking put that philosophy to work.
▶ 0:58:00Sen. Merkley: Because, I will take an example with one of the bridges over the columbia river. The hood river bridge, it is sitting on the desk and waiting for approval for the contract. Meanwhile you have the design team waiting. You have them trying to line up construction. You cannot line those things up until the signature gets onto the page. In this case, it is a signature on the grant.
▶ 0:58:29Sen. Merkley: Can you take a look and say is there any reason to hold this up? Everything you just expressed, that is how people feel. Like this project will be so much more expensive month by month if it cannot go expeditiously forward.
▶ 0:58:45Sec. Duffy: As is the one between oregon and washington?
▶ 0:58:49Sen. Merkley: One of two. It is the smaller project with the $200 million infrastructure. It is not the interstate crossing which is another important project.
▶ 0:59:01Sec. Duffy: I will take a look at the smaller project. I would love to talk to you about the eye-five -- I-5, because the bridge needs to be did -- to be redone. There are some simple things to move that thing more quickly and get through the regulatory hurdles with the coast guard and others and I would love to have a conversation about that and that would be a top priority for us.
▶ 0:59:29Sen. Merkley: As you travel the country you can remind people that the only drawbridge is over the the columbia river and if america cannot figure out how to put a bridge that lets ship traffic though under it across the columbia then who are we, really?
▶ 0:59:44Sec. Duffy: Music to my ears.
▶ 0:59:46Sen. Merkley: That is one. A second project is the pacific coast intermodal port project. There is a deep water port on the oregon coast that is perfect to establish more ability to move freight. We have many things going on in the freight world that we really saw before how overloaded the tacoma and the ports in california, southern.
▶ 1:00:16Sen. Merkley: This is right in the middle of all of that. It has a railroad line that serves it and connects into the railroads going across the country and up the columbia gorge. It is a perfect place to add port capacity. And they too are hoping to see the philosophy that you have been expressing applied so they could go forward with the design work.
▶ 1:00:39Sec. Duffy: I have had internal conversations with the administration. It is on my radar. And, I will continue to work at it and others in the administration about this project and how it could move forward in a productive way. It is an important area and important project.
▶ 1:01:01Sen. Merkley: I have often heard folks talking about when there is a project with national significance it needs to go to the top of the pile. This is one with not just regional national significance. To get our products out fast and cheap and to get products in fast and cheap. Canada is adding port capacity and we do not want to have stuff imported to canada and then shipped into the united states.
▶ 1:01:29Sen. Merkley: This is a huge opportunity for us to do something of national significance.
▶ 1:01:32Sec. Duffy: I hear you, and I have heard others. I would be happy to partner. I would like to think through how it could look and how we could do it.
▶ 1:01:41Sen. Merkley: We have, since we have a lot of projects obviously lined up as every state does. Another one is the safe streets and roads for all program which is a whole series of grants. These are largely related to bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and helping students get to school safely. I did notice a whole bunch of barn shirts with the word bike on it -- of orange shirts with the word iconic.
▶ 1:02:10Sen. Merkley: The thing we appreciate is that it reduces the congestion on the roads. Not only are people choosing a cheaper and healthier way to get to work, but a way for everyone else who is sitting in their card to get to work faster. So, I wanted to encourage that those set of safe streets and roads grants. They are minor. They just need your pan to go to work. -- pen to go to work.
▶ 1:02:41Sec. Duffy: The congress was clear, and I will abide by the will of the congress. I will not hold up any projects. Bikes are healthy, and often times and in many places move people faster.
▶ 1:02:57Sen. Merkley: In the years in the 80's I biked everywhere. I always beat my friends and cars. By the time they could figure out a parking space I had been on location 15 minutes.
▶ 1:03:09Sec. Duffy: Now people are writing scooters. --riding scooters.
▶ 1:03:15Chair Capito: Senator lummis.
▶ 1:03:19Sen. Lummis: Thank you for begetting the dialogue right now. We have a lot of big challenges. Mr. secretary, honestly, since ours after you were sworn in, you have been drinking out of a fire hose.
▶ 1:03:38Sen. Lummis: You have had crisis is and challenges and you have handled it magnificently and I want to thank you for the way you are working through these projects while communicating with the american people. Thank you specifically for looking at the rock springs wyoming airport grants. Like everyone else, we are hopeful that some of these grants that were signed, sealed and not quite delivered are moving forward. Bless you for that.
▶ 1:04:09Sen. Lummis: A couple of subjects with regard to surface transportation. Ev mandates just really do not work for wyoming because of our climate, and our cold weather. Electric vehicles do not go as far as they can elsewhere. And, because of that, there are not very many.
▶ 1:04:33Sen. Lummis: When there are electric vehicles they are not contributing to maintaining roads and bridges because you have to be using liquid fuel that pays a gas or diesel tax in order to maintain our roads. We are all going to have to work together to find out a way that electric vehicles can help contribute to the maintenance of the nation's roads and bridges. I have one little sliver that I want to talk to you about.
▶ 1:05:02Sen. Lummis: Dev mandates --ev mandates and the charger program and its discretionary program budgeted $7.5 billion with disappointing results. It is leading to the suspension in february that occurred so that it could be evaluated. So, I want to look at that program and ask you to look at it with me.
▶ 1:05:32Sen. Lummis: Because the program just buckled under regulation and rigid technical requirements, private capital was left on the sideline to address the charging issue. Wyoming and other states have money sitting idle and accounts for charges that they cannot build and it is not creating a joyful and happy america where we have great highways and bridges.
▶ 1:06:01Sen. Lummis: So, I introduced a bill called the highway funding flexibility act that would authorize states to redirect unused ev charger funds towards roads and build it -- bridges and then highway safety priorities like truck parking and wildlife crossings could also be eligible. It would empower states like wyoming to devote money to real highway needs, with potentially billions for addressing infrastructure priorities.
▶ 1:06:33Sen. Lummis: So, I would like your help exploring this. And maybe other ways to ensure that money that has been appropriated could be put to use in -- on big and durable projects that connect the country. Some of the projects that my colleagues have raised. So, how do you recommend that we go about having a dialogue?
▶ 1:07:00Sec. Duffy: First. I live in a place in wisconsin that is cold and rural and the ev's do not work that well in my part of the country also. But in regard to the program, just to be clear, the guidance I think from the last administration was not working. It has been over three years and 66 chargers build.
▶ 1:07:28Sec. Duffy: With the $5 billion out of the $7.5 billion. That was directed toward the ev chargers and it has burdensome regulation. We are redoing the guidance. You can have a debate about whether we should have charging stations or not. You passed a bill.
▶ 1:07:48Sec. Duffy: If you passed a bill saying we should build up american infrastructure with charging station, we should build charging stations but not pay people to not have charging stations. I look at the guidance and I will make it work. Whether I agree with it or not, you told me to do it so let us do it well. But there is still money there and that is a role for the congress to say we want to use it for something else?
▶ 1:08:13Sec. Duffy: That is your decision as you go forward this next year. But, I am going to do what you're directed and 66 is shameful. It goes back to the senator from ohio's point, there are too many rules and regulations and people cannot comply and then you do not get the build. I would be happy to work with you on what we are thinking and happy to work on the -- work with you on what you are thinking.
▶ 1:08:42Sec. Duffy: I believe that ev's should pay part of the costs and roads. And how you do that is a question that we will have to grapple with.
▶ 1:08:51Sen. Lummis: If we get a second round I will ask you about truck parking. There is a department of labor rule that says you can only drive a certain number of hours and then you absolutely have to stop. And there is no place for them to park. And so, that is an issue for another round. Thank you.
▶ 1:09:11Sec. Duffy: It is a safety issue that we have to address.
▶ 1:09:14Chair Capito: Senator padilla.
▶ 1:09:17Sen. Padilla: Thank you for being here and I appreciated our constructive dialogue by phone yesterday on some of the california transportation priorities that we have been discussing for a while. And I appreciate the opportunity to shed light on the bipartisan infrastructure law.
▶ 1:09:35Sen. Padilla: It has meant more than $54 billion of investments in a number of projects throughout the state of california that not only helped keep up with transit needs but help keep modern and efficient some of the busiest ports and of course, the highway system.
▶ 1:09:56Sen. Padilla: It needs some deferred maintenance needs but also making necessary improvements to accommodate a growing population and growing economy. So, a lot of these projects have been a long time coming. And we are glad to see the activity happening.
▶ 1:10:17Sen. Padilla: As we talked about yesterday, it is critical that the administration supports key events that are part of drivers and people movement and are catalysts for modernization. Specifically referring to the l.a. 28 olympics to be hosted in los angeles, the most populous region in the country already. But add to that the anticipated 15 million ticketholders coming to events in 2028.
▶ 1:10:49Sen. Padilla: So, to make it successful and lay the foundation for economic growth well beyond the olympics, we are looking to partner with the department of transportation big way. 2028 seems like a long way away but it is just around the corner from a planning and preparation standpoint. And we need that funding now. It would be helpful to have a designated line item in the budget to help us prepare not just for l.a.
▶ 1:11:17Sen. Padilla: 2028 but to lay the foundation for the 2034 winter olympics in salt lake city. A long intro to ask you what you might be able to provide in terms of the update on your work to support the olympics in 2028, including work with the omb to develop funding proposals.
▶ 1:11:38Sec. Duffy: I appreciate the question. Again, the olympics that will be hosted in l.a., but america. So, there is a task force that we are a part of. I have designated someone to as I think through -- as we think through what should the administration be looking at and what are the needs of the greater l.a. Area and we will see a lot of people coming into our country.
▶ 1:12:08Sec. Duffy: We are going to move them and we will have to house them. And that sort of thoughtful process that we are engaging in. I will agree that three years is right around the corner and not a lot of time.
▶ 1:12:21Sen. Padilla: Move them, help them, and then maintain safe and secure events around the olympics. A question on a different topic. Infrastructure and jobs act provided a billion dollars in advanced appropriations for the capital investment grants program. That was one of the items we talked about. That helps funds large transit capital projects.
▶ 1:12:48Sen. Padilla: They make their way through the pipeline after already rigorous review on their merits and feasibility. There are a number of critical projects making their way through the project -- the pipeline. There are some constituents and agencies back home and municipalities that are nervous about the reliability of that funding given the changes and whiplash we are experiencing in washington.
▶ 1:13:13Sen. Padilla: As your team executes the program, can you assure us that the review process and just the awarding of funds going forward will continue to simply be based on merit?
▶ 1:13:28Sec. Duffy: Yes. I think it also might be referring to the california high-speed rail project.
▶ 1:13:36Sen. Padilla: One of a number.
▶ 1:13:37Sec. Duffy: Per our conversation, our people have been in touch with the california rail authority, I believe that is who that is. I do believe as a philosophy, if we commit to rail and infrastructure we should build the infrastructure we commit to. I know this project has distinct differences from the l.a. To san francisco portion of this high-speed rail.
▶ 1:14:05Sec. Duffy: But, when we give type lines and projections of cost that we cannot meet and it is $33 billion and it will be $133 billion. It should be done by 2020 and now there is no timeframe. Thatthat is not your fault, bute have to deliver on projects for the people and we don't have high-speed rail. If you want to dedicate money to it, let's show america what high-speed rail looks like, because we built it. We didn't just spend the money on projects.
▶ 1:14:35Sec. Duffy: He built the project.
▶ 1:14:38I Respect Sen. Padilla: What you said, but that is a number of -- that is one of a number of projects, including rail lines in and around san diego. Second-largest city. One of the largest in america in and around los angeles. Second-largest city in america, but the anchor for the most populous county around the san francisco bay area.
▶ 1:15:04I Respect Sen. Padilla: There is a significant economic contribution to our federal coffers that can continue to grow with the proper infrastructure investment. My time is up? -- my time is up. I appreciate your attention and partnership.
▶ 1:15:19Chair Capito: Senator sullivan.
▶ 1:15:22Sec. Duffy: When people write the rail I want them to be safe.
▶ 1:15:29Sen. Sullivan: I think you are doing a great job. You have been very responsive. That press conference we had with our congressional delegation over at the department of transportation after the plane crash was really meaningful to my constituents. So, thank you. Keep up the fantastic work. I want to build on what we call the fasi initiative. I know you are committed to that.
▶ 1:15:58Sen. Sullivan: I give a shout out to you in our annual speech last week. When we are talking about atc, the anchorage center for the faa in the air traffic controllers, these men and women do a great job. I would love for you when you come to alaska to see them. There are post-it notes, floppy disks. It is so antiquated, and they just don't do aviation control for alaska.
▶ 1:16:27Sen. Sullivan: Anyone who is flying from the lower 48 to asia, japan, korea, they fly over alaska, the atc essentially takes them, controls them, hands them off all the way to tokyo. So, they are protecting the whole country. So, can you commit to me to help with technical upgrades?
▶ 1:16:49Sen. Sullivan: I just met with a bunch of our atc leadership, and they are great, but they really, really, they are world war ii-era technology.
▶ 1:16:58Sec. Duffy: We look forward to -- I worked out what would be a proposal for the senate and house. I have shared it with the president. We are trying to pressure test the cost on this before I send it to all of you, but we need -- this is an american effort. Time has killed -- you guys have spent a lot of money on trying to upgrade air traffic control and there is a lot of ideas out there. We are at the basics.
▶ 1:17:26Sec. Duffy: Let's build the basics of the system that gets rid of world war ii and brings us into the 21st century. And alaska is a key part of it. We talked about hotspots around the country. He mentioned the anchorage -- that has been a focus of the faa and using ai technology to see if we are missing something that is not visible to the human eye, with regard to issues in your airspace.
▶ 1:17:51Sen. Padilla: -- Sen. sullivan: when you are looking at that text software upgrade way, oh boy, anchorage center needs it and it is not just for anchorage. They take care of everybody.
▶ 1:18:06Sec. Duffy: Everybody needs it. We need a whole american buildout. Tens of thousands of jobs. It would be great.
▶ 1:18:14Sen. Sullivan: Bridges. I'm so glad to see my chairman and my good friend, the ranking member, talk about big, beautiful bridges. That is a beautiful bridge, senator whitehouse. By the way, the one thing my good friend from rhode island did not mention on permitting delays, he mentioned reforms, bureaucracy, the freezes, the far left radical environmental and frivolous lawsuits. My stay lives with that.
▶ 1:18:43Sen. Sullivan: That is what we deal with everyday and if there is not litigation reform these groups who want to kill roads, bridges, ports, and alaska, these groups are allowed to sue 6, 7 years after records of decisions. It is ridiculous. So, we need permitting reform that limits the radical far left environmental groups from crushing every product. Particularly in my stay.
▶ 1:19:10Sen. Sullivan: I can't await -- I can't wait to work with senator whitehouse. >> representing the far left.
▶ 1:19:19Sen. Sullivan: You do. We are still friends. [laughter] it said if it is an existing bridge and you're going to rebuild it in the same space or do maintenance on it why do you need to do it? My bill, which every public and supported, I cannot remember her name, california senator, she went on the floor screaming the sullivan amendment will kill children. Like, what?
▶ 1:19:49Sen. Sullivan: We want an exclusion if all you are doing is building in the same footprint for a bridge. This is common sense. And would you agree with something like that?
▶ 1:19:59Sec. Duffy: 100%.
▶ 1:20:02Sen. Sullivan: I'm going to attack that and sheldon whitehouse is going to be my cosponsor.
▶ 1:20:09Sen. Whitehouse: I do like working with senator sullivan.
▶ 1:20:11Sen. Sullivan: I have a list of pros and build grants that I'm going to just have you for the record -- not many. You guys have done a good one. You just on froze the fha -- fhwa one in whitty a, alaska. If you and I could work on that, and finally we will submit that for the record. Two final, quick questions. We are trying to do a lot.
▶ 1:20:42Sen. Sullivan: You just sent me a letter. I really appreciate that. On the building out of the port of alaska, port of anchorage. We are getting federal dollars, so, thank you. Once again, the permitting is, I wrote you, but there is a noaa beluga whale thing.
▶ 1:21:03Sen. Sullivan: We need to get everybody on the permitting side for anchorage and follow through on the president's day one executive order on unleashing alaska's economy and resources, which we are happy president trump did that. It is not just you guys, and your letter was appreciated. But it is other agencies, and I think we all need to get together and say, this is a really needed port, finally get federal dollars to it.
▶ 1:21:30Sen. Sullivan: But we've got to get the permitting right if it is 6, 7 years on permits. That is just wasted money. Wasted time.
▶ 1:21:38Sec. Duffy: I would welcome the opportunity to work with you and I look forward to seeing you in august.
▶ 1:21:44Sen. Sullivan: Great. We have an idea on the tribal transportation program that can help our tribes get our infrastructure dollars. As you know, a lot of our tribes not just in alaska but the lower 48, they really suffer from lack of infrastructure, and there are some ideas to help the program be more efficient, get some more funding to our tribes throughout america. I would welcome to work with you on that.
▶ 1:22:09Sen. Sullivan: Thank you,. You are doing a great job.
▶ 1:22:14Sen. Whitehouse: That takes us to senator schiff.
▶ 1:22:18Sen. Schiff: Thank you for being here. I wanted to raise a concern about a number of projects in california that are waiting for an answer. 280 $3 million for the long beach wheel construction project. 166 million for the innovate 680 program. $53 million for a facility in madera. In the infra bill, 105 million.
▶ 1:22:51Sen. Schiff: $98 million for caltrans. In the rural surface transportation program, $41 million for the city of tracy. $35 million for yuba county. 102 million -- $102 million for caltrans. $55 million for california energy commission. 26 million dollars for the housing authority in l.a.
▶ 1:23:28Sen. Schiff: $25 million for bart. $23 million for the palmdale grade separation project during this is a partial list, and these projects really have not received word, so they are unclear on the status of the project. And the delays might end up killing the project. The delays will certainly end up costing more to do with these projects as material costs go up and other costs increase.
▶ 1:23:59Sen. Schiff: I'm raising the concern because we don't know whether these are changes in policy that are affecting grants that have already been approved or whether this is a lack of personnel to administer the grants and for the concern with layoffs that might further delay getting this money out the door to do these infrastructure projects.
▶ 1:24:21Sen. Schiff: So, I would ask for your comments generally on when you think these cities and counties will hear from you and your department. But also whether you are mindful of whether the delay has a cost in real dollars and cents?
▶ 1:24:39Sec. Duffy: I appreciate the question. I would maybe give the whole number. There has been 200 awards announced for california, to the tune of 1.74 billion dollars. There is a lot of money that announcements have been made over the course of the last three years. We don't have grant agreements.
▶ 1:24:58Sec. Duffy: Those announcements, I don't know that you were here for this, but there is a thousand 200 announcements that were made through the last administration where there are no grant agreements. That is unheard of. I'm going to work through those announcements and get grant agreements so we can build those projects that you are talking about if I can quickly, I don't want the republicans to get annoyed at me, but senator whitehouse got a bridge and in california we are going to announce the -- is it madera 14
▶ 1:25:31Sec. Duffy: Expressway? That one is -- I'm almost ready to sign that. As well as $150 million at the border crossing. I have got three democrat announcements. I don't have any for you republicans yet, but we are going to the projects.
▶ 1:25:49Sen. Schiff: We are a very bipartisan committee. I know I speak for my public and colleagues when they say they are delighted with money coming to my stay. [laughter]
▶ 1:25:59Sec. Duffy: We will see how that goes.
▶ 1:26:02Sen. Schiff: Not quite as delighted as if it were going to their stay. Anything you can do to accelerate the approval process, and can you speak to how the cuts in personnel may be impacting the timeliness of approvals in this area?
▶ 1:26:20Sec. Duffy: I appreciate the question. That has an impact -- that has not impacted how we are able to move through the grant agreement process. We still have more employees in the department then we did when joe biden took office. But it is the sheer volume that I was left with.
▶ 1:26:44Sec. Duffy: Just to remake this point, between obama and donald trump there was 47 projects announce between election day and inauguration. Between trump and biden there was 107 projects announced between election day and inauguration day. In this last term there was about 950 projects announced.
▶ 1:27:09Sec. Duffy: So, there has been a massive number of announcements, historic, but then that means our department has to do the work -- truly the work is doing the grant agreements. I'm going to get through that, but it's going to take me some time and I would ask for some patients for them -- from the committee just because the workload is so significant.
▶ 1:27:26Sen. Schiff: If there is any further information you need and you are having any delay on our end, please have your staff reach out to mine. And we want to make sure that we get you all of the information necessary to move these projects forward.
▶ 1:27:39Sec. Duffy: I appreciate that, senator.
▶ 1:27:42Sen. Whitehouse: Particularly if the delay is substance-based and not a heresy hunt. >> as we were talking about bridges I saw one, big, beautiful bridge from the senator of california's estate over to my stay. -- my state.
▶ 1:28:02Sen. Whitehouse: Quite a bridge.
▶ 1:28:06Sen. Curtis: So delighted to have you here in this capacity. I would associate myself with my colleagues who have complement did your fast and early start. Thank you for jumping in and the work you do. I will be careful, because I don't know your travel schedule but hypothetically if you find yourself in utah in a short time we would be very excited, and we have a project we would love to show you. Our front runner, I think you are familiar with that. We have the olympics coming.
▶ 1:28:37Sen. Curtis: 80% of our population is serviced by this one rail, because of the geography of our state. And that 80% is expected to double in those short times. We would love to have your support on that project and love to show you that as well given your opportunity.
▶ 1:28:54Sec. Duffy: If I could take a moment, I want to extend my condolences to the state of utah. You lost a lion ask of a legislator and a friend of mine, and I know a friend to the great state of utah. Mia love, who served in our body in the house. She lost her battle with cancer. I know she loved utah and she served your state well. And our hearts are broken that we lost her.
▶ 1:29:27Sen. Curtis: Thank you for your friendship. I know she thought highly of you. Utah is unique in the sense of our regional planning. They actually like each other and get along. At the time I was serving as mayor and was told we had the only statewide in project in the country where it was agreed across the entire state. That synergy is really important.
▶ 1:29:52Sen. Curtis: I wanted to get your thoughts on npos, particularly in the reauthorization bill, how you see the role?
▶ 1:29:59Sec. Duffy: If it is working well in utah and as we go through the authorization I'm sure you will be a champion, and I will take your lead, and what did we learn from those successes? And how do we improve on those successes in this new bill?
▶ 1:30:14Sen. Curtis: Excellent. We had a lot of conversation today about bureaucracy and regulations. And going back to my mayor days, whenever we built a project we knew the rule of thumb was, if we took one dollar of federal money increased the cost of our project by 30%. And keeping the same standards, right? All of the same requirements, yet it was led by the state and not the federal government.
▶ 1:30:43Sen. Curtis: So, one of my questions for you is, what role can we transition -- traditionally done by the federal government -- to the states? I would love to get your thoughts on that and how we can deal with that.
▶ 1:30:55Sec. Duffy: I think it is great point. We have been trying to designate more authority to states, because they move projects faster than going through the federal government. But to the larger point, I think there is a philosophy about, you know, what we have to do with, you know, the permits and environmental reviews.
▶ 1:31:18Sec. Duffy: I do believe there is an understanding that what was anticipated today was not anticipated when bills were passed. That is why there is bipartisan support to do her form in this space so we can move projects faster and more cheaply.
▶ 1:31:37Sec. Duffy: Again, we don't have to sacrifice an environmental review, but I think it was senator sullivan who mentioned the litigation and complication and cost is real, and I will do my part. I know the administration wants to do their part. But the congress has to do their part as well to streamline this process, and we can move.
▶ 1:31:55Sen. Curtis: You tell would love to serve as the lead agency in the environmental projects and would love to talk to you about that and how that may help us streamline.
▶ 1:32:04Sec. Duffy: I would love that.
▶ 1:32:05Sen. Curtis: Recreational trails program. Atv is an off-road motorcycles contribute 281 million dollars annually to the highway trust fund and only receive $84 million back out of it. He would love to have that discussion with you too. Returning some of those back to the trails programs.
▶ 1:32:25Sec. Duffy: I would welcome that discussion. I know it is big in utah, but northern wisconsin, also a big deal. Lot of people come to write to our forests.
▶ 1:32:34Sen. Curtis: It sounds like something I need to do.
▶ 1:32:37Sec. Duffy: I recommend july or august.
▶ 1:32:41Chair Capito: Senator kelly.
▶ 1:32:43Sen. Kelly: Thank you, madam chair, and thank you to secretary duffy for being here today and it is great to have the opportunity to speak to you on the phone. Yesterday. I want to start by discussing the review of the competitive grant awards as we discussed on the phone.
▶ 1:33:08Sen. Kelly: And the guidance issued by the department of transportation on march 11 outlining the process of reviewing projects for grant awards that are not yet finalized. So, this has caused significant disruption for a number of our projects in arizona. Including the replacement of the 22nd street bridge in tucson. I was on the phone with the mayor of tucson yesterday about this.
▶ 1:33:38Sen. Kelly: This 22nd street bridge project places an outdated bridge for cars that are going over union pacific's main southern rail line in tucson. Needs to be replaced. There are certain sized trucks and emergency vehicles that cannot go over this bridge. Not allowed.
▶ 1:34:02Sen. Kelly: There is also a project in arizona that is the widening of 93, which is one of the deadliest roadways in arizona and part of what we call the future interstate 11 between phoenix and las vegas. Phoenix and las vegas are perhaps the two closest cities in the country, major cities, that are not connected by an interstate highway. There is also the replacement of four bridges on interstate 40 in northern arizona that were not built to current standards.
▶ 1:34:34Sen. Kelly: And then a reconfiguration of a three-way interchange in the west valley outside of phoenix that is also -- that also has an at-grade railroad crossing and is one of the most congested in her -- congested intersections in the state. There is also a project that widens U.S. 90 52 address a decades-long problem of traffic and unsafe roadway conditions between the city of yuma and the army's yuma proving grounds.
▶ 1:35:04Sen. Kelly: And then there is more than a dozen more. I could go on. I'm not going to do that. I have sent you and your staff a full list of these priority projects. And I will note all of these projects were announced before election day, not after. None of them were selected for political reasons. They are important to my state and they meet the purposes of these congressionally-authorized grant programs.
▶ 1:35:35Sen. Kelly: They repair bridges, they reduce congestion, they improve safety, and based on your testimony and our private conversations I'm pretty sure we agree those are the exact types of projects that should receive funding.
▶ 1:35:49Sen. Kelly: And yet, for no fault of their own these grant recipients in arizona have had to wait several months now, not able to move forward on reviews or grant agreements and forced the lay there -- and forced to delay their construction schedules. I just had a bunch of constituents asking, why have these things stop?
▶ 1:36:13Sen. Kelly: So, secretary duffy, what updates can you give about when the internal review of grants that was laid out on march 11 will be completed?
▶ 1:36:23Sec. Duffy: Senator, again, I agree many of the projects are good projects. I think there is 44 words you received for $561 million in arizona. These were awarded before election day. Many of these go back two or three years, these projects. I love that you are saying you can clean up two or three years of announcements.
▶ 1:36:56Sec. Duffy: I'm committing to you, I'm going to work through these projects --
▶ 1:36:59Sen. Kelly: Explained to me, what do you mean by cleanup? What is required to clean them up? This was money appropriated by congress, by democrats and republicans, and grants that were awarded. And now things seem to have come to a halt on many of these projects.
▶ 1:37:18Sec. Duffy: For obligated money when there is an obligation, a grant agreement is signed, there it was an earmark from congress. All of that money is still going out. There has been no pause. There has been no hold. Money is going, per the law, on those grant agreements.
▶ 1:37:38Sec. Duffy: The unobligated money is the money weather has been an award, someone did a big announcement, hey, you get your project for the 22nd street tucson bridge or road, and then it takes time to do the grant agreement. That is the actual work part of the process. The announcement is easy. The grant agreement is the work. There are 3200 of those projects we have sitting at the department where the fun part was done, and we have to do their work of the grant agreement with the states.
▶ 1:38:07Sec. Duffy: And we are going to work through that quickly, as quickly as possible. But it is a historically-large number. And so, I take your point, but you alone have 44 projects that were announced that don't have grant agreements on them. And a lot of you have these projects and you are all -- I think rightfully -- annoyed that the money is not coming.
▶ 1:38:30Sec. Duffy: But many of them are years-old, and again, if you are annoyed or concerned I think the focus should not be on me, it should be elsewhere, because we have been there two months. Someone else was there for four years. And I will work on those with you.
▶ 1:38:45Sen. Kelly: Appreciate it.
▶ 1:38:47Chair Capito: Senator brooks. >> I enjoyed the conversation yesterday. We talked about our time as county executives, and you know the federal transportation programs are really so integral to the success of our states. Projects like road maintenance, safety projects.
▶ 1:39:14Chair Capito: I'm looking for to working with you and working with this committee to craft bipartisan surface transportation authorization bill, but I'm also wanting to ask you just about three questions. One is regarding construction costs or infrastructure. That we know particularly highway construction having increased significantly.
▶ 1:39:35Chair Capito: The federal highway administration's national highway construction cost index, which measures the rate of inflation and labor in material cost increase, we know 59 percent since 2021, 36% between 2022 and the first half of 2020 three. And these costs continue to rise. We know that this will impact how much infrastructure we can build with allocated funds.
▶ 1:40:02Chair Capito: How will the administration plan to ensure the transportation funding keeps pace with inflation so that projects in states like maryland are not delayed and are not downsized?
▶ 1:40:11Sec. Duffy: I think that is a great question and I appreciated our comp -- our conversation yesterday. Two former prosecutors. I appreciate the work you have done and all of the roles you have had in your public service. You are right. We have to do our work in the department to get these projects out the door, get grant agreements signed and get new notice of funding opportunities as well.
▶ 1:40:38Sec. Duffy: We could have a massive infrastructure built in this country and the sooner we do it, I think, to your point, most cost-effective it will be. Because we get today's costs. I think an important part of it is not just the work we have to do. That congress has to do its work on permitting reform. That is taking a very long time -- it is not the work you have done or the department has done.
▶ 1:41:09Sec. Duffy: It is the process to go through these projects takes so long, and if they are delayed 5, 6, 10 years the cost is significant. Also part of that, we can reduce the cost of the consultants and permitting, which means or money will be there for the road or bridge or whatever the rail we are working on.
▶ 1:41:30Sen. Alsobrooks: I know there has been a lot of conversation today about bridges. Maryland also happens to be very concerned about a bridge. In particular the francis scott key bridge that collapsed after being hit I have vessel in 2024. The collapse highlighted some vulnerabilities that we have in our nation's bridge infrastructure. And particularly around bridges that were not designed to withstand these modern vessel strikes.
▶ 1:42:00Sen. Alsobrooks: In response the national transportation safety board conducted an investigation and issued a plume in a report. Which highlighted other high-risk bridges across the country. Question is whether you will commit to expeditiously adopting the recommendations that the ntsb outlined in that preliminary report?
▶ 1:42:18Sec. Duffy: I have worked closely with the ntsb and their chair, jennifer homendy, has done an excellent job and has partnered with us. I want to take a look at the recommendations to implement recommendations on the number of bridges that she highlighted. It would indicate a significant amount of money that comes in this upcoming bill.
▶ 1:42:41Sec. Duffy: Again, the resources have to be provided, and you will have to have the discussion if that is a priority for the congress, but I'm happy to engage. Have a conversation together about what the priority list looks like. Again, the francis scott key bridge, and the lives that were lost there, tragic. We want to make sure that doesn't happen again.
▶ 1:43:04Sen. Alsobrooks: Just a final question. On average the washington metropolitan area transit authority carries over 800,000 passengers daily across rail and bus systems. Very important to the D.C. area and metropolitan area, including marilyn. I want to ask you whether you will -- funding stream has been so important to us.
▶ 1:43:31Sen. Alsobrooks: The lack of predictable funding really does harm the safety of passengers. I know we talked a lot about safety. As secretary will you work with congress in supporting long-term, predictable funding streams for transportation systems?
▶ 1:43:49Sec. Duffy: I'm happy to have that conversation. I do think that, again, everyone driving in a car may be challenging if you come into washington, D.C. or new york city. So, transit is an important part of it. But we should expect that if we want people to ride our trains our trains should be safe. They should not be subject to violence on our subways or our trains, and I think that is local communities. I think the mayor has been making good efforts in D.C. here, but we have to take steps to make sure people are safe.
▶ 1:44:20Sec. Duffy: And also I think we have to look at the cost. In new york I believe the next most expensive place to build subways is london. In new york it is five times more expensive than london. We have to get our costs under control is mowed, because you don't have an unlimited amount of money. You don't have a money-printing machine, though some people may think congress is a money-printing machine.
▶ 1:44:47Sec. Duffy: Let's use money well and make sure that they are safe, and I would work with you on that and figure out how we make those goals a reality.
▶ 1:44:56Sen. Alsobrooks: Thank you.
▶ 1:44:58Chair Capito: Thank you. Senator rochester thank you. It is good to see you, secretary duffy. I want to thank you for your responsiveness. When I have called or texted you have been very responsive, and I appreciated our conversation as well in preparation for today's hearing.
▶ 1:45:23Chair Capito: I'm running back and forth between two committees, so I apologize, but the other committee was also focused on safety. The commerce committee. We were talking about aviation safety. So, today we all know how important safety is, and, again, I just want to thank you for taking the time. I want to focus on a couple of projects you probably heard.
▶ 1:45:51Chair Capito: A theme for many of us that are important to delaware. I know when we talked one of our conversations a few months ago was about the announcement of funding freezes, and you were very responsive at the time. And I shared with you recently that in dara well -- delaware we had the ferry system which received a $20 million grant to replace an aging vessel with a hybrid ferry that is now on hold.
▶ 1:46:21Chair Capito: This new hybrid ferry's engine would reduce fuel consumption by 35%. That is transformational. Over the past 60 years the ferry has been a stable provider for travel and tourism. The service transports approximately 775,000 passengers and 275,000 vehicles a year.
▶ 1:46:45Chair Capito: Without modernizing -- without this funding for the modernization this vessel, we would just be at risk. So, secretary duffy, I wanted to talk to you about the certainty of these funds. And I tell my constituents that this funding is still confirmed?
▶ 1:47:06Sec. Duffy: Yes, but when you say that we froze money, we did not freeze any money at the department. There is obligated projects that money continue to go out on. I appreciate you have been very kind --
▶ 1:47:21Sen. Blunt Rochester: That's what I mean. You were responsive to call me back.
▶ 1:47:26Sec. Duffy: These are announced projects that we need a grant agreement on. And that is going to take some work. But I do not see any issue with the announcements and that we should be able to do grant agreements. I have to, again, prioritize for everybody has projects to the tune of 3200 of them, but I'm trying to get through them as quickly as possible.
▶ 1:47:52Sec. Duffy: The secretary doesn't see any issue with these grant agreements that was announced and he's going to try to work through them as quickly as possible.
▶ 1:47:57Sen. Blunt Rochester: Thank you. I just requested our team follow-up with each other after the hearing. Would like to bring another project to your attention and that is the city of wilmington was awarded a $17 million grant to build the appropriate infrastructure for vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles along the riverfront in support of a larger development project.
▶ 1:48:24Sen. Blunt Rochester: Monthly land-use discussions have continued at the federal highway administration. Grant agreement discussions have not yet resumed. Secretary duffy, if you can clarify, you said this is not on hold, but is one of the challenges because it is multimodal?
▶ 1:48:44Sec. Duffy: I appreciate the question. This is one of the issues that this project is for the bloomington grant, it was announced in 2021. This is an old one. I've been there for two months, so I will commit to working with you and your team, and our team, to make sure we get the grant agreement written and get the project going, but with the two months I have been there I am not the hold up.
▶ 1:49:12Sec. Duffy: It is the three years in the making to get us here. I think it is fair to you to go, I don't care about the past three years, I care about what you are going to do with me today, and I'm going to work to deliver for you and this administration.
▶ 1:49:25Sen. Blunt Rochester: It is interesting, you are actually talking on my behalf. I'm just saying, this is an important project to delaware. I just want to confirm that it is part of a larger picture. It also includes flood mitigation and protection. So, just want to make sure our teams can work together to make sure that the talks continue and that we get this implemented for delaware.
▶ 1:49:54Sen. Blunt Rochester: I see folks in the audience who have -- who have bike rider shirts on. I am also very much supportive of programs like the safe streets act roads for all in the neighborhood accessing a pretty program -- accessing equity program. These have helped safety. We think about the safety of cyclists as well as pedestrians, so we hope you will also focus on these grants and making sure this money is not politicized.
▶ 1:50:23Sen. Blunt Rochester: I know there was a memo that talked about the different things that would be potentially coming you know, on the chopping block. We hope that our cyclists, our pedestrians, as well as those who are traveling are safe. Thank you, and I yield back.
▶ 1:50:40Chair Capito: Thank you. I want to thank you, and secretary duffy, I want to thank you. We don't have any further questions. Your whole testimony was really, I think goes back to your roots, realizing that all politics is local for all of us. You did your homework on all of our various projects, so we really appreciate that. From what I have heard the responsiveness has been amazing. Senators who wish to submit questions have until 5:00 p.m.
▶ 1:51:11Chair Capito: Wednesday, april 16, to do so. The senator's responses are due no later than wednesday, april 30, and will be submitted for the record.
▶ 1:51:19Sen. Whitehouse: Let me thank you, chairman, for what I considered to be a refreshing outbreak of normal today. [laughter] and thank you, secretary.
▶ 1:51:29Chair Capito: Thank you, Mr. secretary. This meeting is adjourned.