LEGISLATIVE/POLICY COMMITTEE

This committee originated from the initial discussions about the reauthorization of ISTEA, and the committee provided excellent direction to APA during the process of creating SAFETEA-LU. APA has a Legislative & Policy Committee (LPC) established by the Board of Directors, and the TPD committee exists to provide support to APA staff, the national LPC, and the soon-to-be reinvented Policy Advisory Committee with transportation expertise.

Currently, there are several key transportation issues that may need our members? guidance over the next year, including the FAA reauthorization, early discussions about reauthorizing SAFETEA-LU (the law expires in 2009), the Farm Bill (which has several transportation provisions), AMTRAK funding and Congressional budget negotiations. As a result, the Legislative/Policy Committee for the TPD is being re-established, and the initial tasks are to track current bills and other pending authorizations and provide white papers division-wide on current legislation. Updates on the committee?s progress will be reported quarterly in the TPD newsletter.

We have just recently begun tracking legislation on the following topics:

  • Freight | Tracking table
  • Airports | Tracking table
  • Land Use/Transportation Integration | Tracking table
  • Supply Chain Security/Commerce Restart
  • Public-Private Partnerships

    National Commission on Surface Transportation Announces Plan to Modernize System, Restructure Programs
    The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission produced a report that offers solutions to improve the performance of the nation’s transport system. For more information, see the NSTP press release: Click here. In addition, the National Association of Regional Councils has issued a statement on the Report. The full report is available at www.transportationfortomorrow.org

    APA is currently updating the 'Policy Guide on Planning and Climate Change'" and the 'Surface Transportation Policy Guide'. TPD discussed the update to the latter at its semi-annual meeting at TRB 2008. The older version and the update to the 'Policy Guide on Planning and Climate Change' is available at http://www.planning.org/policyguides/.
    Or, Click here to access the updated draft version.