DOT Releases Regulatory Agenda

The Department of Transportation (DOT) released its semi-annual regulatory agenda last week, which gives a status report on a number of pending rules and regulations the agency is working on. During fiscal year 2014, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will continue to focus on creating national performance measures and standards to meet the national transportation goals identified in MAP-21.  Specifically, FHWA will initiate rulemaking on national goals and performance measures for safety; bridges and pavement; congestion reduction, CMAQ; freight; and interstates and the national highway system. Once again, DOT has placed a final rule altering the application of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program on the long-term agenda. DOT issued the notice of proposed rule-making in September 2012 and recommended only minor changes to the rule. AGC provided extensive comments and generated 125 letters, including comments from 18 AGC chapters, pointing out the significance of the rule changes.  This led DOT to change their definition of the rule from minor to significant, which has resulted in delaying the release of the final rule. For more information, please contact Sean O’Neill at (202) 547-8892 or oneills@agc.org.