DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND RELATED HEARINGS BEFORE A Urban Mass Transportation Administration Interstate Commerce Commission Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations 93-815 O U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1973 COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS GEORGE H. MAHON, Texas, Chairman JAMIE L. WHITTEN, Mississippi EDWARD P. BOLAND, Massachusetts GEORGE E. SHIPLEY, Illinois ROBERT N. GIAIMO, Connecticut FRANK E. EVANS, Colorado J. EDWARD ROUSH, Indiana TOM BEVILL, Alabama EDITH GREEN, Oregon ROBERT O. TIERNAN, Rhode Island BILL CHAPPELL, JR., Florida BILL D. BURLISON, Missouri GEORGE E. EVANS ELFORD A. CEDERBERG, Michigan J. KENNETH ROBINSON, Virginia NOTE. This Surveys and Investigations supervisory staff is supplemented by selected personnel bor rowed on a reimbursable basis for varying lengths of time from various agencies to staff up specific studies and investigations. The current average annual full-time personnel equivalent is approximately 42. GENERAL BOOKBINDING CO. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1974 TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 1973. WITNESSES CLAUDE S. BRINEGAR, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION EGIL KROGH, JR., UNDER SECRETARY JOHN W. BARNUM, GENERAL COUNSEL JOHN L. HAZARD, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR POLICY, PLANS, AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS BENJAMIN 0. DAVIS, JR., ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ENVIRONMENT, SAFETY, AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS WILLIAM S. HEFFELFINGER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ADMINISTRATION ROBERT H. CANNON, JR., ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY ROBERT T. MONAGAN, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CONGRESSIONAL AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS (DESIGNATE) THEODORE C. LUTZ, DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY (DESIGNATE) WALTER R. BOEHNER, DIRECTOR OF BUDGET Mr. McFALL. The committee will come to order. We wish to welcome the new member of the committee, Julia Butler Hansen, who is with us. She is a very fine addition to the committee, and we are very glad to have her. Mrs. HANSEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, it is very good to be here. Mr. McFALL. We know you are interested in this field, and we are aware of the diligent operation of your own subcommittee. We know that you will be a valuable addition to the Transportation Subcommittee. Mrs. HANSEN. Thank you again, Mr. Chairman. Mr. McFALL. Today we begin our hearings on the fiscal year 1974 budget for the Department of Transportation. To start our hearings, we are delighted to welcome the new Secretary of Transportation, Claude S. Brinegar. He comes from my State of California, and I think the President made a fine choice in selecting him as Secretary of Transportation. Secretary Brinegar, I am sure you are becoming acquainted with the many transportation problems which face our Nation. I think that the Department of Transportation, under the capable leadership of its former Secretaries, Alan Boyd and John Volpe, has made good progress. I am hopeful, Mr. Secretary, that you will be able to provide the kind of leadership which is necessary to meet our transportation challenges in the years ahead. (1) Mr. Secretary, as we have done for the past few years, it is our plan to talk to you first, in order to get an overview of the Department's 1974 program. Tomorrow we will have a hearing on your 1974 National Transportation Report. We will also receive testimony on the energy crisis as it applies to the transportation sector and the development of a national transportation policy. The field of transportation policy is one which I believe the Department has neglected to some extent. We can no longer afford to concentrate our efforts solely on transportation programs at the expense of transportation policy. Next week, we will begin our detailed discussions of the budget requests of the various operating administrations within your Department and of the other transportation-related agencies over which this committee has budgetary jurisdiction. Mr. Secretary, we welcome you, and we would be pleased to hear your statement at this time. STATEMENT OF THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION Secretary BRINEGAR. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee. I appreciate very much the opportunity to appear before you to present an overview of the Department of Transportation's annual appropriations request. As you all know, we have a new team in several key positions in the Department, including the Secretary, Under Secretary, and Deputy Under Secretary. But while we are new, please let me assure you that we have been working hard in the past 6 weeks to catch up with the various budgetary matters and hope to be able to provide you with adequate details and explanations. If we cannot, or if my more experienced colleagues who are here with me cannot, then we would certainly do all we can to provide written answers promptly. As a matter of interest, in preparation for my confirmation hearings I reviewed last year's testimony before this committee and found it to provide an excellent overview of the Department's various activities. And now, Mr. Chairman, let me turn to this year's overview. The Department's overall program level for fiscal year 1974 is essentially the same as that now estimated for 1973-$8.7 billion. This level reaffirms President Nixon's commitment to finding ways to solve critical transportation problems and to provide the Nation with a flexible, balanced transportation system. I wish to stress that it is also in line with the President's fiscal objectives of seeing that the dollars are wisely spent and that overall expenditure levels are within the Nation's resource availabilities. We believe that the Department's critical programs, which either have been left essentially undisturbed or have been expanded, are at the proper program levels and properly reflect the President's continuing desire to see that the Nation has safe, clean, and efficient transportation. Over the past 4 years, the administration and the Congress have worked together to enact major new transportation legislation. Now, for the first time, the Department of Transportation has many of the tools and resources needed to bring about a truly balanced national transportation system-tools which not only help us cope with the problems of today, but which also will meet transportation needs throughout this decade. Most of the programs brought about by these legislative initiatives-programs in urban mass transportation, in airport and airways development, in railroad, highway, ports and waterways safety, and in rail passenger service-are funded in our 1974 budget at dollar levels similar to those of last year. In total, the Department is requesting $9 billion in budget authority for fiscal year 1974. This amount includes additional airport grant authority, some of which is intended for use after 1974. Our cash outlays are estimated at $8.1 billion-compared to an estimated $8 billion in 1973. Total proposed manpower for the Department in 1974 is approximately 110,000, about the same as 1973. COAST GUARD For the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department is requesting a total of $760 million in new budget authority for 1974. Although this is slightly below the current year, we believe the Coast Guard will still be able to expand its activities to improve safety in harbors and waterways as it accelerates the implementation of the Ports and Waterways Safety Act of 1972. These expanded activities include improved regulation of oil transfer and standards for tankers, new investments in vessel traffic control systems, increased research in safety standards, and new and improved systems of detecting, containing, and cleanup of oil spills and other water pollution in our coastal areas. Expansion of these programs without increasing the Coast Guard's overall budget will be accomplished by phasing out the 25-year-old ocean station program, the overseas Loran-A chains, and discontinuance of 15 low-activity rescue facilities. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION The Federal Aviation Administration will handle projected growth in aviation activity and fulfill our commitment to the program level of $280 million for airport development and construction and $250 million for new airways facilities. In addition, $70 million will be provided for research and development to assure a continuation of FAA's safety record as aviation activity grows in the years ahead. We plan to add 1,570 new employees-1,470 for operation and maintenance of the air traffic system in 1974 (including more than 1,000 controllers at centers and towers) and 100 law enforcement officers at the 2 FAA-operated airports (National and Dulles). FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION Federal Highway Administration programs are estimated at $4.6 billion, the same as in fiscal year 1973. The bulk of these funds, $4.4 billion, are for grants to States for continuing the Federal-aid highway program. As in the past, the highway budget dominates our total program. It should be noted that because of the failure of last year's bill, nearly all of our 1974 funding and, to some extent, the remaining 1973 programs are dependent upon the passage of new highway authorizing |