Wamp Legislation Includes Funds For Clean Fuels, Enterprise Connector

Chattanoogan.com ^ | July 24, 2003

[Willie Green]

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

WASHINGTON - Congressman Zach Wamp (R-TN), the Co-Chairman of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (REEE) Caucus, announced Thursday that the 2004 Treasury-Transportation spending bill includes $1 million for Advanced Transportation Technology Institute (ATTI) in Chattanooga.

He said it will begin the implementation of the East Tennessee Clean Transportation Initiative.

According to Wamp, this funding will support the development of electric, hybrid-electric and other clean-fuel transportations to reduce pollution in the region and to improve air quality in places like the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

"As the Co-Chairman of the REEE, I continue to advocate for energy independence and the need to dramatically reduce our reliance of Middle Eastern oil. Transportation is the major source of petroleum consumption in the United States and the technology being developed by the partners in the Clean Fuels Initiative will be the future of transportation in America," said Wamp, the only Tennessee Member on the Appropriations Committee.

The City of Chattanooga is slated to receive $1 million for the Enterprise South Connector Road, also known as the "yellow brick road," that will connect the new I-75 interchange to State Highway 58 through the Enterprise South Industrial Park. The proposed four-lane road will be 3.5 miles long.

"This road is essential to the development of the new Enterprise South Industrial Park. Companies looking to locate to this industrial park will take into consideration its easy accessibility from I-75," added Wamp.

Other important Tennessee priorities that are included in the 2004 Treasury-Transportation spending bill are:

• $1 million for the City of Chattanooga to continue a regional inter-modal transportation study to review the environmental impact of mass transit options, such as high speed rail, in the Tennessee Valley area. At Congressman Wamp's request, Chairman Ernest Istook (R-OK) included this funding in an amendment to the spending bill.

• $2.5 million for the Chattanooga Regional Intelligent Transportation System. These funds will be used for further development and installation of a tracking system on public buses that help the public transit systems work more seamlessly. "This cutting-edge technology improves the efficiency of the bus system and helps identify operational problems while dramatically cutting costs and improving communications," said Wamp.

• $4.5 million for new buses and bus facilities across the state of Tennessee. This investment will also be used to fund bus replacement and bus maintenance on existing buses.

• $6 million for Tennessee's "Access to Jobs" transportation program that offers low-income Tennesseans the use of public transportation to get to new and existing job opportunities.

In addition to Tennessee's funding items that were included in the spending bill, Congressman Wamp also supported specific language in the bill related to important Tennessee priorities:

• The Appropriations Committee directs the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to provide it with a cost-benefit analysis of magnetic levitation (MagLev) transportations systems versus other modes of transportation. MagLev technology is used in high speed rail systems.

• The Appropriations Committee has extended the Clean Fuels program to provide grants for the purchase or lease of clean fuel buses in areas that currently do not reach air quality standards.

The House of Representatives is scheduled to consider the Treasury-Transportation spending bill after the August District Work Period.

[Willie Green]

Go Zach Go!!!

[Willie Green]

ping

[RockyTop4GOP]

Zach and Chattavegas bump!