Highway Trust Fund Obligations, Fiscal Years 2009 to 2011 Page: 2 of 17
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maintenance of highways and bridges, SAFETEA-LU specified additional purposes for
which funding must or may be used, including, but not limited to, safety; metropolitan and
statewide transportation planning; transit; and transportation enhancement activities, such
as pedestrian and bicycle facilities and environmental mitigation of highway impacts on
wetlands and wildlife. Within the Department of Transportation (DOT), the administrations
responsible for the programs funded from the HTF are the Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
After SAFETEA-LU expired at the end of fiscal year 2009, it was extended several times
until the enactment of the current surface transportation authorization, the Moving Ahead for
Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21).3 Although federal surface transportation programs
were reauthorized for 2 fiscal years under MAP-21, the future of the HTF remains uncertain.
The HTF balance was about 30 percent lower at the end of fiscal year 2012 than it was at
the beginning of the fiscal year. Current Congressional Budget Office projections show that
by fiscal year 2015, absent any legislative changes, the HTF will be exhausted.4 We have
placed federal surface transportation funding on our High Risk List because of erosion of
HTF revenues while demands increase to repair and upgrade the system.5
MAP-21 mandated that we report on activities funded from the HTF including for purposes
other than construction or maintenance of highways and bridges in fiscal years 2009
through 2011, including information similar to the information in our 2009 report on HTF
expenditures.6 To meet the mandated reporting date on December 3, 2012, we provided
your offices with preliminary information. This report expands upon that letter with more
specific information about total authorizations from the HTF for fiscal years 2009 through
2011, authorizations and obligations by DOT administration, and the types of projects
funded from the HTF. To meet this reporting objective, we obtained data from DOT on
amounts obligated from the HTF for all purposes during fiscal years 2009 through 2011 from
each DOT administration that could directly obligate funds from the HTF.7 For FHWA, we
categorized the data to report obligations from the HTF in three broad categories-highway
and bridge construction and maintenance; transportation enhancements; and other
purposes (such as safety, debt service and planning activities).8 For FTA, NHTSA, and
FMCSA, we analyzed data on obligations for all programs funded from the HTF during the 3
year period. Based on interviews with officials at each administration and information from
DOT about steps taken to ensure the reliability of its data, we determined that the data were
sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this report. We did not include in our analysis
obligations by these DOT administrations that were directly funded from the General Fund of
3Pub. L. No. 112-141, 126 Stat. 405 (July 6, 2012). MAP-21 is the current authorization act for surface
transportation programs and will expire at the end of fiscal year 2014.
4Congressional Budget Office, Highway Trust Fund Projections (Washington, D.C.: August 22, 2012).
5GAO, High Risk Series: An Update, GAO-11-278 (Washington, D.C.: February 2011).
6GAO, Highway Trust Fund Expenditures on Purposes Other than Construction and Maintenance of Highways
and Bridges during Fiscal Years 2004-2008, GAO-09-729R (Washington, D.C.: June 2009).
7According to DOT, funds are obligated when the grant or project agreement is executed. For programs that
operate on a reimbursement basis, as eligible expenses are incurred, recipients may request reimbursement.
8FHWA defines a project as a "safety" project if all or a significant portion of the project enhances safety in some
way.GAO-13-193R Highway Trust Fund Obligations
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United States. Government Accountability Office. Highway Trust Fund Obligations, Fiscal Years 2009 to 2011, text, January 16, 2013; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc295763/m1/2/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.