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RCTC urges federal and state reforms to speed rail and express-lane projects
Summary
Riverside County Transportation Commission staff on Aug. 25 outlined a package of federal and state advocacy proposals aimed at shortening project timelines and improving local access to transportation funds.
Riverside County Transportation Commission staff on Aug. 25 described a set of federal and state legislative proposals intended to accelerate major transportation projects in the county. Tyler, RCTC's legislative affairs presenter, said the proposals “aim to expedite project timelines, reduce administrative burdens, strengthen local control funding decisions and to better utilize federal resources.”
The proposals RCTC has submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation and congressional staff seek targeted changes rather than broad rewrites. The package includes improving the federal Corridor ID program to prioritize funding and allow planning and environmental phases to proceed concurrently; exempting portions of rail projects within existing railroad rights of way from full National Environmental Policy Act reviews; clarifying federal grant eligibility for express lane projects; and enabling direct suballocation of Surface Transportation Block Grant and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funds directly to county transportation commissions.
RCTC staff told the committee the Corridor ID changes are intended to move projects such as the Coachella Valley Rail Project more quickly through federal stages. On NEPA, Tyler said staff supports “exempting portions of rail projects within existing railroad rights of way from the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, review” because “rail infrastructure within existing rights of way have already undergone such a review.”
The staff report also notes RCTC has been meeting with congressional committees and senators’ offices, including staff for Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, to press for consideration of the proposals as Congress begins reauthorization work. Tyler said Senate committee work on surface transportation reauthorization will continue through September 2026 and RCTC will keep the commission updated.
On the state level, staff said it is monitoring the end-of-session push to reauthorize California’s cap-and-trade program and emphasized protecting funding streams that support transit programs such as the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program and the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program. Tyler said RCTC “co-signed a letter to the legislative leadership communicating these priorities.”
Commissioners thanked staff and received the report for the record. No formal committee action beyond receipt was reported at the meeting.
