County Commission | The Magazine April 2017 | Page 25

NEWS YOU CAN USE
Beyer: Federal red tape
doubles project costs
• Exempting projects utilizing
less than $5 million in
federal funds from all federal
requirements in favor of state
or local standards;
• When transportation facilities
n the prowl for government inefficiencies to eradicate, some members
sustain damage from a disaster,
of Congress brought in an expert hunting guide for a recent hearing.
exempting emergency repairs
Elmore County Engineer Richie Beyer put their sights squarely on
from federal requirements to
impediments to infrastructure improvements and economic growth.
expedite restoration of services
“Federal mandates and environmental requirements hamper Alabama’s
and lower the cost of repairs.
efforts to recover its decaying roads and bridges,” testified Beyer.
Beyer illustrated with Elmore
He spoke before two subcommittees of the U.S. House Committee on County examples, such as a simple
Oversight and Government Reform. Rep. Gary Palmer of Hoover, Ala.,
resurfacing project that yielded a
chairs one of the panels, the Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Affairs.
project file 20 times thicker than
the overlay placed on the roadway.
But he went on to assure committee
members that their chosen prey
– these bureaucratic inefficiencies –
cause similar distress for
local governments throughout
the country.
O
>>>Get more at: https://shar.es/1U8yFZ
NACo article • Video of 90-minute hearing • Full written testimony
"When county projects utilize federal funding, higher project costs and
longer delivery times are the norm,” Beyer said. “Bureaucratic red tape and
cumbersome environmental reviews slow projects down and drive labor
costs up. Currently, counties are required to follow the same exhaustive
federal requirements on a small sidewalk or preservation project as they
would for mega-projects.”
In the course of the 90-minute hearing, Palmer asked how further
control for federal aid projects could be delegated to the state and local
level. With marksman’s precision, Beyer identified specific reforms:
A number of county
commissioners and engineers
from Alabama attended the
March 1 hearing, which coincided
with the NACo Legislative
Conference in Washington, D.C.
Beyer is a past president
of the National Association of
County Engineers (NACE),
which recognized him as Rural
County Engineer of the Year. Beyer
currently serves as vice chairman
on the National Association of
Counties (NACo) Transportation
Steering Committee, and he is also a
past president of the Association of
County Engineers of Alabama. n
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