Survey of the Impacts of Environmental Regulations on State Highway Operations

In recent years, the transportation industry in Kentucky as represented by Kentuckians for Better Transportation (KBT) and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KyTC), have expressed concern over the growing impact of environmental regulations upon transportation activities in the state. The imposition of environmental regulations has resulted in higher costs for new construction and maintenance on roads, project delays, scheduling and financing difficulties, and the creation of additional transportation agency bureaucracy to address environmental regulation mandates. In Kentucky, the impacts of those regulations have not been thoroughly assessed nor have the attendant costs been measured. Coinciding with that lack of information is the concern whether those impacts (e.g. costs and delays) are comparable with those affecting other state transportation agencies. KBT and KyTC contracted with the Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) to conduct a study to 1) identify the impacts of environmental laws and regulations on KyTC and 2) determine whether the environmental impacts affecting KyTC are comparable to those affecting other state transportation agencies