Local agency federal obligation authority

Distribution of the local federal transportation funds

Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO’s) and County Lead Agencies are also responsible to ensure delivery of the local portion of the federal transportation funds they program in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). WSDOT sets delivery targets for each MPO and county lead agency, based upon their annual appropriated Surface Transportation Block Grant (STPBG), Transportation Alternatives (TA) and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds. In addition, WSDOT monitors the bridge, safety and safe routes to school projects, based upon the local agency schedule identified at time of award. These decisions are reviewed monthly and MPOs and counties coordinate to cooperatively deliver the local federal program.

• 2021 Statewide Local OA Target Delivery Status (PDF 203KB) – MPO and county monthly delivery target updates
• Local Agency Federal Obligation Authority (OA) (PDF 354KB) – policy for the MPO/RTPO/county lead agencies to deliver their annual targets
• FAST ACT State/Local Distribution (PDF 304KB) – Governor’s Advisory Group memo
• 2010 Census (PDF 285KB) – Washington State Population Census

Federal Transportation Acts

Background

In December 2015, Congress and the President enacted the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, a five-year authorization of federal highway funding. Washington is unique in its approach to splitting federal funds between state and local government. There is a requirement to sub-allocate a portion of the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STPBG) funding to Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) based on population and to distribute Metropolitan Planning funds to MPOs. Beyond that, there is no requirement in U.S. Code or the Act for the state to sub-allocate the remaining portion of the Federal Highway Administration formula funds it receives each year. Washington has a history dating back to the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of collaboration between legislators, local government entities and various users of the transportation system to determine distributions of federal highway formula funds. The existing distribution to the state and local governments was last discussed in 2012 by the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) Steering Committee.

Determination of our State's apportionment

At its July 11, 2016 meeting, the FAST Act workgroup agreed that its recommendations would be limited to new distributions of funding for the National Highway Performance Program (NHPP) and the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBGP). Other federal programs would be distributed as they have been historically. Or, in the case of the new National Highway Freight Program, based on the priorities identified by the Washington State Freight Advisory Committee.
The FAST Act programs are:

• National Highway Performance Program (NHPP);
• Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBG);
• Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP);
• Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ);
• Metropolitan Planning; and
• National Highway Freight Program (NHFP).

Other federal programs would be distributed as they have been historically.

Further details on Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act and the current one year extension through September 30, 2021.