mr. tymon? mr. tymon: i'll start and say absolutely, and not just nepa, but also looking at the underlying resource protection laws that are in place. many of those have not been modernized or looked at in over 40 or 50 years. we're not saying that they need to be eliminated, just modernized. rep. westerman: streamlined, made to work quickly. anybody else want to weigh in on that quickly? you've got a whole 7 seconds. i'll yield that back to you, mr. chairman. chair rouzer: thank you, mr. nadler. you're recognized. rep. nadler: thank you, mr. chairman. i thank our witnesses for coming here. i am eager to begin reauthorizing our nation's surface transportation programs, particularly those under the federal highway administration's jurisdiction. however, i must first address the deeply troubling issue of president trump's hastily and poorly drafted executive order titled "unleashing american energy" that at least temporarily triggered an entirely avoidable crisis. in the misguided attempt to pause fund

mr. tymon you are recognized for up to five minutes. mr. tymon: thank you chair rouzer and congratulations on your appointment to the most important subcommittee in congress. chairman, ranking member norton, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for holding today's important hearing on our nation's highways and their role moving people in freight. my name is jim timon, the executive director of the american association of state highways, transportation, and officials or aashto. we recognize federal transit, past gender rail programs remain crucial to supporting our entire transportation system and my testimony will speak to iija successes and challenges and the upcoming success -- spirit one of the most important successes of is the ability of state quixote to take formula dollars provided and utilize those to deliver tangible projects end benefits quickly. state dots do this through long-range plans and capital projects developed in partnership with npo's and localities. as a result, stat

mr. tymon: so i do think that both the metropolitan planning and the statewide planning process are meant to address the needs of communities across the entire state, including rural areas. but you're absolutely right that there are certain instances where, say, a project has been planned to move forward, the cost -- and even if there was funding identified for it either at the local level or at the state level and then it takes, you know, two or three years longer to do that project, well, the cost is increased from what the original estimate is, and oftentimes that means that the local community is left holding the bag and trying to have to make up the difference. so i know that state dots across the country are struggling with that. i know that even discretionary grant recipients under the iija who put in an application for, say, one of those programs two or three years ago, assuming that the cost is a certain amount, well, when they finally get that grant and sign an agreement 2 or 3 years

mr. tymon: so i do think that both the metropolitan planning and the statewide planning process are meant to address the needs of communities across the entire state, including rural areas. but you're absolutely right that there are certain instances where, say, a project has been planned to move forward, the cost -- and even if there was funding identified for it either at the local level or at the state level and then it takes, you know, two or three years