Fiscal Year 2019 FHWA-536 Report for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requires state transportation agencies to submit a biennial report on local highway finances. The purpose of these reports is to provide FHWA with the data it needs to capture the financing of highway activities at the local level. Based on this information, it can identify trends in revenue, expenditures, investments, and program development, and in turn make decisions about future investments. The report, FHWA-536, asks agencies to report on four areas of local highway finance: 1) disposition of highway-user revenues; 2) revenues used for roads and streets identified by source and funding type; 3) road and street expenditures identified by purpose of activity; and 4) local highway debt status. This document summarizes data submitted to fulfill the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s FHWA-536 obligations in FY 2019. The table below presents itemized revenues and expenditures in each of the four areas of local highway finance listed above. Total receipts were $572,773,641, an increase of$128,136,745 over FY 2017. Total disbursements were $660,285,943, an increase of$115,307,524 over FY 2017

Jurisdictional Roadside Ditches

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) mandates that state agencies and other entities perform compensatory mitigation when their activities impair jurisdictional waters. In the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is required to pay in-lieu fees or purchase stream mitigation credits when a roadside ditch is impaired or relocated as part of a road construction project. In-lieu fees and stream mitigation credits are costly, and ditches that have suffered degraded habitat and loss of hydrogeomorphic functionality are treated as total losses when they are impacted by construction and maintenance activities. This raises the question of whether the United States Corps of Engineers (USACE) would be receptive to alternative mitigation and monitoring practices that impose a less stringent financial burden on the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, but which still comply with CWA regulations. This report discusses methodologies used to evaluate the quality of instream and riparian habitat, Section 404 of the CWA and its implications for mitigation of lost or damaged jurisdictional ditches, and the strategies that have been used by other states to fulfill their Section 404 mitigation requirements. We highlight mitigation practices that depart from the norm and which place a less onerous financial burden on state transportation agencies. KYTC officials presented this report’s key findings to the USACE Louisville District Office in January 2015 in an effort to receive approval to experiment with novel restoration techniques. The USACE granted KYTC license to implement these techniques on a project-by- project basis. Before implementation on each project, the Cabinet must receive formal approval from USACE officials. Although this was not the blanket mandate that KYTC hoped for, it indicated the Louisville District is willing to study the effectiveness of alternative mitigation strategies. Despite the Cabinet’s request, USACE officials did not approve a plan to reduce post-restoration monitoring requirements. KTC researchers suggested that KYTC perform exhaustive monitoring of the performance of completed project that used alternative mitigation techniques. Having information on the short-, medium-, and long-term performance of these sites could–if the results are promising-pave the way to the wider adoption of alternative mitigation practices and could eventually reduce the level of post-restoration monitoring required by the USACE

Audit Template for Inland Port Sustainability

This report serves as an assessment of port sustainability and its potential applications for the inland river ports of Kentucky and the surrounding region. The report discusses and defines sustainability, both generally as it relates to business and industry and specifically as it relates to the port industry. Given the unique nature of the inland port industry, the report reviews lessons learned from 11 port site visits conducted by Kentucky Transportation Center in 2012, primarily at major U.S. coastal ports but also representative inland ports. KTC’s analysis identifies the sustainability challenges facing various domestic and international ports, and what policy and operating initiatives are being undertaken to meet these challenges. This report then discusses KTC’s progress in tailoring the sustainability process identified during these visits to the inland port industry. Field visits to 13 public ports along the Ohio River were conducted in order to develop a sustainability self‐assessment tool, which took the lessons learned at coastal ports and large‐scale inland ports and applied them to the inland ports of Kentucky and the surrounding region. From these visits and the associated research, an audit template has been developed that allows inland port operators to assess and improve sustainability levels. The wealth of information compiled in this report, along with the associated appendices, will prove invaluable to the inland port industry. The research relayed to the industry has already proven to be a boon to the ports that participated in the project. The preliminary results indicate that ports along the region’s inland waterways would have little difficulty improving their sustainability profiles at low expense, so long as they follow the advice laid out by this report and the audit template

Fiscal Year 2011 FHWA-536 Report for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requires state transportation agencies to submit a biennial report on local highway finances. The purpose of these reports is to provide FHWA with the data it needs to capture the financing of highway activities at the local level. Based on this information, it can identify trends in revenue, expenditures, investments, and program development, and in turn make decisions about future investments. The report, FHWA-536, asks agencies to report on four areas of local highway finance: 1) disposition of highway-user revenues; 2) revenues used for roads and streets identified by source and funding type; 3) road and street expenditures identified by purpose of activity; and 4) local highway debt status. This document summarizes data submitted to fulfill the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s FHWA-536 obligations in FY 2011. Total receipts were $456,078,635, an increase of$110,761,911 compared to FY 2009. Total disbursements equaled $503,323,826 346,188,072, an increase of$157,135,174 over FY 2009

Fiscal Year 2017 FHWA-536 Report for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requires state transportation agencies to submit a biennial report on local highway finances. The purpose of these reports is to provide FHWA with the data it needs to capture the financing of highway activities at the local level. Based on this information, it can identify trends in revenue, expenditures, investments, and program development, and in turn make decisions about future investments. The report, FHWA-536, asks agencies to report on four areas of local highway finance: 1) disposition of highway-user revenues; 2) revenues used for roads and streets identified by source and funding type; 3) road and street expenditures identified by purpose of activity; and 4) local highway debt status. This document summarizes data submitted to fulfill the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s FHWA-536 obligations in FY 2017. Total receipts were $444,636,896, a decrease of$19,196,496 compared to FY 2015. Total disbursements equaled $544,978,419, an increase of$72,474,119 from FY 2015

Fiscal Year 2015 FHWA-536 Report for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requires state transportation agencies to submit a biennial report on local highway finances. The purpose of these reports is to provide FHWA with the data it needs to capture the financing of highway activities at the local level. Based on this information, it can identify trends in revenue, expenditures, investments, and program development, and in turn make decisions about future investments. The report, FHWA-536, asks agencies to report on four areas of local highway finance: 1) disposition of highway-user revenues; 2) revenues used for roads and streets identified by source and funding type; 3) road and street expenditures identified by purpose of activity; and 4) local highway debt status. This document summarizes data submitted to fulfill the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s FHWA-536 obligations in FY 2015. Total receipts were $463,833,392, an increase of$1,828,425 compared to FY 2013. Total disbursements equaled $472,504,300, a decrease of$99,787,227 from FY 2013

Fiscal Year 2013 FHWA-536 Report for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requires state transportation agencies to submit a biennial report on local highway finances. The purpose of these reports is to provide FHWA with the data it needs to capture the financing of highway activities at the local level. Based on this information, it can identify trends in revenue, expenditures, investments, and program development, and in turn make decisions about future investments. The report, FHWA-536, asks agencies to report on four areas of local highway finance: 1) disposition of highway-user revenues; 2) revenues used for roads and streets identified by source and funding type; 3) road and street expenditures identified by purpose of activity; and 4) local highway debt status. This document summarizes data submitted to fulfill the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s FHWA-536 obligations in FY 2013. Total receipts were $462,004,967, an increase of$5,926,332 compared to FY 2011. Total disbursements equaled $572,291,527, an increase of$68,967,701 over FY 2011

Green Infrastructure

The transportation industry has increasingly recognized the vital role sustainability serves in promoting and protecting the transportation infrastructure of the nation. Many state Departments of Transportation have correspondingly increased efforts to incorporate concepts of sustainability into the planning, design, and construction phases of projects and congruently adopted sustainability measures into their internal standard policies and procedures. Sustainably constructed highways foster economic development, promote stewardship of the environment, and solicit citizen involvement for an integrated, comprehensive approach to project planning. As part of an effort to understand the extent to which sustainable design and construction principles are being used, this report selects and analyzes three case studies involving previously completed KYTC projects and assesses their commitment to sustainable concepts. Specifically, this report examines the extent to which KYTC utilized sustainable concepts for each case study as described in FHWA’s INVEST rating system. This research effort comprised three components. First, KTC researchers analyzed KYTC’s policies and manuals for project planning, design, and construction and determined the extent to which INVEST criteria and related principles were incorporated into their standard processes. Second, KTC analyzed the individual case studies themselves, to include project plans and other relevant documentation. Finally, KTC conducted interviews with each of the KYTC district offices responsible for managing those previously completed projects and obtained feedback on the INVEST criteria used for each particular project. Following this approach, KTC validated and finalized the assigned scoring ratings for each case study in accordance with the INVEST scoring guidance. In summary, this report describes the sustainable concepts and corresponding INVEST scores for each project, presents a summary of the main findings, and provides recommendations for the way ahead

Inland Waterways Funding Mechanisms Synthesis

The inland waterway system is a vital part of the nation’s multi-modal freight network. Although less visible than other modes, inland waterways allow shippers to transport bulk commodities in a relatively cheap and environmentally-friendly method. To ensure this transportation mode remains a feasible option and accommodates growth, it must continue to be safe, efficient, and functional. This synthesis provides comprehensive perspective on the financial prospects of the inland waterways system. It analyzes current funding levels, along with proposed funding changes and reforms. Financial support for the inland waterways system comes from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF). Historical data gathered provides evidence that the IWTF resources have rapidly declined in recent years, limiting the number of infrastructure projects that can be undertaken. Some of this is can be attributed to the lack of a fuel tax increase since 1995. The fuel tax serves as the primary revenue source for the IWTF. The purchasing power of each dollar is therefore eroded due to the increase of construction costs, coupled with the tax revenue not increasing.In order to reinforce the IWTF and deal with a mounting project backlog, several funding reforms have been proposed in addition to changes in project delivery and prioritization. Many reforms include raising the fuel tax and changing the current cost share structure. Other proposals lay out different options, such as tolling locks and dams or instituting license fees.In order to reverse the decline of the IWTF, it appears that substantive changes may be required. The past and current state of the system also provides insight as to how previous investment levels have impacted reliability.Measures of lock performance, such as the number of outages (both scheduled and unscheduled) and the duration of lock outages, are used to assess system dependability. These reveal that in recent years there has been an increase in outages and outage durations. Possible factors include a reduction in funding for construction and maintenance projects, which compounds the increasing infrastructure age issue.Unexpected closures impact shippers by causing unplanned delays. These delays increase costs of inland waterway shipments by idling freight and reducing reliability.In turn, reduced system reliability may prompt modal shifts as freight shippers seek more consistent modes of transport. This synthesis provides valuable information for stakeholders and policymakers regarding current funding levels and investments in the inland waterway system.The initial evidence in this report shows that declining funding levels, coupled with aging locks and dams, are likely contributing to increases in lock outages.If such issues are to be rectified, the reforms detailed here provide a starting point for changing the current funding regime