The House and Senate conference committee on surface transportation reauthorization recently released its final report. The revised H.R. 22, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, now heads to the House and Senate for final approval. National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) President Mike Acott released the following statement: The FAST Act has been a long-time in coming, but it gives road builders and the driving public a level of predictability that we haven’t seen in a decade. The House and Senate conferees deserve credit for funding a full five-year program that provides the states and federal agencies the flexibility necessary to seek innovative solutions to our transportation needs. Important in this bill is reauthorization and funding of the Accelerated Implementation and Deployment of Pavement Technologies Program (AID-PT) through 2020, which will speed the uptake and deployment of innovative practices, materials, and techniques that deliver smoother, higher performing roads today. Our roads and highways have gone without necessary maintenance and improvement through years of short-term surface transportation bill extensions. But this bill gives the states and industry the certainty needed to move forward aggressively to improve safety, performance, and drivability. Funding for the current surface transportation authorization expires on Friday, Dec. 4. NAPA urges the House and Senate to move swiftly to approve the FAST Act and for President Obama to sign the bill into law.

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