Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga has informed Public Works Department director Faleosina Voigt to ensure that information on all outstanding 'payments due' to American Samoa are sent to the Federal Highway Administration before the beginning of next month.

Early last week, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx sent letters to transportation departments for states and territories outlining steps the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) will soon be forced to take to manage the impending insolvency of the Highway Account Trust Fund (HTF), which is facing a shortfall.

“Absent Congressional action, we will begin implementing these measures on Aug. 1, 2014,” Foxx wrote, adding that USDOT will continue to take every possible measure to fully reimburse states and territories as long as it can.

“However, as we approach insolvency, the Department will be forced to limit payments to manage the reduced levels of cash available in the Trust Fund,” he said. “This means, among other things, that the Federal Highway Administration will no longer make ‘same-day’ payments to reimburse states.”

For American Samoa, local highway funding is overseen by Public Works, whose director didn’t immediately respond to Samoa News questions, which were sent via e-mail last week and again yesterday morning.

Responding to Samoa News questions, the governor’s executive assistant, Iulogologo Joseph Pereira said the governor met recently with Federal Highway officials and one of the issues discussed was the Highway Trust Fund crisis and the resultant changes to the payment process for all outstanding federal highway projects.

Iulogologo said the governor has asked DPW director “to practice due diligence to ensure that all our outstanding payments due are sent to federal highway for processing.”

“The other challenge is that the federal highway authorization is expiring this year and Congress has yet to reauthorize it; and given the financial crisis connected with the HTF there is no certainty as to the amount of funding available to the States and Territories although the Governor was informed that our allocation has been reduced by $1 million in 2015,” he said.

“The Governor is certainly concerned because he is working on financial strategies to secure money to facilitate the immediate repair of the Territory's public thoroughfare instead of waiting until money is available to perform this needed work, to respond positively to our people's patience and having to endure the annoyance of our poor road conditions which have worsened over time due to lack of maintenance,” he said.

“These strategies depend on our federal highway administration's annual funding allocation. Lack of Congressional Action and the HTF crisis threaten these efforts,” Iulogologo said via email from Honolulu.

Besides Foxx’s letter, the Federal Highway Administration also sent to states and territories, a July 1 memorandum which provide procedures for reimbursement during a cash shortfall in the HTF.

“Unless otherwise directed, cash management procedures will be implemented on August 1, 2014. These cash management procedures will continue until further notice,” the memo said. The same memo also includes breakdown for allocations to each state and territory for FY 2014. For American Samoa, the allocation is $4 million.

(Click on attachment below to download the PDF copy of the memo.)

“There is still time for Congress to act on a long term solution,” said Foxx in his letter. “Our transportation infrastructure is too essential to suffer continued neglect, and I hope Congress will avert this crisis before it is too late.”

He also said the cash management plan is a sound one and it treats all states and territories equitably “and provides you with as much certainty as we can in a very uncertain situation.”

HIGHWAY TRUST FUND

The Highway Trust Fund receives money from the federal fuel tax — both gasoline and diesel — and related excise taxes. The HTF funds road construction, mass transit and the problems related to leaking underground storage tanks.

The Highway Trust Fund was established in 1956 to finance the United States Interstate Highway System, other roads and bridges. It was expanded in 1982 to include mass transit projects.