Bush administration kick starts road projects

Bush administration kick starts road projects    The Bush administration said streamlined environmental review procedures instituted last year for major transportation projects have succeeded in getting started four high-priority road projects previously stalled by lengthy bureaucratic procedures for obtaining clearances.
   The four projects are Interstate 80 in Nebraska, the Chittenden County Circumferential Highway in Vermont, the Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project in Kentucky and Indiana and a project in Riverside County, Calif.
   President Bush issued an executive order in November to create an interagency task force responsible for coordinating and expediting decision-making across the government for major projects.
   Nine other highway, transit and airport projects are also on the priority list for attention by the task force. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta heads the task force, which also includes the secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Interior and Defense plus the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
   Environmental groups say streamlining initiatives such as this weaken necessary environmental safeguards.