Federal Funding Uncertainty in State, Local, and Regional Departments of Transportation: Impacts, Responses, and Adaptations (2022)

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66 Glossary Allocation: An administrative distribution of funds for programs that do not have statutory distribution formulas. Apportionment: The distribution of funds as prescribed by a statutory formula. Appropriate: Provide an agency budget authority to incur obligations and to make payments from the US Treasury for specified purposes. Appropriated budget authority: A form of budget authority that requires both an authoriza- tion act and an appropriations act before any funds can be obligated. Appropriations act: Action of a legislative body that makes funds available for expenditure with specific limitations as to amount, purpose, and duration. In most cases it permits previously authorized money to be obligated and payments made. The appropriations act specifies what funds Congress will make available for the fiscal year to liquidate obligations. Authorization act: Basic substantive legislation that establishes or continues federal programs or agencies over a multiyear period and establishes an upper limit on the funds for the program(s). Authority/authorized: Delegated permission. Budget authority: Empowerment by Congress of federal agencies to incur obligations that will result in the outlay of funds. This empowerment is generally in the form of appropriations, but for most highway programs it is in the form of contract authority. Contract authority: A form of budget authority that permits obligations to be made in advance of appropriations. Most of the programs under the Federal-Aid Highway Program operate under contract authority. Federal-Aid Highway Program: The federal program that supports state highway systems by providing financial assistance for the construction, maintenance, and operations of the nation’s 3.9-million-mile highway network, including the Interstate Highway System, primary highways, and secondary local roads. The FHWA is charged with implementing the Federal-Aid Highway Program in cooperation with the states and local government. The Federal-Aid Highway Pro- gram is distinct from broader federal surface transportation funding. Highway Trust Fund: An account established by law to hold federal highway user taxes dedi- cated to highway and transit purposes. The fund has two accounts: the highway account and the mass transit account. Obligation: The federal government’s legal commitment to pay or reimburse the states or other entities for the federal share of a project’s eligible costs.

Glossary 67   Obligational authority: The total funds that may be obligated in a year. For the Federal-Aid Highway Program, this consists of the obligation limitation amount plus amounts for programs exempt from the limitation. Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP): The required transportation improve- ment program each state is required to develop, covering a period of at least 4 years. The STIP is a staged multiyear statewide intermodal program of transportation projects, consistent with the statewide transportation plan and planning processes as well as metropolitan plans, transporta- tion improvement programs (TIPs), and planning processes. Transportation Improvement Program (TIP): A program that includes a list of upcoming transportation projects each metropolitan planning organization (MPO) is required to develop, covering a period of at least 4 years. The TIP must be developed in cooperation with the state and public transit providers and must also be fiscally constrained.