The U.S. Department of Transportation has gotten somewhat better the past four years at completing congressionally mandated rules, but some rules dating as far back as 1987 are still pending, Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-MN, said.

Oberstar, the ranking member on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the data was contained in a report he requested from DOT’s Office of the Inspector General.

The study is a follow up to a 2000 report, also requested by Oberstar.

“There is good news and bad news from DOT,” Oberstar said. “The good news is that the secretary and his top lieutenants have made it a priority to clear their rulemaking backlog, and I applaud them for making significant progress since our 2000 investigation. The bad news is that there are still a number of rules that have languished for more than a decade.”

The Inspector General’s latest audit shows the department has decreased the average time to complete rulemaking from 3.9 years to 3.0 years. If rules over 8 years old are removed from the calculation, the average drops further to 1.7 years. In 1993, the average was 2.3 years for all rules.

The audit also found 14 rules that have been pending 10 years or more, the oldest dating back 15.5 years. Forty rules are over 5 years old, and 13 rules with deadlines set by Congress are overdue.

In addition, DOT has set dates for each rulemaking process, but failed to meet these deadlines in 69 percent of rulemakings in the first half of 2003. Unless this time is made up, the result will be further delays in issuing final rules, the Inspector General said.

Oberstar said he was hopeful the department’s reforms, including the development of a tracking system and the establishment of internal milestone dates and deadlines, would enable DOT to continue to improve its track record, clear its backlog and complete rulemaking procedures in a reasonable amount of time.