The Bush administration has dropped its opposition to restoring $8 billion that had been diverted from the federal Highway Trust Fund, possibly setting the stage for saving the fund from insolvency if Congress acts immediately.

Advocacy groups are warning that House Resolution 6532, the vehicle that would restore the money and has been approved 387-36 by the U.S. House, must be taken up by the Senate and given final approval by Congress by the end of next week to avert insolvency. The Senate had earlier declined to consider the measure because of the threatened presidential veto. Both houses return to work next week.

Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler joined the call for quick action, noting that the state stands to lose $543 million in the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. That equates to about one-third of the federal dollars that Pennsylvania received in the current fiscal year.

The fund is financed by the 18.4 cent-per-gallon federal gasoline tax and the 24.4 cent-per-gallon diesel tax. The fund has been rapidly depleted because high gasoline prices have driven down the demand for fuel as motorists are driving less.

“While avoiding insolvency would be viewed positively by highway user groups such as PHIA, we should keep in mind that it only prevents a severe funding shortage from getting worse,” said PHIA Managing Director Jason Wagner. According to the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, the country should be investing $225 billion annually for surface transportation, but instead is investing barely a third of that.