U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta announced steps the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is taking to implement President Bush’s executive order regarding environmental stewardship and the streamlining of environmental review of important transportation infrastructure projects. The executive order calls for a Cabinet-level task force reporting to the President through the chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality to ensure that environmentally sound projects are not held up unnecessarily by inefficient review procedures. “Too many transportation projects become mired for too long in the complex web of clearances required by federal and state law.