WASHINGTON The chairman of the House Transportation Committee, Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., is circulating a plan that proposes a major restructuring of the programs within the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The restructuring, if it went forward, would be included in the next federal highway and public transportation reauthorization bill that Congress will grapple with this summer and fall, according to Congressional sources and specialty newsletters.

One two-page outline of Oberstars proposal provides a glimpse of what he has repeatedly called a "transformational" reauthorization proposal that is expected to be unveiled this month.

Without referring to the outline, Oberstar was quoted by one publication as saying he has received positive feedback on his ideas.

The Democratic caucus is "enthusiastic about the approach that I've taken in restructuring the programs," he told one Washington newsletter.

A spokesman for the USDOT said Oberstar had been in contact with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood about the congressman's proposed plan.

Because Congress is scheduled to be in recess the last week of June, Oberstar has said he would like a committee markup of his reauthorization proposal the first week of June, with floor consideration the following week.

Under the heading "the future of transportation," the framework seeks to create a new undersecretary or assistant secretary for intermodalism that would meet monthly with all modal administrators.

The outline includes the phrases "national strategic plan" and "mega-projects" in the list of agencies that would take part in the monthly meetings.

It also includes a consolidation of USDOT's 108 programs into four "major formula programs" -- critical asset preservation, highway safety improvement, surface transportation, and congestion mitigation and air quality improvement.

According to the document, Oberstar would like the USDOT's management structure to shift "from prescriptive to performance."

Oberstar's outline also addresses transit equity, including a hope to "level decision-making factors between highway and transit choices/projects."

The federal government pays for half of transit projects while it funds 80 percent of highway and bridge work, and transit advocates have been pressing for equal federal treatment.