CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - The co-chairman of the Wyoming legislative committee that considers highway funding says the state is continuing to consider tolls for motorists who use I-80.

The Federal Highway Administration announced Thursday that it has rejected an application from Pennsylvania highway agencies to impose tolls on I-80 in that state.

"It will not affect what we are doing," Sen. Michael Von Flatern, R-Gillette, said of the decision on the Pennsylvania application.

Von Flatern is co-chairman of the Legislature's Joint Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Interim Committee. The committee has been discussing ways to fund maintenance and improvements on the more than 400 miles of I-80 that run across southern Wyoming.

Officials with the Wyoming Department of Transportation say current funding levels are insufficient to pay for required future maintenance of I-80. Keeping the interstate as it is now would cost more than $2 billion over 30 years, without accounting for inflation.

With conservative inflation of 6 percent, WYDOT says the cost to maintain I-80 over the next 30 years will swell to $6.4 billion. Construction inflation recently has been much higher.

Federal funding for interstate highways has been declining. Congress this week voted to increase funding by $8 billion to make up for lost gasoline tax revenues. High gas prices are forcing people to drive less, and that's resulting in less funding for highway projects.

The Federal Highway Administration said Pennsylvania's plan failed to meet federal requirements.

"It doesn't affect our policies on tolling," said Nancy Singer, a Highway Administration spokeswoman. "Each application is unique. In fact it's something we encourage if it works for the states."

Singer said the Highway Administration wants states to look for creative ways to keep up with skyrocketing construction and maintenance costs.

The Pennsylvania application had called for that state's Turnpike Commission to use toll revenue to pay annual lease payments to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. While federal rules require the amount of such payments to be based on objective market valuation, Singer said the application lacked that information.

Dave Kingham, spokesman for WYDOT, said the agency is looking at all its options for I-80.

"We're studying everything," Kingham said, including imposing tolls only on trucks, only requiring tolls on certain segments of the highway or requiring tolls for all vehicles.

Kingham said Pennsylvania's experience will help Wyoming prepare its application if the state decides it needs to impose tolls.

Wyoming's Transportation Committee began discussing a study on the feasibility of tolling at its July meeting and hopes to have a completed study by its October meeting, Von Flatern said.

Even if the Legislature passes enabling legislation, Von Flatern said that wouldn't mean tolls are inevitable. The state is considering options including public/private partnerships and trying to increase federal funding by having the highway, which was closed 30 days in different areas last winter, designated as a critical freight corridor.

While Von Flatern said some Pennsylvania residents and truck drivers were celebrating the federal rejection, he said the decision means taxpayers in that state will facing higher taxes while continuing to subsidize out-of-state highway users or letting the highway deteriorate.