Legislative Update

FROM WASHINGTON D.C.

The surface transportation bill conference committee held their first official meeting last week. Senator Boxer was appointed chair of the conference committee, while Representative Mica was appointed vice-chair. Each committee member made opening statements and most repeated their commitment to producing a final bill and willingness to negotiate. Chair Boxer’s opening statement made it clear that she intended to wrap up the conference before the expiration of the current extension on June 30, 2012, while many Republicans discussed the importance of environmental streamlining and reducing project delivery time. 

This week the top Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Democrat, Representative Nick Rahall (WV), predicted the Keystone project will not be in the final bill and said that putting people to work is much more important right now. The conference committee’s initial meeting was the only required public meeting and now most of the negotiators are expected to be meeting in smaller, private meetings. But Senator Boxer recently indicated a desire to hold another public and formal meeting of the committee in the first week of June.

Also this week, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sent a letter to the conferees that outlined the Administration's views on the proposed surface transportation bill. Secretary LaHood included in the letter the Administration’s support for high speed rail programs, transit safety, increasing local decision making and the promotion of programs such as the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants and the expansion of the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program.

UPCOMING COMMITTEE HEARINGS

TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 24, 2012:
House Committee on Transportation
This will be a public hearing held at the Greater Houston Partnership Board Room in Houston, Texas. The Committee will meet to discuss the following interim charge:

Study the state's preparedness for the expansion of the Panama Canal and determine whether the state's infrastructure is ready for the increase in commerce.

The committee will hear invited testimony.

And related to regulations, the US Department of Transportation announced regulation changes dealing with the installation of positive train control (PTC) equipment. Railroads will no longer need to perform risk analyses in order to be granted approval to opt out of installing PTC or take other risk mitigation measures on the 10,000 miles of rail track that will not be carrying passenger trains or poison inhalation hazard commodities after December 2015. According to the USDOT, these changes are anticipated to save $335 million over the first five years and jump to $775 million over 20 years. This savings comes from employing safety measures instead of PTC when applicable. More information can be found here. [PDF]

FROM AUSTIN, TEXAS

The Texas Department of Transportation will conduct a public hearing on the proposed Texas Rural Transportation Plan (TRTP) on May 21 in Austin. The proposed plan is the rural component of their Statewide Long-Range Transportation Plan 2035 and includes all modes of the state's rural transportation system. The Texas Transportation Commission will consider adoption of the plan in the coming months.

RECENT COMMITTEE HEARINGS

US SENATE

April 25, 2012
Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation | A Review of Aviation Safety in the United States
The Committee received testimony from government, industry and labor witnesses on the Federal Aviation Administration’s safety oversight of the aviation system, as well as ways to improve the system. Terminal area safety, operational errors, repair stations, safety management systems and data collections and pilot training were specifically discussed. They concluded that, overall, the system is safe but there is a need to identify where safety can be improved. Congress, the FAA, and other industry stakeholders must take the necessary steps to identify safety issues and take steps to further improve the safety of the aviation system.