TRUCKLOAD CARRIERS ASSOCIATION
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Highway FundingRecent Activity
Both chambers of Congress have selected their conferees for negotiations on the highway bill. The duration and funding for the highway reauthorization will be the conferees' biggest obstacle; however a list of policy issues such as truck safety provisions and Department of Transportation program reforms will also be hashed out during the deliberations. The Senate comes to conference having passed a two-year, $109 billion proposal. Since the House was unable to win enough support to pass its five-year, $260 billion bill, the lower chamber brings to the conference another 90-day extension of the current program that includes a provision to force completion of the Keystone XL pipeline. The full conference committee is scheduled to meet May 8, 2012, and has until June 30, 2012, to make a deal or pass another extension. On March 29, 2012, Congress approved a three-month
extension of federal transportation programs.
With relentless partisan dispute over highway reauthorization and the previous
extension due to expire March 31, 2012, this ninth extension was a necessary measure to
avoid a shutdown of federal transportation funding. While the Senate has completed action on
Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21; also known as S.1813), ninety
days will give the House time to finalize and pass its version, The American
Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R.7), so the two chambers can begin
negotiations in conference and complete action on a long-term resolution. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica's press release on the latest extension is available here. On March 14, 2012, the Senate passed S.1813 (MAP-21). The bill would authorize the continuation of current funding levels for two years. MAP-21 would also consolidate a number of programs within the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and increase the funding of the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program. The TIFIA program helps state and local governments leverage federal funds for transportation projects. MAP-21 would require DOT to address a number of ongoing safety and regulatory concerns including “chameleon carriers,” EOBRs, speed-limiters, and CSA. A summary of the proposal is available here. On January 31, 2012, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure released H.R.7. This proposal would authorize $260 billion over five years to fund federal highway, transit, and safety programs at current spending levels. H.R.7 proposes using funds collected from increased domestic energy production as additional means to finance the measure. The bill is designed to cut the red tape and bureaucracy that delay surface transportation project approval and delivery across the country by allowing states to have more responsibility in the process from concept to completion, and flexibility in determining their transportation priorities. The proposal would provide long-term stability for states to undertake major infrastructure projects, consolidate or eliminate nearly 70 federal programs, remove mandates requiring states to spend highway funding on non-highway activities, provide a single system to review decisions by requiring concurrent reviews and setting deadlines for federal agency project approvals, and encourage states to partner with the private sector to finance and build projects. Additionally, the initiative calls for the establishment of a clearinghouse of drivers' positive drug and alcohol test results, the establishment of minimum training requirements for commercial drivers, and for studies to be conducted by the DOT on the effects of bigger trucks on safety and infrastructure, and the efficiency of the 34-hour restart provision in the new hours-of-service final rule. A summary of the proposal is available here. BackgroundThe current surface transportation authorization, SAFETEA-LU, was originally set to expire September 30, 2009, but has been continued through a number of extensions while Congress works out a new authorization. Additional InformationFederal Highway Administration’s SAFETEA-LU Web Site 2011 Proposal House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Pending Legislation TCA Policies This page was last reviewed Friday, April 27, 2012 |
