BAF NEWS
Central Illinois Proud: Peoria Airport's New Terminal Gets a Name
http://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/peoria-airports-new-terminal-get-a-name
It's officially the Ray LaHood International Terminal. For political junkies, you would call today’s dedication a star-studded event. You obviously had former Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood there but also the current Secretary of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administrator, both of which sang the praises of Secretary LaHood.
NATIONAL NEWS
Marketwatch: Our crumbling infrastructure is hurting U.S. competitiveness
Every day, we see how the U.S. is falling behind in the quality, reliability and even the very safety of its transportation infrastructure. The impact goes beyond traffic jams or collapsed bridges — it adds to the cost of doing business and it suppresses job growth.
The Fiscal Times: The smartest way to finally fix America’s crumbling infrastructure
For all the talk of how our national infrastructure is falling apart and in desperate need of renewed investment, the harsh truth is this: Bipartisan calls to update that infrastructure are unlikely to move past the rhetorical stage unless political leaders fix the U.S. municipal bond market.
The Atlantic: The absurd primacy of the automobile in American life
The car is the star. That’s been true for well over a century—unrivaled staying power for an industrial-age, pistons-and-brute-force machine in an era so dominated by silicon and software. Cars conquered the daily culture of American life back when top hats and child labor were in vogue, and well ahead of such other innovations as radio, plastic, refrigerators, the electrical grid, and women’s suffrage.
AutoWorldNews: Why federal regulators should slow down on autonomous cars
Automakers, safety advocates and engineers recommend more regulations before the autonomous cars would be allowed on the road. During a public meeting at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (Nhtsa) on Friday, April 8, several experts expressed their opinion that self-driving cars are not yet ready for the public roads.
SiliconBeat: Self-driving cars may not be proven safe for decades
http://www.siliconbeat.com/2016/04/12/105255/
Google’s self-driving cars may have driven themselves 1.5 million miles since 2009, but it could take hundreds of years for robot-car makers to prove safety at the existing testing rate, a new study said.
STATE NEWS
WAMU: Sweeping changes needed, consultants say, as Metro leaders head to Capitol Hill
The D.C. region’s transit system must regain the trust of its customers and jurisdictions by improving safety, reliability, and its troubled financial situation, while laying the groundwork for substantial internal reforms, said consultants who drafted a roadmap for Metro’s long-term recovery. The 89-page report by the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company was released by WMATA on Tuesday. It is the latest in a series of reports the consultants are producing for Metro.
NBC 11 Atlanta: Cobb County approves Braves bridge for $10 million
http://www.11alive.com/traffic/cobb-county-approves-braves-bridge-for-10-million-/129563860
There is already a lot of construction around the new Braves Stadium and in the coming months, you can expect even more. On Tuesday, the Cobb County Commission approved two pedestrian bridge projects to help get fans safely to the game.
Washington City Paper: FTA withholds $20 million from Metro for station and fare-collection improvements
In a letter to Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld last month, the Federal Transit Administration denied the agency $20 million in grant funding that was supposed to go towards renovating rail stations and upgrading the fare-collection system, public documents before Metro's board this week reveal.
TMJ-4 Milwaukee: Rapid bus route would connect Milwaukee to Wauwatosa
http://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/milwaukee-county-considers-rapid-transit-bus-route
Milwaukee County is considering a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Route connecting the Regional Medical Center in Wauwatosa to downtown Milwaukee. BRT vehicles often operate in their own lanes and make fewer stops than a typical, metro bus.
Voice of San Diego: Oceanside road diet tests city’s new transportation vision
The rest of the state calls it Highway 101, but in Oceanside it’s either Coast Highway or Hill Street. Whatever you call it, it’s going through an identity crisis. Last month, the city repainted a half-mile section of the 101 known as “the dip,” removing two of the four travel lanes and adding buffered bike lanes – essentially implementing what’s known as a road diet, where lanes are reduced or reconfigured to make travel more efficient and safe.
Charleston City Paper: Riders call for speedy completion of West Ashley bike lane
Bike activists took a stand Monday as a crowd assembled outside of City Hall to call for the completion of the dedicated bike and pedestrian lane to connect West Ashley to downtown. One lane of the T. Allen Legare Bridge is currently closed to traffic as county officials examine the impact that the proposed project will have on traffic entering the peninsula. Early results seem to agree that dedicating a lane to cyclists will have minimal impact on commute times for drivers.
Politico Morning Transportation
By Martine Powers | 04/13/2016 05:41 AM EDT
With help from Lauren Gardner and Heather Caygle
THE COUNTDOWN CLOCK BEGINS: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed cloture on the FAA reauthorization bill on Tuesday night, an indication that GOP leaders are confident they have enough votes from Democrats to push the bill forward - and a message to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) that they're unfazed by her threats to use a filibuster to finagle a vote on her amendment on minimum rest requirements for cargo pilots. Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune said Boxer is preventing the Senate from getting unanimous consent to hold votes on amendments; the chamber could vote on amendments this week if Boxer relents, but either way lawmakers will vote to end debate on the bill by Thursday. "There's a pathway at least to get done this week," Thune told our Lauren Gardner on Tuesday night. Still, he said, "it could spill over into next week - there's no guarantee."
ABANDONED PLANS: The Boxer amendment is the latest FAA bill flare-up following an extended brouhaha Tuesday over unrelated tax add-ons . By the afternoon, Republican senators threw their hands in the air and decided to keep the bill's tax measure clean, saying that the whole thing was getting too Christmas tree'd. "I think both sides came to the conclusion that they weren't going to be able to reach a conclusion in the near future and that in the interest of trying to move the bill along, it was better that we get to a final vote," Thune said.
OK, fine: Democrats say they're willing to invoke cloture even without their favorite renewable energy add-ons, and that's got Thune optimistic . "There's enough stuff in there now that they all want. I think especially the Democrats that are on the committee that were involved in drafting this and had amendments adopted, I'm hoping they'll find a way to get us the necessary votes to move it."
Playing the blame game: Still, Dems were miffed that their energy provisions were abandoned, and they weren't afraid to point fingers on Tuesday. From Reid: "All we wanted was [Section 48 energy tax credits]. ... We didn't go for beer or distilled spirits, we didn't go for rental cars, we didn't go for all that garbage. That was all them, not us." (Never mind that the alcohol tax seemed to be Sen. Ron Wyden's doing.) Sen. Dick Durbin said: "Somebody got an appetite for filling this bill with tax breaks ... and then the Republicans announced they didn't have any votes to help us."
HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE: In the meantime, the House is back in session, and Transportation & Infrastructure Republicans are waiting to see what happens to the Senate bill before deciding whether, when, and how to move their own embattled FAA bill. "We'll wait to see what the Senate's looks like when it comes out, and then hopefully we'll come up with a strategy from there," Rep. Sam Graves told MT on Tuesday night, adding that Committee Chairman Bill Shuster told him over the break that he was also in a holding pattern. But one thing is clear: The House is running out of time. "Obviously, we've got a time crunch, because we're going to be doing all the appropriations bills. ... It's possible that we could pass an extension through the election or something like that - we could do that fairly easily. But I'd like to see it done, Bill would like to see it done, Sen. [Jim] Inhofe would like to see it done. ... You know, we'll wait and see what they do."
IT'S WEDNESDAY: Good morning and thanks for tuning into POLITICO's Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports.
How would you feel about WMATA changing station names to "Kennedy Center" and "National Mall"? Talk about a crazy idea ... so crazy, it just might work! Add your thoughts: mpowers@politico.com or @martinepowers.
"A sickness born down deep within my soul / White line fever / The years keep flyin' by like the highline poles." (h/t Mike Licht of DBE Advance LLC)
MORE ON BOXER'S 'BUSTER: Sen. Barbara Boxer filibuster threat was aimed at aiding her amendment to raise minimum rest requirements for pilots on cargo airplanes; under a rule passed in 2011, cargo pilots are guaranteed fewer hours of rest than those who fly passenger airplanes. "I think this is an absurdity to block a vote on something as important as this. It just - it hits my moral core," Boxer said. Thune laid out his reasoning on why he opposes the measure: "DOT, when they issued these rules, made it very clear that this was not to include or incorporate cargo pilots into it," Thune said.
More on the DOT perspective: The DOT has commented on the cargo pilot carveout several times since the regulation was put in place in 2011. In 2014, Dr. James Fraser, federal air surgeon for the FAA, was asked about the issue anew: "From a human perspective there's no difference between cargo pilots and those that are flying passengers. But there is a significant political side of the issue when the cargo carriers tell us that they'll be bankrupt if they're expected to adhere to the same rules that the other pilots are required to adhere too," he said. "It's not those of us that are in the trenches at FAA headquarters that are against it. It's an OMB and a political issue in terms of the costs of making those changes for cargo pilots."
DeFAZIO ON ATC: LET IT GO. The House's only chance to get a say on FAA reauthorization will be to abandon Shuster's air traffic control privatization plan, ranking member Peter DeFazio and Rep. Rick Larsen wrote in a letter to his colleagues on Tuesday. If the House doesn't drop the controversial measure quickly, he warned, representatives will get left in the dust as the Senate moves full steam on their bill. "Aside from the AIRR Act's controversial poison-pill title to privatize air traffic control, the AIRR Act includes numerous bipartisan provisions. ... If we want to make sure these improvements are enacted into law this year ... it is time to abandon this controversial privatization plan and move forward on the bipartisan aviation reforms."
DON'T DESPAIR: With all the FAA drama of the past two weeks - and a long, drawn-out battle over appropriations looming ahead - lawmakers in Congress are already starting to air frustrations at how much is left to do, and how concerned they are that these coming months will end up producing few tangible achievements. Take, for example, Sen. Dick Durbin. "I think we've spent two weeks so far on the FAA extension, which turns out to be a very simple extension," Durbin said. "It's just an indication of a lot of wheel-spinning."
YOU DON'T SAY: Speaking of aviation, Airlines for America is releasing a new report today touting survey results that flying is more affordable than ever before, and that 80 percent of travelers say they're satisfied with their flying experience. "This groundbreaking, comprehensive survey affirms that there has never been a better time to fly," said A4A vice president John Heimlich.
ALL EYES ON WMATA: The Washington Metro gets a turn in the hot seat on Capitol Hill today. Senators are scheduled to grill General Manager Paul Wiedefeld early this afternoon before he scoots along to a House Oversight hearing, where he'll testify on "the Safety and Service of D.C. Metro," alongside WMATA board Chairman Jack Evans, the FTA's Carolyn Flowers, and NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart.
Juicy details: We took a look at the testimony filed in advance of the hearing and found this: the dollar amount of federal funding that the three jurisdictions - Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. - may have to relinquish if they fail to establish a state safety oversight agency before February 2017. "They collectively risk having $15 million in Section 5307 Urbanized Area Funding withheld from public transportation systems in their jurisdictions," the FTA's Carolyn Flowers writes in her filing.
Mark your calendar: The NTSB will consider its final report on the deadly smoke incident at L'Enfant Plaza on May 3, according to Hart's prepared testimony. As for today's hearing, that will be broadcast live on C-SPAN.
EU WAGES DEBATE ON ANTI-TERRORISM INFORMATION-SHARING: European officials continue to fight over the airline Passenger Name Record Directive, which would require countries within the European Union to share flight passenger data with one another - much as the EU shares such data with the United States. The European Parliament is preparing to vote on the measure on Thursday, and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls is lobbying in favor of the bill. It's an issue that took center stage at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing last week, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said they were shocked and frustrated that European nations did not have measures in place to share passenger information and help combat terrorism.
VISA WAIVER UPDATE: Nearly four months after President Barack Obama signed new provisions on the Visa Waiver Act into law, POLITICO's Nahal Toosi reports that the "administration is struggling to implement a key piece of it, one that affects dual nationals. It also is refusing to release clear criteria as to how it will apply that part of law. That is frustrating both critics and supporters of the measure who worry the new screening process is at best confusing, at worst discriminatory and ultimately ineffective at catching would-be enemies of the United States."
Travel group raises warnings on Europe suspension: The European Commission is also mulling a potential one-year suspension of its visa waiver agreement with the United States and Canada, and the Global Business Travel Association is calling on European policymakers to drop their threatened changes. "A suspension would have a negative impact on business travel, which accounted for an estimated $1.2 trillion dollars in global spending last year," Executive Director Michael W. McCormick said Tuesday. "This move could deal a devastating blow to further economic growth."
GREENS SUE ON AIRPLANE EMISSIONS: Environmental groups are suing the EPA for not yet issuing rules to limit carbon pollution from airplanes. Our Lauren Gardner has some details: "The lawsuit ... seeks to prod EPA to crack down on the aviation sector, where climate-warming emissions are projected to skyrocket in the coming decades. ICAO recently proposed performance standards for new aircraft, but greens say they aren't stringent enough to comply with the Clean Air Act and thus require EPA to step in with stricter rules."
CHILL OUT WITH THE DATA REQUESTS, UBER SAYS: According to Uber's first ever transparency report , the company received 33 wide-ranging data requests from government regulatory agencies in the past six months of 2015, a number that Uber officials say they believe may be getting out of hand. "We comply with the majority of law enforcement requests," the company said in a post accompanying their report . "But in many cases they send blanket requests without explaining why the information is needed, or how it will be used. And while this kind of trip data doesn't include personal information, it can reveal patterns of behavior - and is more than regulators need to do their jobs. It's why Uber frequently tries to narrow the scope of these demands, though our efforts are typically rebuffed."
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
- "Sweeping Changes Recommended For Metro In Consultants' Report: 89-page document charts course for troubled transit agency." WAMU.
- U.S. air traffic controllers see a future in Canada's 20-year tech transformation: "Nobody would go back to strips." Bloomberg.
- How not to pull off a merger: Canadian Pacific proposal "pushed all the wrong deal buttons," NYT Dealbook says.
- WMATA hires chief safety officer from New York system. POLITICO Pro.
- "American Air CEO Assails Delta on Air Traffic Control Plan." Bloomberg.
- "The Absurd Primacy of the Automobile in American Life." CityLab.
- Two decades of increased speed limits have cost 33,000 lives in the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
- Sweden thinks hackers tied to Russian intelligence took down the country's air traffic control system last year, The Register reports.
THE COUNTDOWN: DOT appropriations run out in 171 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 93 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 209 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 1,633 days.
THE DAY AHEAD:
8:30 a.m. - The American Petroleum Institute holds a discussion on "The Energy Vote: Policy, Politics and America's Future." W Hotel, 515 15th Street NW, Altitude Ballroom.
8:50 a.m. - The Shipbuilders Council of America presents two maritime leadership awards to prominent maritime advocates in the administration and Congress as part of the annual SCA fly-in in Washington. Office of Adams and Reese LLP.
9 a.m. - The FAA holds a meeting of the RTCA Special Committee Rechargeable Lithium Battery and Battery Systems. 1150 18th Street NW, Suite 910.
10 a.m. - Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Sam Graves leads a roundtable policy discussion to examine the implementation of Title V of the FAST Act, which includes reforms to improve commercial truck and bus safety and reduce regulatory burdens. 2167 Rayburn.
11 a.m. - Call hosted by A4A Chief Economist and Vice President John Heimlich to review survey findings. To call in: 800-705-6212 or view webcast here: bit.ly/1N7EgxI
1 p.m. - Sens. Barbara Mikulski, Ben Cardin, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine convene an oversight meeting on the safety of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority system with Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld. Capitol S-115.
2 p.m. - House Oversight subcommittees on government operations and transportation hold a hearing on "Examining the Safety and Service of D.C. Metro," to examine the issues that led to the WMATA shutdown, with Paul Wiedefeld and Jack Evans of WMATA, Carolyn Flowers of the FTA, and Christopher Hart of the NTSB. 2154 Rayburn.
Did we miss an event? Let MT know at transpocalendar@politicopro.com.
Stories from POLITICO Pro
Senate readying to shut off debate on FAA bill, with scuffle over cargo pilots still in play Back
By Lauren Gardner | 04/12/2016 07:21 PM EDT
Senate GOP leadership began the process to close debate on the FAA reauthorization bill tonight, after Sen. Barbara Boxer blocked lawmakers from considering more amendments unless they agree to a vote on a pilot rest proposal.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed cloture on the bill and on a substitute amendment that would include the measure as amended thus far, plus a tax title free of pet issues senators were clamoring to attach to it until earlier today.
"There's a pathway at least to get done this week," Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune told POLITICO tonight. "It could spill over into next week - there's no guarantee."
Thune said Boxer was holding up any unanimous consent requests to move other amendments.
"We're not going to be able to clear more amendments until she gets her vote, at least that's kind of where she is today," he said.
Thune said earlier today that he opposes her effort to wrap cargo pilots into FAA rest rules that apply to commercial airline pilots, arguing that the agency has already considered the issue and decided against it based on costs.
Asked if there was any chance Boxer would get her vote, Thune paused and said: "Eh, we'll see."
Lawmakers could still vote on amendments before voting to cut off debate on Thursday, if every senator agrees.
Lawmakers blame greed for sudden blowup of FAA tax plan Back
By Brian Faler | 04/12/2016 07:18 PM EDT
See you in December?
Lawmakers blew what will likely be their best chance this year to move a tax package, including several energy incentives, when a plan to attach a number of provisions to a must-pass aviation bill suddenly fell apart.
Less than 24 hours after tax aides were putting the finishing touches on what many considered to be an all-but-done deal, the plan was dead, the first such meltdown since Mitch McConnell became Senate majority leader.
Both sides blamed old-fashioned greed, saying demands to add everything from provisions benefiting the Enterprise rental car company to a $5.5 billion tax break for beer and other alcoholic beverages sank the deal.
"It took on too much," said Dick Durbin, the chamber's second-ranking Democrat.
"This morning they were going through the list [of tax add-ons] and I thought, 'I got a briefing yesterday and half of these were not even mentioned,'" he said. "So somebody got an appetite for filling this bill with tax breaks."
Said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn: "You can appreciate the fact that there are not a lot of tax vehicles going, so people were looking for other opportunities to add things to it."
"In the end, it ended up being too big of a lift, and just fell apart," he said.
It was lawmakers' best chance to move tax legislation this year because the FAA bill, with its tax title, represented a rare tax vehicle to come before the chamber.
The blowup is also the latest sign of lawmakers struggling to move bills in what has proved to be an unusually unproductive election year.
"It's just an indication of a lot of wheel spinning here," Durbin told reporters.
Republicans said they would press ahead with a "clean" FAA measure that only includes tax provisions related to funding the agency's operations. They hope to clear it by the end of this week so they can move on to an appropriations bill.
The core of the tax add-ons under consideration was a handful of energy tax provisions Democrats said were mistakenly left out of a December tax agreement. The deal was expected to extend investment tax credits for technologies like fuel cells, micro-turbines and combined heat and power - all of which can use natural gas - as well as for renewable sources like geothermal.
A separate carbon capture and sequestration credit backed by coal companies, environmental groups and labor unions also was expected to be extended as part of the deal.
Democrats had secured an agreement from McConnell to revisit those provisions sometime this year, and Minority Leader Harry Reid sought to make good on that commitment by initially threatening to block the FAA bill unless they were addressed as part of the measure.
But green energy tax breaks are poisonous among many Republicans who consider them little more than boondoggles, and the influential Koch Brothers - longtime critics of the provisions - had been whipping up opposition.
Republicans "were short of votes desperately, particularly after the Koch brothers made it clear they're against any modifications in terms of clean energy no matter what is added to the bill," Chuck Schumer complained. "It's highly likely that, if every Democrat voted for the tax provisions, there wouldn't have been the 60 votes"
Democrats also complained that Republicans wanted to add a provision benefiting Enterprise, an idea Reid called "garbage."
Roy Blunt wanted language that would have sent revenue from state and local taxes on rental cars to the Airport Trust Fund, a Democratic aide said. That would give state and local governments less incentive to charge the taxes because they couldn't tap the revenue. Democrats considered that little more than a favor to Enterprise, which is based in Blunt's home state of Missouri.
But Democrats had their own provisions, including a plan pushed by Ron Wyden to cut taxes paid by beer, wine and distilled spirits makers by $5.5 billion.
"The Democrats were insisting on widening the scope of this," John Thune said. "It just got too complicated."
"Both sides came to the conclusion that they weren't going to be able to reach a conclusion in the near future," he said.
An informed GOP congressional aide pointed the finger at Democrats, saying the nearly completed deal only fell apart today, after Reid met with his lieutenants.
"This whole thing cratered today," the aide said. "And why did it crater today? What happened today?"
"It all cratered this morning when Harry Reid brought together his leadership" and they decided "they didn't get their crap in the package."
Republican leaders said they would make another attempt to address the energy provisions sought by Democrats - they expire at the end of this year - though they couldn't say exactly when, or how.
"There's always something that happens late in the year," Thune said. "I just think this was an acknowledgment that this wasn't the time or the place to do it."
Senate GOP leaders hope to pass FAA bill this week after trimming tax title Back
By Heather Caygle | 04/12/2016 02:43 PM EDT
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he hopes to pass the FAA bill later this week after deciding to pursue a clean tax title free of any pot sweeteners that could earn extra votes.
Senate leaders made the decision to slim down the revenue title earlier today after talks fell apart.
"I think it just got too complicated and it was taking too long," Sen. John Thune told reporters after caucus lunches today.
"We're trying to get this bill passed so I think a decision was made to go with a clean finance title - a clean tax title - the way we've always handled FAA reauthorizations in the past," Thune said.
Thune said the tax title is going to be limited to provisions that fund FAA operations, meaning that the energy credits and other add-ons Democrats were pursuing will be left on the cutting room floor.
"I don't think any of that's included. I think a clean title means a clean title," Thune said.
"I think both sides came to the conclusion that they weren't going to be able to reach a conclusion in the near future and that in the interest of trying to move the bill along, it was better that we get to a final vote," he added.
It's unclear whether Republicans will be able to garner enough Democratic support without the tax goodies to gin up the 60-plus votes needed to clear procedural hurdles related to the bill.
Senate Dems will OK clean FAA tax title, despite dropped energy tax breaks Back
By Martine Powers | 04/12/2016 03:35 PM EDT
Senate Democrats say they will still support invoking cloture on the FAA reauthorization bill without any renewable energy tax breaks attached, despite harboring anger at Republican leadership for allowing the legislation to become so bombarded by last-minute asks that all extenders had to be dropped.
"All we wanted was [Section 48 energy tax credits] put in the tax portion of the FAA bill. We didn't go for beer or distilled spirits, we didn't go for rental cars, we didn't go for all that garbage. That was all them, not us," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said.
"I got a briefing yesterday, and half of these were not even mentioned," Sen. Dick Durbin said. "So somebody got an appetite for filling this bill with tax breaks ... and then the Republicans announced they didn't have any votes to help us. "
Sen. Chuck Schumer brought up the influence of outside interests several times, saying that the energy tax extenders faltered "after the Koch brothers made it clear they're against any modifications in terms of clean energy, no matter what is added to the bill."
As for the renewable energy tax breaks, Reid said he was dubious of whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would find a place for them at some point this year.
"He says he'll do it later," Reid said. "We'll see what happens."
Wyden's alcohol tax measure one of many sought for FAA bill Back
By Brian Faler | 04/08/2016 01:16 PM EDT
Sen. Ron Wyden is pushing to add alcohol tax-related provisions to a pending FAA bill, just one of a number of add-ons he said lawmakers are pushing that go beyond a core of energy breaks that have been under consideration.
"Obviously there are members with an interest in energy," he told reporters today. "There have been interest in other issues. I've obviously cared deeply about a bill to modernize the rules with respect to wine and beer and cider."
"I'll let other senators speak for themselves, but I can't walk more than five feet without a senator asking me about an issue they're interested in for this package," said Wyden, the top Democrat on the tax-writing Finance committee. "There are members with a variety of interests."
Lawmakers are eager to add their favorite tax provisions to the FAA bill because it represents a rare tax vehicle this year. Party leaders hope to wrap up work on the legislation by the end of next week. They're likely to include a handful of energy-related provisions Democrats complain were mistakenly left out of a December tax agreement.
Wyden introduced a bill in June, which he noted now has more than 30 cosponsors, that would reduce excise taxes on beer, wine and distilled spirits, among other changes. "This is a huge economic multiplier for America, all the way from the fields where you grow grapes and hops to the people who make the equipment to the trucking firms, shippers," he said.
Asked if there were other items he was seeking beyond the alcohol- and energy-related provisions, Wyden said: "I have to see what all senators are interested in, and I have to talk to my colleagues."
"These negotiations and discussions are ongoing."
Vote on passenger name records sparks controversy Back
By Laurens Cerulus | 04/12/2016 01:02 PM EDT
STRASBOURG, France - French Prime Minister Manuel Valls lobbied an increasingly divided European Parliament as they prepared to vote Thursday on the airline Passenger Name Records Directive.
"If we want effective PNR systems nationally, we need a European PNR ... Parliament is taking its responsibility with the adoption of [the bill]," he said.
His visit comes on the heels of a last-minute amendment tabled Monday night by Dutch Liberal MEP Sophie In't Veld, which calls for stronger requirements for EU countries to automatically transfer information of passengers. It also includes a notification system alerting national authorities to important information.
"The problem is not the lack of information, but connecting the dots. We don't need more dots, we need more connecting," she said.
But the sudden request has deepened fissures among the parties and between the Parliament and Council.
British Conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope, rapporteur for the PNR bill, said, "MEPs need to understand that any amendment to this agreement would delay it substantially and probably kill the proposal altogether."
However, Guy Verhofstadt, Belgian ALDE member, said the Liberals will vote for the amendment no matter what. The Council will just have to take it if it is backed by a majority of MEPs.
The Council's support for the legislation has grown following the attacks in Paris and Brussels.
Claude Moraes, British Labour MEP and chairman of the LIBE committee that voted the PNR report, said, "It's really important to put PNR in its context: It will only ever be one tool in the box. The Council is definitely not doing its job. The Council is well-known for not fully implementing key anti-terrorism measures."
This article first appeared on POLITICO.EU on April 12, 2016.
Obama aides vexed by visa crackdown Back
By Nahal Toosi | 04/12/2016 05:18 AM EDT
Last December, as the world reeled from the deadly attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., President Barack Obama fully backed lawmakers who passed legislation aimed at keeping out terrorists who try to reach the U.S. through the popular Visa Waiver Program.
But nearly four months after Obama signed the bill into law, his administration is struggling to implement a key piece of it, one that affects dual nationals. It also is refusing to release clear criteria as to how it will apply that part of law.
That is frustrating both critics and supporters of the measure who worry the new screening process is at best confusing, at worst discriminatory and ultimately ineffective at catching would-be enemies of the United States. One senior Department of Homeland Security official, in describing the challenges involved in enforcing the law, called the new set-up "an honor system with checks and balances."
The administration's grappling comes as the European Union prepares to consider Tuesday whether to require all American travelers to obtain visas - the latest in an escalating spat over travel deals between Washington and Brussels. It also comes as a leading opponent of the dual national provision, Sen. Jeff Flake, is trying to get it repealed through an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill this week.
"We need this fixed, and I hope the administration will help us out," the Arizona Republican said. As for the people who supported it? "I don't think that they understood the way nationality, dual nationality, is conferred by some countries," Flake said. "I don't think they fully thought through what the response would be form Europe and the number of people that would be caught up without any gains in national security."
The new U.S. law - passed as part of the omnibus spending bill - made significant changes to the Visa Waiver Program, which allows citizens of 38 mostly European countries to temporarily visit the U.S. without a visa. The dual national provision requires citizens of those countries to get visas if they also happen to be nationals of Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan.
Civil liberties and minority rights groups pointed out that there is no international agreement on the rules of nationality and that many people are dual nationals even if they do not wish to be. They warned that the law was a form of ethnic and ancestral discrimination because some countries treat nationality as something passed down from father to child.
So a woman born and raised in Japan (one of the 38 countries) is considered Iranian under Iranian law if her father is Iranian - even if she has never visited the Middle Eastern state. Nationality also can be conferred through marriage, according to some interpretations of Iranian law. Such nationality is rarely easy to renounce - and just because a person obtains foreign citizenship doesn't mean they are no longer Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian or Sudanese.
POLITICO has been asking the administration since December to lay out how it will decide who qualifies as a citizen of Syria, Iraq, Sudan or Iran, a determination that could set an international precedent. In a statement to POLITICO late last week, officials indicated the strategy will be to determine each potential visitor's nationality on a case-by-case basis.
"The U.S. government need not recognize another country's conferral of nationality if it determines that nationality to be 'nominal,' or, in other words, if the connections indicating potential nationality are so minimal or attenuated that an individual should not be considered a dual national for the purposes of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program," the DHS statement says. "In this way, DHS assesses whether an individual is a national of a country based on an individual's relationship to that country, such as if an individual maintains allegiance to that country."
But administration officials declined to answer specific questions posed by POLITICO, such as whether they will consider children born to Iranian fathers outside Iran as Iranian, whether they will count only people born in one of the four countries as nationals of those countries, or whether they will consider nationality conferred through marriage as valid. They also would not specify what counts as "maintains allegiance."
A senior U.S. government official said the decision not to lay out clear rules is "being done out of an abundance of caution in order to prevent any potential malevolent actors from gaming the system."
That didn't pass muster with even some supporters of the dual national provision, who say the administration's approach is problematic and could lead to inconsistent application of the law.
Emanuele Ottolenghi, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said he worries terrorists from those four countries - but especially Iran - can easily exploit lax travel restrictions to get their operatives to the United States. But he said not laying out the official guidelines for who the U.S. will consider a dual national could render the new system worthless.
"The risk that people lie always exists - and if this is what DHS truly fears, then they should discard the Visa Waiver Program altogether. To not disclose clear criteria for fear that people might try to cheat the system will in fact produce the opposite outcome," he warned.
Already, the changes to the visa waiver law have snared European journalists, artists and academics who were used to visiting the U.S. without a visa and suddenly found themselves required to get one.
"By failing to provide clarity in how the restrictions will be enforced, it further feeds people's perception that they are being discriminated against and that they face increased risk of travel restrictions because of their family heritage," said Jamal Abdi of NIAC Action, an Iranian-American activist group.
The way the U.S. captures information about potential visitors is through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization form. Visitors from the 38 countries must fill out an ESTA form before coming to the United States. If the authorization comes through, no visa is needed. If it doesn't, a person has to set up an appointment with the U.S. embassy or consulate to obtain a visa, an often time-consuming and expensive process.
But the ESTA forms themselves are confusing. Two of the early questions ask if an applicant is or has ever been a citizen or national of another country; the only answer options are "yes" or "no." For potential dual nationals who don't know what standards the U.S. is applying, it's unclear which answer to pick.
For those who say they are dual nationals of Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan, follow-up questions ask how that person acquired that country's nationality. Anyone who lists their birthplace as Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan is likely to get follow-up questions as well. But unless a person is familiar with the (often unclear) nationality laws of various countries in play, they may not know the proper answers.
"DHS is asking people who want to use the Visa Waiver Program if they are a national or citizen of one of those countries, which many applicants will feel uncomfortable answering because it puts them in the position of making a complex legal determination," said Greg Chen, director of advocacy at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
The senior DHS official acknowledged that the way the form is set up, some ill-intentioned people who technically are dual nationals could still get to the U.S. without a visa. For example, if someone wasn't born in Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan and has never obtained a travel document or passport for those countries, they may not get flagged.
But he also noted that the U.S. has other safeguards in place as part of the process, including human review and checking terror watch lists, that could prevent abuses.
"The way we're approaching this is to try to make sure we're not over-inclusive in imputing dual national status to someone who may have only limited links to the countries in question," the official said. "It's an honor system with checks and balances."
The European Union was one of the early critics of the new U.S. visa rules, but it also has long been frustrated that the U.S. does not allow five EU countries (Croatia, Poland, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania) to be part of the Visa Waiver Program in the first place.
On Tuesday, the bloc's executive body will review the program, and it has floated the idea that it might halt visa-free travel for Americans heading to Europe to pressure the U.S. Although the EU is unlikely to take such a drastic step because of the business and tourism fallout, the fact that it's under discussion shows how ugly the dispute has gotten.
The new U.S. visa rules also require would-be visitors from the 38 countries to get a visa if they have traveled to Syria, Iraq, Sudan and Iran since March 2011. But the administration has carved out exceptions for journalists, aid workers and others, although it has also not been clear as to how it will define those groups.
While strong legislative support exists for the travel provisions, a growing number of lawmakers are unhappy with the effects on dual nationals. Among the lawmakers willing to rethink the dual national element is Rep. Candice Miller, lead sponsor of the original bill.
"I understand that issues have been raised with the dual national provision and believe that those concerns may warrant additional discussions," Miller, a Michigan Republican, told POLITICO in a statement.
Greens file suit over lack of carbon limits for planes Back
By Lauren Gardner | 04/12/2016 03:53 PM EDT
Environmental groups sued the EPA today for not yet issuing rules to limit carbon pollution from airplanes, a sector they say escaped necessary scrutiny during the Paris climate talks.
The lawsuit, filed by Earthjustice for the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Earth, seeks to prod EPA to crack down on the aviation sector, where climate-warming emissions are projected to skyrocket in the coming decades. ICAO recently proposed performance standards for new aircraft, but greens say they aren't stringent enough to comply with the Clean Air Act and thus require EPA to step in with stricter rules.
"Airplanes' skyrocketing climate pollution requires urgent action, not more foot dragging from the Obama administration," said Vera Pardee, a senior attorney at the Center's Climate Law Institute. "The EPA has dawdled for almost a decade, even as airplane emissions are on track to spiral out of control."
The organizations first pressed EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from the aviation sector in 2007. The agency proposed a finding last year that carbon pollution from aviation endangers public health, but that didn't include suggested standards for planes. And greens say EPA recently announced that the earliest regulators would publish a proposed rule is 2017, pushing a final regulation into 2018 as long as the next president continues the process.
EPA did not immediately comment.
WMATA hires chief safety officer from New York system Back
By Lauren Gardner | 04/12/2016 01:43 PM EDT
WMATA has hired New York City Transit's Patrick Lavin to be Metro's chief safety officer, the agency announced today.
Lavin currently serves as second-in-command of the New York agency's Office of System Safety, where he investigates bus and rail accidents. His hiring comes as Metro General Manager and CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld seeks to overhaul the agency's safety culture while federal regulators keep a close watch.
"I look forward to Pat joining our team and to his leadership on Metro's safety culture improvements," Wiedefeld said in a statement. "Pat has a unique combination of operational and safety experience, and a proven record as a proactive and hands-on safety professional who understands how to partner with operations and maintenance teams to achieve safer practices."
Louis Brown, who is WMATA's acting chief safety officer, submitted his resignation last month.
Lavin starts work in Washington on May 9.