Infrastructure in the News: May 1, 2015
BAF IN THE NEWS
Daily Mail: How your hi-tech car dashboard can kill you: Distracted drivers blamed for thousands of deaths
US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said: ‘Distracted driving is a deadly epidemic that has devastating consequences on our nation’s roadways.
NATIONAL NEWS
Bloomberg Business: Bernanke's Latest Blog Post Takes a Brutal Shot at the Wall Street Journal Editorial Page
It doesn't end there:
“...the right inference is not that we should stop using monetary policy, but rather that we should bring to bear other policy tools as well. I am waiting for the WSJ to argue for a well-structured program of public infrastructure development, which would support growth in the near term by creating jobs and in the longer term by making our economy more productive. We shouldn't be giving up on monetary policy, which for the past few years has been pretty much the only game in town as far as economic policy goes. Instead, we should be looking for a better balance between monetary and other growth-promoting policies, including fiscal policy..”
The Hill: Pelosi: GOP budget 'ignores our crumbling infrastructure'
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that the 2016 Republican budget "ignores our crumbling infrastructure."
City Lab: Why Great Transit Is Worth Loads of Money to Local Businesses
Jobs are moving back into city centers, but there's still an awful lot of them in the urban fringes and the suburbs—places typically hard for public transportation to serve. That's not a problem if you own a car, but it can be a huge one if you don't, or even just if your car breaks down that day. Most of us don't have the fortitude to walk 21 miles to work.
New York Times: U.S. and Canada to Outline Oil Train Safety Plan Friday
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/04/30/us/30reuters-railways-oiltrains.html
WASHINGTON — The United States and Canada will announce cross-border oil train safety measures at a press conference in Washington at 1030 ET (1430 GMT) on Friday, officials said on Thursday.
STATE NEWS
New York Times: M.T.A. Board Votes to Ban Political Ads on Subways and Buses
The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted on Wednesday to ban political advertising on New York City subways and buses to avoid the legal challenges it had faced after rejecting some ads with political messages.
WNYC: Newark Airtrain, Only 19 Years Old, Is Too Shoddy To Fix
http://www.wnyc.org/story/newark-airtrain-only-19-years-old-too-shoddy-fix/
The Port Authority has decided to address the problem-plagued Newark Airtrain by giving up on it entirely and building a new one. The cost could be as high as $2 billion.
Next City: D.C. Metro Funding Could Get Sliced in Half
http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/dc-metro-funding-less-federal-money
Federal funding for the Metro in Washington, D.C., could get cut in half thanks to a new bill spearheaded by some Congressional Republicans via the House Appropriations Committee. Even though $150 million has been designated for Metro maintenance and development in the District since 2008, this latest move would allocate only $75 million, according to the Washington Post.
Portland Monthly Magazine: Why Portland Desperately Needs More Urban Density
Most casual observers would probably say, well, of course. Our city planners have made density a mantra for 40 years. And much of the angst—as well as the excitement—about the construction now remaking the central city focuses on apartment and condo projects, like the Lloyd District’s huge Hassalo on Eighth or the cluster of new midrise buildings on Southeast Division.
Washington Post: House bill threatens to slash federal funding for Metro
A spending plan released by a House committee this week would halve a proposed $150 million federal contribution to Metro in the transit agency’s next fiscal year, a reduction that the region’s congressional delegation said would “only exacerbate the operations and safety issues” afflicting the transit agency.
Washington Post: Tear down Baltimore’s abandoned buildings to help rebuild the city
This city needs to be built up again, but first a lot of it ought to be torn down.
KPCC: After long fight, Orange County transportation officials agree to toll lanes on I-405
http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/04/27/51296/after-long-fight-orange-county-transportation-offi/
After fighting toll lanes for years, Orange County transportation officials on Monday said they couldn't fight the state any longer and gave in, allowing toll lanes as part of a $1.7 billion expansion project of Interstate 405.
AP: Ohio Leaders Spend Nearly $10 Million For New Planes
http://radio.wosu.org/post/ohio-leaders-spend-nearly-10-million-new-planes
The governor and other state leaders have two new aircraft for traveling around Ohio on official business.
POLITICO MORNING TRANSPORTATION
By Jennifer Scholtes and Heather Caygle| 5/1/15 5:43 AM EDT
With help from Heather Caygle.
CRUDE-BY-RAIL RULES COME DOWN TODAY: Wait no longer — Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx plans to lay out his department’s greatly anticipated oil train safety regulations at 10:30 this morning, standing beside his Canadian counterpart, Transport Minister Lisa Raitt. Pro’s Elana Schor hears from a source tracking the regulations that the rules are expected to include one construction standard for new tank cars shipping crude and another for retrofitted cars, as well as an extension of the current 40 mile-per-hour speed limit for trains carrying crude and a requirement that railroads use electronically controlled pneumatic brakes. http://politico.pro/1E0ldKP
Tank car phase-out: Preempting the release of the new rules, a group of Senate Democrats put forth legislation Thursday aimed at using both carrots and sticks to try to get the rail industry to quickly phase out old tank cars. Pro rundown: http://politico.pro/1GAG0WU. Bill summary: http://politico.pro/1GKAZ0D.
Severability language: Rep. Peter DeFazio says he has urged the Obama administration to make sure the new rail rules include severability language to ensure the entire rule isn’t in jeopardy if there are legal challenges to parts of it: http://politico.pro/1GAGX1v. DeFazio told MT that Foxx plans to call him before making his public announcement. “I'm hoping for the most robust tank car and certainty,” DeFazio told us. “There's going to be a very strict phase-out. It's going to be harmonized with Canada, and we're going to get rid of the old, sub-standard cars very quickly."
Lynchburg derailment remembered: Thursday marked one year since a train carrying crude oil derailed in a fiery crash in downtown Lynchburg, Va. A refresher on that catastrophic accident, which came just hours before the DOT turned over its proposed rules for oil train safety to the White House last year: http://politico.pro/1QRnMIM.
TRANSPORTATION-AUTHORITY-EXPIRATION MONTH BEGINS: So it’s May. You know, that month when transportation authority expires and lawmakers really start to scramble.
RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD CHIEF TAKES THE HOT SEAT: The head of the Railroad Retirement Board should expect a spirited grilling this morning as he testifies before lawmakers on the House Oversight subcommittee who want to know why the board hasn’t updated its process for approving disability claims since it came under fire five years ago for doling out billions of dollars in false claims to former employees. Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the Government Operations subcommittee, says the occupational disability program “is at risk of being terminated altogether,” if the board can’t get its act together. “While I’m committed to ensuring deserving former employees receive the necessary benefits, the RRB must take immediate action and make the necessary institutional changes to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not being fraudulently used.”
The retirement board’s chairman, Michael Schwartz, will testify alongside a Government Accountability Office director and the board’s inspector general, who has most recently reported that the agency is still vulnerable to disabilities fraud. Watch the hearing live at 9:30 a.m.: http://1.usa.gov/1GneSdP.
HAPPY MAY DAY!: Good morning and thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports.
It’s May Day — this MT author’s favorite day of the year. Among the many modern celebrations of this ancient pagan holiday, the best has got to be the May basket doorbell ditch. Fill them baskets with flowers, leave them on your neighbor’s doorstep, ring the bell and run away.
“Besides, baby: This pickup truck’s gonna pick me up when I’m feeling down.” http://bit.ly/1HW9eUh
Pro subscribers: Are you getting all the content you want? Make sure your keywords are up to date and customized via your settings page at http://politico.pro/1EJKWwt.
A NEW WAY TO PAY FOR HIGHWAYS (Yes, another one): As the Highway Trust Fund edges ever closer to insolvency, it seems lawmakers are looking for anything to refill the Highway Trust Fund, even if the idea has no ties to the user-fee model the fund has been based on for decades. The latest idea comes from T&I members Blake Farenthold and Mimi Walters. The dynamic duo is proposing taking revenue garnered from a bill that deals with visas for highly-skilled foreign workers and putting that toward a multiyear highway bill. "It's just one way to pay for highways with no increase in taxes," Farenthold said.
‘Pot of money’: The Texas Republican told Heather he expects the Skills Act, as the immigration bill is called, to be reintroduced by House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Rep. Darrell Issa when House lawmakers return from recess in May. The bill isn't directly tied to highway funding but is an idea he hope catches steam, Farenthold said. "The version of Issa's Skills Act that was introduced last year scored out at over $100 billion. That gets us almost all the way there to a six-year highway bill," he said. "It's basically a pot of money that's there for funding the highways that comes from an immigration issue that isn't that controversial. What is controversial is whether you take one piece of immigration and pass it rather than doing something comprehensive."
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JCT PUTS SPENDY PRICETAG ON REPATRIATION PLAN: The Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated that it will cost the government $118 billion to carry out Rand Paul’s and Barbara Boxer’s repatriation proposal to pay for highway spending by giving companies tax breaks on their overseas earnings. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch released that estimate Thursday, and Pro’s Brian Faler explains that the chairman is “trying to kill their proposal because it would make it much harder to finance an overhaul of the tax code, a top priority for Hatch.” More from Pro: http://politico.pro/1E0keKz. A refresher on the repatriation plan: http://politico.pro/1zvYsCX.
Highways hearing to come: Rep. Earl Blumenauer told Heather this week that he has gotten assurances from House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan that the panel will hold a hearing on the Highway Trust Fund next month. Separately, Ryan said Thursday that he is working on a short-term extension that would keep the fund solvent through the end of the year, an idea Blumenauer said he is ‘absolutely not’ on board with. Heather delivers the scoop: http://politico.pro/1dz3WCV.
Ryan rejects repatriation: Ryan also said this week that he has ruled out repatriation as an option, but he did not elaborate on how he proposes to fill the trust fund. “I’ll give you the answer to your question in about three weeks, because I don’t have it right now,” he told reporters on Thursday: http://politico.pro/1Pc2KBf.
LAWMAKERS BACK U.S. AIRLINES IN OPEN SKIES FUED: More than 250 lawmakers have officially taken the side of U.S. airlines in their battle with Gulf country competitors. A group of 262 legislators wrote to the departments of Transportation and State on Thursday, urging them “to seek consultations with the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in an effort to stem the tide of subsidized capacity that their state-owned airlines are deploying on international routes to the United States, in direct contravention to the U.S. Open Skies policy.” Heather’s got more: http://politico.pro/1GLBkmh. The letter: http://politico.pro/1ItONib.
Traveler advocates react: The U.S. Travel Association countered, arguing that travelers are “already suffering” from airline consolidation and that the Big Three “are enjoying record profits anyway.” Breaking Open Skies agreements “would drastically harm the overall U.S. economy and jobs, and likely have a chilling effect on all of the trade and security agreements the U.S. has negotiated in good faith,” the group’s senior vice president of public affairs, Jonathan Grella, said in a written statement. "The limitless lobbying resources of airlines and their unions are clearly going to allow them to be heard, but we remain convinced that the inarguable merits of keeping Open Skies intact will win the day.”
KICKING NON-PRECHECK PASSENGERS OUT OF FAST LINE: Still angry about news last month that the TSA let a former domestic terrorist through PreCheck screening, House Homeland Security Committee leaders introduced a bill this week that would block the agency from letting travelers through the speedier lines unless they have paid and been vetted, in most cases. “If you’re one of the million-plus people who have submitted your biographic information, undergone thorough vetting and enrolled in the PreCheck program, then it makes sense that you should receive expedited screening,” Rep. Kathleen Rice said after introducing the bill with Reps. Bennie Thompson and John Katko. “But when a convicted felon and former member of a domestic terrorist organization can be given that same privilege without being vetted, something clearly needs to change.”
Lost confidence: Thompson said he is down with expedited screening, but not if it creates security gaps. “After a recent incident and numerous reports, I do not have confidence that TSA’s use of random or case-by-case, on-site security risk assessments to identify passengers for expedited screening is keeping us secure.”
More on the bill from Pro: http://politico.pro/1HWiY0E. The fact sheet: http://1.usa.gov/1EUXouz. Section-by-section explainer: http://1.usa.gov/1JVNjvi.
BUDGET FRAMEWORK PAVES WAY FOR 2016 SPENDING BILLS: The House passed a final budget deal on Thursday in a vote of 226-197, advancing the plan aimed at balancing the budget over a decade without raising taxes. POLITICO’s Rachael Bade explains that the move brings Republicans “one step closer to enacting a spending blueprint that sets the stage for this summer’s spending bills.” http://politico.pro/1GLvWQj
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
— Christie not concerned over Bridgegate probe or report former ally Wildstein may plead guilty. NJ.com: http://bit.ly/1GA1B1x
— Port truck drivers continue strike: Pro: http://politico.pro/1zwUtGk
— Pro-Israel group asks judge to override New York bus ad ban. AP: http://abcn.ws/1bklEsft
— Merging China firms consider buying Bombardier train business. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1FBDu6L
— FAA notches NextGen landmark. Pro: http://politico.pro/1QRY8Ux
— Why great transit is worth loads of money to local businesses. CityLab: http://bit.ly/1JUBPYP
— House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approves two-year Coast Guard authorization. Pro: http://politico.pro/1KyZgbh
THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy expires in 30 days. DOT appropriations run out and the FAA reauthorization expires in 152 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 558 days.
THE DAY AHEAD:
9:30 a.m. — The House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations holds a hearing on whether the Railroad Retirement Board has done enough to deter and prevent fraudulent disability claims. Rayburn House Office Building 2154. http://1.usa.gov/1GneSdP
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POLITICO Pro Whiteboard: Source: DOT to propose split standards for new, retrofitted oil-by-rail cars
4/30/15 6:44 PM EDT
The much-anticipated oil train safety rules that the Department of Transportation plans to unveil tomorrow are expected to include two construction standards — one for new tank cars shipping crude and another for retrofitted cars, according to a source tracking the regulations.
DOT would require new tank cars to have a 9/16th-inch shell and top fittings protection, while retrofitted cars would have a 7/16th-inch shell standard and no top fittings mandate, the source said. DOT also appears to have decided to include a braking mandate in the rule that would require railroads to use electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes, an issue that has been one of the most contentious of the rulemaking.
The final version of the regulations may yet change in crucial ways before their formal release by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and his Canadian counterpart Lisa Raitt tomorrow morning.
The inclusion of ECP brakes and a 9/16th-inch shell requirement would put the DOT’s new tank car standard in line with the strongest of three options it put forth in the proposed version of the regulations last year. Allowing retrofitted cars to meet a less stringent standard, however, could partly alleviate concerns about the industry’s capacity to meet the timeline to upgrade the thousands of cars in the nation’s fleet.
Older DOT-111s tank cars would need to be retrofitted within 33 months and 68 months after the rule’s publication, depending on whether the cars include protective jackets and the specific hazardous materials packing group that the oil being shipped is assigned to, according to the source. The newer CPC-1232s models would have a longer retrofitting timeframe: 99 months for those without jackets and 120 months for those with jackets.
The DOT regulation is also expected to extend a current emergency order that sets 40 miles-per-hour speed restrictions for trains carrying crude, according to the source.
— Elana Schor
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?wbid=52808
POLITICO Pro Transportation Whiteboard: Lawmakers call for DOT action on Open Skies spat
4/30/15 5:58 PM EDT
A group of more than 250 lawmakers are calling on the Obama administration to open formal discussions with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates over claims by major U.S. carriers that Gulf country airlines are being unfairly buoyed by government subsidies.
“We are writing to urge you to seek consultations with the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in an effort to stem the tide of subsidized capacity that their state-owned airlines are deploying on international routes to the United States, in direct contravention to the U.S. Open Skies policy,” the group of 262 lawmakers wrote to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Secretary of State John Kerry today.
The letter, led by Illinois Reps. Dan Lipinski and Bob Dold, is just the latest in a messy back-and-forth Open Skies spat between the three biggest U.S. airlines and their Gulf country rivals — Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways.
Last week, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, also from Illinois, wrote a letter to Foxx and Kerry expressing his concerns but stopped short of asking the two agencies to reopen Open Skies agreements with Qatar and UAE. United Airlines is headquartered in Chicago, and American Airlines has a hub at O’Hare.
The departments of Commerce, State and Transportation began formally accepting comments on the allegations earlier this month.
— Heather Caygle
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?wbid=52804
POLITICO Pro Whiteboard: Senate Democrats unveil strong oil-train safety bill ahead of DOT announcement
4/30/15 3:08 PM EDT
Less than a day before DOT releases its much-watched rules for oil trains, seven Senate Democrats today proposed safety legislation that includes a $175-per-shipment fee for any company that uses aging, less protective tank cars to transport crude.
The fee would increase every year, with proceeds paying for cleanup after crude-by-rail accidents and a three-year, $45 million grant program to bolster training for first responders in localities that see the bulk of heightened oil train traffic, according to a summary released by co-sponsor Sen. Ron Wyden’s office.
Another provision would offer the industry a tax credit as a further incentive to transition to newer tank cars for oil shipments more quickly than the multi-year timeframe DOT is expected to include in its regulations. The Democratic bill would also require railroads to act on several outstanding recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board and mandate two new DOT studies — one on the health and safety risks of longer oil trains and another on preparedness.
The bill is also backed by Sens. Chuck Schumer, Dianne Feinstein, Bob Casey, Jeff Merkley and Mark Warner.
— Elana Schor
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?wbid=52769
POLITICO Pro Whiteboard: Ryan: We’re working on highway funding plan, rejects repatriation
4/30/15 11:30 AM EDT
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan ruled out so-called repatriation but was otherwise mum today on how he’d like to finance the government’s highway program.
Lawmakers are working on a plan to fund the roads program through the rest of this year, Ryan said, though he declined to say where he expects to find the estimated $10 billion that would require.
“We’re working on that right now,” Ryan told reporters this morning at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. “I’ll give you the answer to your question in about three weeks, because I don’t have it right now.”
Lawmakers are facing a May 31 deadline to act.
He said lawmakers are simultaneously trying to figure out a long-term plan to fund the program that could run as long as six years.
Neither will be funded by giving companies a temporary tax holiday on their overseas earnings, said Ryan, saying any repatriation must be accompanied by an overhaul of international tax rules.
“Repatriation does not work, and we will not do a holiday” outside of tax reform, said Ryan.
— Brian Faler
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?wbid=52716
POLITICO Pro Whiteboard: DeFazio: Oil train safety rule should be severable in case of legal issues
4/30/15 2:11 PM EDT
The top Democrat on the House Transportation Committee says he has urged the Obama administration to make sure its long-awaited crude-by-rail safety rule includes severability language that would leave core provisions intact in the event of a legal challenge.
“We don’t want the whole rule to be” stalled by potential litigation over specific elements of DOT’s tank car construction standards, Rep. Peter DeFazio said in an interview. The department’s oil train regulations — set to come out tomorrow — are also expected to incorporate speed limits and new rules for braking on railroads carrying crude oil, including the possibility of mandating electronically controlled pneumatic brakes that railroads have slammed as too costly.
Severability clauses that allow portions of a regulation to move forward while others are challenged are “very rarely” added to federal rules, according to an analysis written last year by E. Donald Elliott, a senior fellow of the Administrative Conference of the United States. EPA included severability language in its high-profile proposed emissions rules for existing power plants.
— Elana Schor
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?wbid=52755
POLITICO Pro Transportation Whiteboard: Lawmakers aim to kick non-PreCheck travelers out of fast line
4/30/15 3:33 PM EDT
House Homeland Security Committee leaders are introducing a bill today that would block the TSA from letting travelers through PreCheck screening unless they’ve paid and been vetted, in most cases.
The legislation comes a month after an internal watchdog report showed TSA agents had allowed a well-known former domestic terrorist through the less-intensive PreCheck screening process last summer, even though the convicted felon had not applied for PreCheck access.
The measure would allow TSA to make exceptions for allowing PreCheck screening for certain demographics the agency has identified as “known and low-risk,” and who can be issued known traveler numbers distinguishing them as such. Travelers over 74 or younger than 13, or who get special access because of military status, would also be allowed to go through PreCheck without enrolling in the program.
The bill would allow TSA to use other expedited screening measures to check travelers who are not enrolled in PreCehck, but the agency would have to first run its idea by Congress.
House Homeland Security Committee ranking Democrat Bennie Thompson introduced the legislation along with aviation subcommittee Chairman John Katko and Rep. Kathleen Rice.
— Jennifer Scholtes
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?wbid=52776
POLITICO Pro Transportation Whiteboard: Ways and Means hearing on highways coming in June, Blumenauer says
4/30/15 4:33 PM EDT
The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a June hearing on the Highway Trust Fund, Rep. Earl Blumenauer said today.
“I’ve been talking to [Paul Ryan] about it for months and he said we’ll have it. Most recently he said it would be in June and I anticipate it will,” Blumenauer said about his discussions with Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan. A spokesman for the committee, on which Blumenauer sits, said nothing has been finalized.
The Oregon lawmaker has been petitioning committee leaders to hold such a hearing for several years. His wish was almost granted late last year but the hearing was cancelled due to scheduling conflicts.
Ryan said earlier today that he was working on a short-term extension that would keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through the end of the year, an idea Blumenauer said he is “absolutely not” on board with.
“A patch until the end of the year, that means we won’t do this for two or this years. We won’t do a six-year authorization and the funding in the middle of an election year,” Blumenauer said. “A patch until the end of the year means that it will be Hillary Clinton or Rand Paul that has it — not in 2017 but probably 2018 because a new administration and yet another Congress would intervene.”
— Heather Caygle
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?wbid=52792