Transportation News for March 25, 2015

  • by BPC Staff
  • on March 25, 2015
  • 0 Comments

POLITICO Morning Transportation for 3/25/2015

By HEATHER CAYGLE, with help from Kevin Robillard

CRUDE-BY-RAIL BILL COMING THIS A.M.: This morning Sens. Maria Cantwell and Tammy Baldwin will unveil legislation aimed at curbing crude-by-rail accidents by taking an “all in” approach. The comprehensive bill would do a variety of things to address the dangerous and potentially deadly accidents, including setting new standards for tank car design and crude oil volatility, upping fines for safety violations and providing more resources for first responders. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is cosponsoring. Cantwell and Baldwin are introducing the legislation at a 9:30 a.m. press conference.
But that’s not the only rail talk happening today. Leaders from the three federal agencies involved in overseeing crude-by-rail transportation — the FRA, PHMSA and FMCSA — will be on the Hill this morning testifying before House appropriators on the fiscal 2016 budget. Nearly 40 lawmakers sent a letter to the House Appropriations Committee this week asking for additional crude-by-rail safety funding (Read it: http://1.usa.gov/19N4bJc). A coalition of more than 20 senators sent a similar letter Monday.

FUNDING TALK HAPPENING, BUT SLOWLY: As the end-of-May Highway Trust Fund deadline approaches, Congress seems no closer to any sort of solution, even a temporary one. And a chat with one key player — Sen. Dean Heller — shows that lawmakers are still in the early stages. “It’s progressing. We have until May,” he told MT. The Nevada lawmaker is chairman of the Senate Finance working group overseeing transportation funding. “All we’re trying to do is go around and talk to every member in the working group, trying to get their ideas at this point. And we’ll put everything on the table and see what makes sense.”

Heller met with representatives from the Congressional Budget Office on various funding ideas Tuesday but said the talks would be pretty broad. “What they’ve looked at, what they’ve seen in the past, what worked, what didn’t work. We’re just trying to get some history of transportation funding,” he said when asked to describe the meeting. Even though Congress has until the end of May to bail out the Highway Trust Fund, several states have already started warning about possible fallout. More than a dozen states have already canceled or delayed construction or said transportation projects are at risk, according to a Tuesday report from ARTBA.

UH-OH: AMAZON DRONE PERMIT ALREADY OUTDATED: Just how slow is the FAA’s approval process for drone testing? The Amazon drone they gave a thumbs-up to last week is already outdated and out of use. Amazon VP Paul Misener told Senate lawmakers Tuesday that while the FAA was considering its application, the company innovated so quickly that the permit is now obsolete. The Amazon exec said even if the drone wasn’t outdated, it still makes more sense for the company to test abroad. “Obtaining permission took far too long, and certainly much longer — over half a year — than it took in other countries,” he told a Senate Commerce panel, adding that FAA rules are more restrictive.

The FAA took a battering from both sides at Tuesday’s hearing, with senators lining up to lambaste the agency for either holding back commercial drone operators or for doing too little to make sure drones aren’t used to spy on everyday Americans. The FAA defended its performance, with Margaret Gilligan, the agency’s associate administrator for aviation safety, arguing it’s unfair to compare the U.S. and European airspaces. Read Kevin’s story: http://politico.pro/1HA35uw

TSA PreCHECK IN SPOTLIGHT TODAY: A House Homeland Security panel holds a hearing on the TSA PreCheck program this afternoon during which the security agency is likely to face tough questions from lawmakers after a damaging IG report released last week. The inspector’s report revealed that TSA let a convicted murderer with ties to a domestic terrorist group use the expedited screening process (http://nbcnews.to/1H7YXBD). Earlier this week Rep. John Katko, chairman of the House Homeland Security panel with TSA oversight, sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to nominate a permanent leader for the agency. Read it: http://politico.pro/1FBGnoJ

—Commerce Committee considers trio of transpo bills: Across the Capitol, the Senate Commerce Committee will mark up several bills, including a trio of transpo legislation: a driver privacy proposal, a bill to extend the positive train control deadline, and the STB overhaul backed by Commerce leaders John Thune and Bill Nelson. In related news, several trade groups representing farmers, manufacturers and energy producers are announcing the formation of the Rail Customer Coalition today, a broader advocacy group that supports STB reforms. Read more on the new coalition: http://bit.ly/1bqVy7B

ROCK OUT ON WEDNESDAY. Good morning and thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports. If you’re like me, you’re wondering when that D.C. springtime we all know and love will come back — sunny days and warm temps, I miss you!

Don’t be shy! Send scoops, tips, complaints and transpo trivia to hcaygle@politico.com or shoot a tweet my way @heatherscope. And don’t forget to follow Jennifer Scholtes @jascholtes and jscholtes@politico.com. And as always, follow @morning_transpo and @POLITICOPro.

“I wanna drive until my cellphone runs out of range and every bar is gone…” http://bit.ly/12OXUYO

** A Message from Americans for Fair Skies: Americans love March Madness, because we love competition. But the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are playing protectionist games, pumping over $40 billion in subsidies into their airlines. That’s a violation of Open Skies Agreements and it must be stopped. Learn more at http://bit.ly/1EO7I5j. **

U.S. TRAVEL SURVEY: FLYERS SUPPORT PFC BOOST — Six out of 10 travelers would support hiking the passenger facility charge if it would make air travel more efficient, according to a survey out today from the U.S. Travel Association (http://politico.pro/1CnANUm). Nearly 60 percent of those surveyed would support increasing the PFC by $4 per ticket if the revenue went toward airport improvement projects. The U.S. Travel survey questioned 1,000 people who were over the age of 18 and had flown in the past year. The pro-PFC poll comes after trade group Airlines for America released its own survey earlier this month suggesting a majority of respondents wouldn’t support hiking the PFC.

In the other corner: Airlines for America has beefed up its depth chart, announcing that a trio of industry groups — the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, Global Business Travel Association and Travelers United — now stands with A4A in opposition to a PFC hike.

SHUSTER CONTINUES PUSH FOR ATC OVERHAUL: During a House Transportation hearing Tuesday, committee Chairman Bill Shuster painted a grim picture of future U.S. air travel unless big changes are made. As the nation’s aviation system nears 1 billion passengers per year, he said, “One: Every day at the airport is going to seem like the day before Thanksgiving. And two: We will lose our lead in aviation as other nations catch up and surpass us.”

But not everyone is on board: Rep. Rick Larsen is cautioning against tangling an FAA reauthorization with tough negotiations on changes to the air traffic control system, warning that the extra undertaking could keep lawmakers from clearing a bill before authority expires on Sept. 30. “We must make sure that FAA reauthorization is not a science experiment,” he said during the T&I hearing on Tuesday.

Mica has his own ATC plan: Former House Transportation Chairman John Mica has given his colleagues until Tax Day to weigh in on his new proposal (http://politico.pro/1Ir4W5Z) to strip the FAA of air traffic control duties. Mica’s proposal would require DOT to create a private air traffic control corporation giving air traffic control employees stock ownership. The department would have to complete the changeover within one year and first consult with union representatives, pilots and airlines.

DeFAZIO LAMBASTES HOUSE BUDGET: The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s top Democrat pulled out a color-coded map on the House floor this week, calling out Republican leaders for their plans to overhaul the Highway Trust Fund and noting the funding for each of their states would suffer if fund payouts are limited to future income. “It digs a hole so deep, we’ll never get out of it,” Rep. Peter DeFazio said: http://bit.ly/1Bpuxqe

Sanders’ infrastructure amendment falls: The Senate rejected Bernie Sanders’ infrastructure amendment (http://1.usa.gov/1y2yS26) Tuesday, casting aside the $478 billion plan and moving on with debate on its budget resolution (http://1.usa.gov/1EEOhYN).

GERMANWINGS CRASH SITE SEARCH CONTINUES: Recovery teams are at work again today in the French Alps, scouring the site where a Germanwings Airbus flight crashed Tuesday, killing all 144 passengers and six crew members. The Associated Press reported that the pilots did not send a distress call and lost radio contact with their control center before the flight went down in the remote region: http://bit.ly/1CUuQjW

NORTON TO INTRO METRO BILL: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton says she will unveil legislation addressing Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s auditing process after a draft DOT IG report revealed “major flaws” within the agency. Norton has introduced similar bills in the past, noting the MWAA’s oversight and auditing problems are nothing new. “How many unfavorable IG reports are enough?” she said in a statement.

ASCE FLY-IN TODAY: POLITICO Influence with the deets: “The American Society of Civil Engineers is hosting its annual fly-in [today] to meet with lawmakers. It will focus on the importance of infrastructure on the economy and will also discuss the need to fix the Highway Trust Fund. Also as part of the event, Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Bill Shuster will be recognized as honorary fellows.”

THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):

-Common-sense fix for truck-train collisions rejected. The AP: http://nyti.ms/19jUQay

-Fiat Chrysler CEO’s impending testimony renews scrutiny of fuel tanks in older SUVs. Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1LTysqw

-Even as L.A. freeway tolls increase, more drivers are crowding paid route. LA Times: http://lat.ms/1xeV3qJ

-USA Today lists the deadliest air disasters in recent decades: http://usat.ly/1CMhJzt

-Families of AirAsia crash victims accept Indonesian government’s decision to end the search. Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/18VcwcC

THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy expires in 67 days. DOT appropriations run out and the FAA reauthorization expires in 189 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 595 days.

Tags: