- San Francisco Chronicle: Brown’s goals on water and climate change need specifics
- Oakland Tribune: Oakland Tribune editorial: Videotape exposes BART police brutality
- San Jose Mercury News: Roadshow: San Mateo Bridge to be closed for two weekends
- Marin Independent Journal: Sausalito City Council to get hot button ferry dock project
- Napa Valley Register: Survey: Napans have one of the shortest commutes in Bay Area
POLITICO Morning Transportation for 5/1/2015
By JENNIFER SCHOLTES, 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
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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
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.”
** A message from the Auto Care Association: The auto care industry is a coast-to-coast network of more than 500,000 independent manufacturers, distributors, parts stores and repair shops that keep every motorist moving. Our four million employees generate 2.3 percent of America’s gross domestic product. Our network delivers products at the speed that keeps America’s cars on the road. autocare.org **
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.
