Legislative Activity Senate to Continue Consideration of FAA Reauthorization Act On Monday, the Senate will resume floor consideration of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2016. Over 100 amendments to the bill have been filed, but it is unclear how many will be offered on the floor this week. Additionally, Senate Leadership and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Commerce Committee to Markup FAA Reauthorization The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will mark up the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2016 (S. 2658) this Wednesday, March 16. The bipartisan bill would reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs through September 30, 2017. Notably, the Senate’s FAA reauthorization bill does not … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Shelves AIRR Act, Senate to Pursue Own FAA Reauthorization Legislation Members of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee are moving forward with their own bipartisan Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization legislation in the coming weeks, after House Leadership shelved the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act amid diverse opposition to … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity AIRR Act Delayed Amid ATC Reform Opposition The House is unlikely to consider the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act on the floor this week amid opposition from Democrats, Republican appropriators, and some Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee. The AIRR Act would reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity AIRR Act’s ATC Reform Faces Diverse Opposition The Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster’s (R-PA) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bill, faces diverse opposition to its air traffic control (ATC) reform provisions. The AIRR Act would remove ATC from the federal government and transfer … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity FAA Reauthorization Coming Into Focus House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) is expected to release a draft Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bill soon, and it could be as early as this week. The current six-month FAA Reauthorization extension expires on March 31. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity President Signed Five-Year Surface Transportation Reauthorization Last Friday, President Obama signed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) into law, reauthorizing surface transportation programs for the next five years. The $305 billion bill gained widespread bipartisan support, passing the House by a vote of 359-65 and the Senate by a vote of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Conference Continues on Highway and Transit Bill, Conference Report May Come This Week House and Senate conferees hope to finalize an agreement on a multi-year surface transportation bill this week, as the December 4 expiration of current program authorizations quickly approaches. While the leaders of the reauthorization effort had hoped … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Conference Underway, Another Short-Term Extension Possible This week, the House and Senate will continue their work on conferencing their respective surface transportation reauthorization bills. While staff have been working to reconcile the bills’ differences, conferees are expected to hold their first official meeting this week. Congressional Democrats and the White … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House To Consider Transportation Bill on Floor Both chambers passed a short-term extension last week, reauthorizing highway, highway safety, and transit programs through November 20. The House now turns to floor consideration of their six-year surface transportation bill on Wednesday. The House appears determined to make productive use of the 22-day extension. On … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Transportation Bill Marked-Up, But Short-Term Extension Needed Facing the October 29 expiration of surface transportation programs, the House will vote this week on a bill to extend these programs for three weeks, through November 20, buying time for the House to finish work on its six-year bill. The extension legislation also includes … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Releases Highway Bill, Markup Scheduled This Week On Friday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I) released its long-awaited surface transportation reauthorization bill and scheduled the markup of the bill for this Thursday, October 22. The House provides six years of authorizations from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) … Continue Reading
Regulatory Activity Proposed Rules for Vehicles to Control GHG The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation have announced proposed rules to create a “comprehensive Phase 2 Heavy-Duty National Program” intended to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and fuel consumption for new on-road heavy-duty vehicles. The program focuses on phasing in new technology … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Transportation-Housing and Defense Appropriations Bills on the House Floor The House will continue consideration of the Transportation-Housing (T-HUD) Appropriations Bill this week. The House was expected to vote on the $55.3 billion measure last Thursday, but leadership said a large number of amendments required pushing the vote to this week. Rail safety was … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Appropriations Bills Head to House Floor The House will debate the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) and the Transportation and Housing (T-HUD) FY 2016 Appropriations Bills on the floor this week. Both bills adhere to the sequester’s spending limits, even though President Obama has threatened to veto any appropriations bills that do not adjust the caps. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Joins House in Appropriations Effort Senate Appropriators begin work on their FY 2016 spending bills this week, with subcommittee markups scheduled Tuesday for the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs and Energy-Water appropriations bills. Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-MS) has not publicly revealed how he apportions the mandated topline discretionary funding level of $1.07 trillion … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Democrats Continue to Push for a Budget Deal The President and Democrats in the House and Senate continue to pressure Republicans for a budget deal to replace the sequester’s strict spending limits. Most House Democrats voted against the two sequester-level appropriations bills that were recently considered on the House floor, President Obama has … Continue Reading
Regulatory Activity Greenhouse Gas Emissions The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is extending the public comment period on its proposed Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New Stationary Sources for Electric Utility Generating Units until May 9. Lead and Copper EPA has announced public meetings of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council Lead and … Continue Reading
