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— In an effort to speed up project permitting, DOT now has a page limit on environmental reviews.
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) released a Green New Deal plan on Thursday, which calls for spending trillions on climate-friendly transportation infrastructure.
— DOT has named the members of a new advisory committee that will look at aviation safety oversight and aircraft certification.
HAPPY FRIDAY: Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports. In case you missed the note above, this is our last edition of the summer. But never fear, we return the first week of September, so please get in touch with tips, feedback or song lyric suggestions at smintz@politico.com or @samjmintz.
LISTEN HERE: Follow MT’s playlist on Spotify. What better way to start your day than with songs (picked by us and readers) about roads, rails, rivers and runways?
DOT GIVES ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS A PAGE LIMIT: DOT today will publish two new interim policies on environmental reviews for infrastructure projects. The first says sub-agencies should limit the text of draft and final environmental impact statements to 150 pages, unless they’re “of an unusual scope or complexity.” It also recommends environmental assessments not be more than 75 pages.
The reasoning: According to the doc: “DOT finds it necessary to issue this interim policy because lengthy NEPA documents, containing extraneous detail and needless data, have resulted in increases in both time and cost to complete the environmental review process and has made it increasingly difficult for agency decisionmakers and the public to find the relevant information regarding proposed actions.”
The second policy gives guidance on implementing President Donald Trump’s One Federal Decision executive order, which mandates that major projects have one lead federal agency guiding the environmental review and authorization process.
Both are part of the administration’s broader effort across agencies to streamline project permitting, a major plank of the White House’s infrastructure policy. Nick Goldstein, a vice president at the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, said his group supports both measures. “ARTBA believes page limits will force the authors of NEPA documents to write more clearly and concisely, reducing the time to complete final documents and shortening front-end project delays,” he wrote.
2020 WATCH: Sanders’ Green New Deal plan contains plenty of transportation proposals. It would provide more than $400 billion for the electrification of school buses (and $216 for replacing diesel trucks with electric), and calls for investing $600 billion in regional high-speed rail and $300 billion in public transit. It also calls for a $2 trillion vehicle trade-in program for EVs.
Reactions: “It would fund some road repairs & vehicle charging stations, but these are dwarfed by transit funds,” wrote Yonah Freemark, a Ph.D. candidate in transportation at MIT, noting that it’s the opposite of Congress’ current highway-focused approach. Leah Stokes, a climate and energy researcher at UC Santa Barbara, called the transportation sections of the plan “bold and exciting.”
SOCAC ON TRACK: DOT on Thursday named the members of its Safety Oversight and Certification Advisory Committee, a new panel mandated by the FAA reauthorization passed last year. According to the law, the panel will advise DOT on “policy-level issues facing the aviation community that are related to FAA safety oversight and certification programs and activities,” including the Organization Designation Authorization program, which has been under scrutiny as investigators review the certification of the grounded Boeing 737 MAX.
Who’s on it: Our Brianna Gurciullo reports William Ayer, a member of the National Business Aviation Association’s board of directors, will be its chairman. Most of the other members represent “a trade group, manufacturer, airline or union,” Brianna writes. That includes Beth Pasztor, Boeing’s vice president for safety, security and compliance.
SPOTTED: FAA Administrator Steve Dickson riding the Metro to work on Thursday, according to an MT tipster.
Dickson also stopped by NTSB earlier this week to meet with Chairman Robert Sumwalt, according to a LinkedIn post from Sumwalt.
GAO REPORTS ON DISCRIMINATION IN THE AIR: Six airlines queried by GAO said they give anti-discrimination training to employees, according to a new report from the government watchdog. Four of the six said they also give training to contractors. Congress requested the report in last year’s FAA reauthorization, and GAO also said it was responding to recent high-profile events involving discrimination on airlines. There wasn’t much data available to GAO on how specifically the trainings are conducted, because the airlines claimed that level of detail was proprietary. DOT officials told GAO they receive relatively few discrimination complaints, but advocacy officials said they think the agency could do more — including trying to persuade airlines to give out more information about what kind of training they actually do.
NEWS OR NOT NEWS? A reporter for the local Fox TV station frustrated aviation experts this week, kicking off a debate about whether a “go around,” or aborted landing, is newsworthy. Paul Wagner was keeping an eye on Reagan National Airport and noticed two aborted landings Wednesday amid some nasty weather. But his tagging the incidents as “breaking” on Twitter angered pilots and aviation reporters, who noted that go arounds are routine; the Flight Safety Foundation says they happen 1 to 3 times per 1,000 flights on average.
One pilot’s response: Robbie Barnhart, who identifies himself as a pilot in his Twitter profile, said: “I cannot tell you how much of a non-event this is. In my career, I’ve had many go arounds, each one starting with a long sigh.”
BLUMENARKEY BACK AT IT AGAIN: The safety-focused Senate duo of Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) are keeping tabs on NHTSA, writing to the highway safety agency to ask whether it’s received any reports of cars being hacked. As your MT host reports for Pros, the two cited a recent report from Consumer Watchdog about the vulnerability of entire fleets of vehicles, as well as Ford’s own statements to the SEC about the possibility that its cars could be hacked. Markey and Blumenthal also asked NHTSA if it has a system in place for reporting cyber vulnerabilities.
DOC OF THE DAY: The Rocky Mountain Institute, a research organization focused on sustainability, has published a new report taking a look at the evolving mobility ecosystems in the U.S., China and India. The report gives out policy recommendations including: adopting a uniform, national EV-sales mandate; focusing EV subsidies on “high-utilization” vehicles; establishing national guidelines around AV testing; and boosting pooling and electrification of ride-hailing with tiered taxes and incentives.
REAL TALK: TSA has started to verbally advise travelers with noncompliant REAL ID licenses about the upcoming requirement and enforcement date, according to the agency. MT readers have probably seen this all over every airport, but starting on Oct. 1, 2020, only REAL ID compliant licenses will be accepted to fly. “REAL ID implementation is a little more than a year away — now is the time to prepare,” said Patricia Cogswell, acting deputy TSA director.
— “FAA plans to test Boeing MAX software on less-experienced pilots: sources.” Reuters.
— “For ride-hailing drivers, data is power.“ CityLab.
— “Drivers soon must report odometer readings to DMV as state studies mileage-based tax.” Nevada Independent.
— “A D.C. contract employee accused a superior of sexually harassing her. She was fired. He still has a job.” Washington City Paper.
— “Last of its kind rocket puts GPS satellite in orbit.” Associated Press.
DOT appropriations run out in 38 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,499 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 404 days.
