With help from Sam Mintz
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— The Senate surface transportation bill is out and will get a vote in EPW Committee on Wednesday.
— Biden’s offer to shave off a few billion dollars from the infrastructure plan hasn’t convinced Republicans.
— U.S., European Union condemn Belarus for forcing a Ryanair flight to land in order to arrest a dissident on board.
IT’S MONDAY: You’re reading Morning Transportation, where it’s always Infrastructure Week but most especially this week. We can only make Infrastructure Week jokes because Sam is on vacation. So this week, send your tips, feedback, song requests and Infrastructure Week jokes to Tanya at [email protected] or @TSnyderDC.
HERE WE GO: This week is all-systems-go time for transportation policy. The Senate EPW Committee released its surface transportation bill Saturday (yes, Saturday — send your gripes to EPW; we’re just the messenger) and plans to vote on it in a Wednesday markup. The House Transportation Committee won’t mark up its bill before Memorial Day — committee staff is still going through a mountain of earmark requests. The Biden administration is still talking to Republican senators about a broader infrastructure package, but the proposal the White House sent over Friday landed with a thud.
Let’s take that piece by piece: The EPW bill, jointly introduced by the Democratic and Republican leaders of the full committee and its transportation subpanel, is substantially similar to the bill, S. 2302 (116), that EPW approved unanimously nearly two years ago, boosting funding by just 6 percent over the levels set in that bill and establishing a few new programs, including one aimed at reconnecting communities by providing planning and technical assistance to communities that want to tear down or retrofit roadways that imposed barriers and cut off access. There are also new proposals to measure and reduce carbon emissions from highways.
Like the previous bill it includes new resiliency programs and eligibilities, establishes a new bridge investment program and focuses attention on the safety of vulnerable road users. It also funds alternative fueling and EV charging infrastructure, though at a much higher price tag than they were willing to contemplate two years ago — $2.5 billion, not $1 billion.
Side by side: Biden’s American Jobs Plan proposes to spend $115 billion over the FAST Act baseline over eight years for roads and bridges, while the Senate bill is $77 billion bigger than the FAST Act over five years, making the Senate proposal $1 billion bigger per year.
Remember: The EPW handles only the highway section — other committees tackle transit, rail, safety and the all-important pay-for.
What do you think? What stands out most to you about the EPW bill? The biggest changes over the 2019 version, the most significant new proposals, anything you find especially inspired or concerning? Let us know. We want to know how this proposal is landing in the transportation world.
THE REST OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE PACKAGE IS STILL IN LIMBO: Biden is still going back and forth with Republican senators over the broader infrastructure proposal that would embrace not just surface transportation but also waterways and aviation, clean water and the power grid, broadband access and even home- and community-based health care. Biden on Friday agreed to cut the $2.25 trillion proposal down to $1.7 billion, cleaving off a piece on manufacturing and supply chains that is being addressed in a separate bill and making other small changes. Republicans were not impressed. A spokesperson for Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said the White House’s counteroffer was still “well above the range of what can pass Congress with bipartisan support” and that “vast differences” remain on many issues, including the definition of infrastructure, the price tag and pay-fors.
FROM THE SUNDAY SHOWS: White House senior adviser Cedric Richmond said on Sunday that President Joe Biden is “serious” and “sincere” in his efforts to find a bipartisan path forward on infrastructure and that although “he wants it soon,” he’s willing to let the bipartisan negotiations continue to “play out.” But Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), one of the Republicans who’s been meeting with the White House on an infrastructure deal, said Sunday that there’s “about a week or 10 days” to come to an agreement and that as of now, the White House’s topline number, and definition of infrastructure, “is way too big.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) summed up the position of a lot of Democrats, and especially progressives, when he said that Democrats “would like bipartisanship” but are eager to move and weary of Republican obstructionism. “If they’re not coming forward, we’ve got to go it alone,” he said.
RETIREMENT IS BORING: Appropriations Chair and Senate Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) — age 81 — signaled that he’ll run for ninth Senate term in 2022.
NTSB VENTURES INTO RULEMAKING: It’s been a long time since the NTSB has put out a rule: six years, to be exact, according to regs expert Matt Kent. The agency’s investigative authorities don’t often translate to regulatory rulemakings. But one area where it does have regulatory jurisdiction is in governing the notification and reporting of accidents involving aircraft. And a growing area of concern for investigators is drones. So the agency is proposing to redefine “unmanned aircraft accident” for the purpose of its regulations, removing a weight-based requirement and replacing it with an airworthiness certificate or air worthiness approval requirement. “The weight threshold is no longer an appropriate criterion because unmanned aircraft systems … under 300 lbs. are operating in high-risk environments, such as beyond line-of-sight and over populated areas,” the agency said — and the new definition will allow it to be notified of and respond to drone incidents that have significance for public safety.
Why this matters: The agency will now be able to investigate incidents with, for example, companies testing and using drone delivery operations. “A substantially-damaged delivery drone may uncover significant safety issues, the investigation of which may enhance aviation safety through the independent and established NTSB process,” the agency said.
TOD @ DOT: DOT on Friday issued new guidance clarifying that transit-oriented development projects are eligible for RRIF and TIFIA loans through the Build America Bureau. In a press release, DOT said TOD is “integral” to the administration’s priorities of connecting communities and reducing climate impacts. TOD projects have long been statutorily eligible for these loans but DOT hadn’t set clear eligibility guidelines, which they said “became a barrier to using these funds for that purpose.” The two loans programs have $100 billion of lending capacity available between them.
BELARUS FORCES FLIGHT TO LAND TO ARREST DISSIDENT: The U.S. and EU expressed outrage Sunday after Belarus faked a bomb threat to force a Ryanair flight between Greece and Lithuania to land in Minsk and arrested an anti-government activist on board. Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the move and demanded the “immediate release” of the dissident, journalist Raman Pratasevich. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called it a “hijacking” and “an unprecedented act of state terrorism” that “cannot go unpunished.” ICAO said in a tweet that the forced landing “could be in contravention of the Chicago Convention.”
Consequences: European Council President Charles Michel agreed that there will be “consequences.” One possible consequence could be banning Belavia, the state-owned Belarusian national airline, from landing in EU airports; suspending all flights of EU airlines through Belarusian airspace; and suspending all transit, including ground transit from Belarus into the EU, a senior official said. EU leaders will discuss the issue at a summit today. Read the whole sordid story here.
THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW: An appeals court ruled Friday that FAA should have reallocated Southwest Airlines’ slots when the airline stopped serving Newark. The case was brought by Spirit Airlines and supported by the Airports Council International – North America. The court found that FAA’s decision not to reallocate the peak-period slots “prevented Spirit from operating as many peak-period flights as it would otherwise have done in the Summer 2020 scheduling season,“ and that it was “arbitrary and capricious because the agency disregarded warnings about the effect of its decision on competition at Newark.“
FAA CELEBRATES A MILESTONE: This weekend’s Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo flight was the 400th launch licensed by the FAA. According to the agency, the number of FAA-licensed commercial space launches has gone from just one in 2011 to a record 39 in 2020, and is expected to continue to grow.
— “Buttigieg visits Georgia to tout Biden’s scaled-back infrastructure plan.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
— “Key progressive initiatives stall in Congress as some on the left urge Biden to go bold, and go alone.” CNN.
— “It’s not your imagination. Rising airfares and hotel rates are making vacations more expensive.” CNBC.
— “‘Nightmare’ on 34th Avenue? Residents rally against the ‘gold standard’ open street that has added safety and recreation space.” Streetsblog NYC.
— “Kansas City Southern to merge with Canadian National, paid Canadian Pacific $700 million breakup fee.” Marketwatch.
— “New airline Breeze Airways takes off May 27 with $39 fares, no middle seats and nonstop flights to smaller cities.” USA TODAY.
— “Ford, not Tesla, is making the electric truck that will change the EV industry.” Mashable.
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