With help from Tanya Snyder
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— The Senate’s surface transportation bill is headed to the floor, where it could get a vote in the fall. The measure has President Donald Trump’s backing, but a pay-for is still up in the air.
— Several FAA officials will appear before Senate appropriators today, with questions about the agency’s certification of the grounded Boeing 737 MAX still swirling.
— DHS raised the alarm this week about potential cyberattacks on small planes, citing a specific vulnerability.
IT’S WEDNESDAY: Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports. Get in touch with tips, feedback and song lyric suggestions at smintz@politico.com or @samjmintz.
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SURFACE BILL ROLLING: The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved, 21-0, its surface transportation bill on Tuesday. The legislation would boost highway spending while streamlining environmental permitting and standing up new programs to address climate change. While the measure has bipartisan support in Congress, it’s picked up outside detractors from the left and the right, who argue it doesn’t do enough to break an increasingly unsustainable status quo.
Trump’s on board: Perhaps sensing a renewed chance to pick up an infrastructure victory, Trump tweeted his support of the bill Tuesday. “Will have BIG IMPACT on our highways and roads all across our Nation. Interest strong from Republicans and Democrats. Do I hear the beautiful word, BIPARTISAN? Get it done. I am with you!” Trump wrote.
View from the other side of the Capitol: House Transportation Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who will lead the lower chamber’s bill, also weighed in. In a statement to POLITICO, he said the Senate bill “demonstrates bipartisan consensus on the need for resilient infrastructure, alternative fuel corridors, and serious efforts to reduce congestion.”
But, he noted, “there is still a big question about how we pay for these investments.” That hasn’t been answered on the Senate side either, and our Tanya Snyder, along with Pro Energy’s Anthony Adragna, report that it already looks like a major speedbump. Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told them he met with EPW Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) to talk cheddar, but Republican resistance to a gas tax increase is a “major hurdle.”
When will the Banking Committee mark up a transit title for the bill? “We’re begging [Banking Chairman Mike Crapo] to move on it,” ranking member Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Tuesday. “Nothing yet. But it’s really, really, really important.” He noted that “the problem in the Banking Committee” is that, other than Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, none of the panel’s Republicans have big-city transit systems in their states, so “they just don’t think about it much.”
Fun fact: The bill’s sponsors have been calling it historic because of how much money would be authorized. But MT is equally excited about a different milestone: It’s the first-ever surface transportation reauthorization to reference electric scooters. In a section about the creation of a “center of excellence” for new mobility and automated vehicles, the legislation clarifies that “new mobility” includes docked and dockless bicycles, as well as e-scooters and transportation network companies like Lyft and Uber.
ODA ALL DAY: Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), a member of the Senate Commerce Aviation Subcommittee, defended the FAA’s Organization Designation Authorization program during a speech Tuesday. Your host was there to report on Moran’s comments for Pros. “We will continue to be an advocate for whatever changes that might be necessary … but we’ve been working for more than a decade to try to get more authority to rest in the private sector, not less. We don’t intend to turn our back on that,” Moran said, in discussing Congress’ work evaluating the agency’s certification process in the wake of two Boeing 737 MAX crashes.
Look for questions on that topic in a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing today, where several FAA officials will testify. Among them is Ali Bahrami, associate administrator for aviation safety, who’s been “featured prominently in several high-profile news articles taking apart the agency’s increasing reliance on delegating aircraft certification responsibilities to manufacturers,” as our Brianna Gurciullo reports. Democrats in particular are planning to grill officials on the agency’s culture and process in regards to certification.
IN SYNC: The FAA, meanwhile, wrote to Senate appropriators this week that it’s aiming for “near simultaneous approval” for the grounded Boeing 737 MAX to return to service around the world. “While the FAA hopes to achieve near simultaneous approval from the major civil aviation authorities around the world, ultimately the United States and each country that grounded the 737 MAX will make its own determination based on its local requirements and processes,” acting FAA Administrator Dan Elwell wrote, according to Reuters.
INCHING CLOSER TO DRONE DELIVERY IN THE US: Drone delivery company Wing will start offering its services by the end of this year, potentially as soon as the fall. As the Roanoke Times reported, the company is getting ready to submit a site plan for a delivery hub in Christiansburg, Va. Reporter Jacob Demmitt writes, “shoppers would order items through a smartphone app, and then the automated system takes over. The drones fly themselves to the retailer, pick up the package, fly to the customer’s home and hover overhead while a string lowers the products to the ground in a small cardboard box.”
CYBER RISK TO SMALL PLANES: DHS issued an alert Tuesday warning that hackers who gain physical access to small planes could attach devices to them that could scramble flight data. As our Stephanie Beasley reported for Pros, the alert said “researchers have outlined that engine telemetry readings, compass and attitude data, altitude, airspeeds, and angle of attacks could all be manipulated to provide false measurements to the pilot.” The risk, first reported by cybersecurity company Rapid7, is specific to small planes using a technology called Controller Area Network bus networks.
INFRASTRUCTURE GETS A SHOUT OUT: Sen. Amy Klobuchar got the big infrastructure question at Tuesday’s Democratic primary debate in Detroit. She noted that she was the first Democratic candidate to come out with an infrastructure plan — “I did that because this is a bread and butter issue for people that are caught in traffic jams” — and praised Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her campaign slogan: “Fix the damn roads.”
She slammed Trump for promising to pass an infrastructure plan “on election night, if anyone remembers.” Her plan? “I would put a trillion dollars into this and I would pay for it by, first of all, changing the capital gains rate” and other tax changes, “and I would take that money and put it into rural broadband and green infrastructure.”
ANOTHER MONTH TO SPEAK YOUR MIND: FMCSA today will extend the comment period for its proposed rule on automated commercial motor vehicles. The agency wants to hear from people about how everything from hours of service to medical qualifications should change to accommodate increased automation. The comment period was extended by 30 days following a request from the American Trucking Associations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Technology Engagement Center.
— “In a blow to the bullet train, California might shift billions to L.A. and Bay Area projects.” Los Angeles Times.
— “TSA officers placed on leave after discovery of racist display.” CNN.
— “Colorado, automakers strike deal on electric vehicle program.” POLITICO Pro.
— “Ford acquires defense contractor to help get AVs on the road.” Automotive News.
— “RMV officials set to be grilled over missed license suspensions on Beacon Hill.” Boston Globe.
— “The highway was supposed to save this city. Can tearing it down fix the sins of the past?” Jalopnik.
— “Potential conflicts of interest the real reason Lhota left the MTA.” POLITICO New York.
DOT appropriations run out in 61 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,522 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 430 days.
