With help from Anthony Adragna
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— Former Delta Air Lines executive Steve Dickson is set to be confirmed as FAA administrator this week, putting a controversial nominee at the reins of an agency under heavy scrutiny.
— The Senate’s version of the surface transportation reauthorization will include “significant investment” in electric vehicle infrastructure, committee leaders said Monday.
— The budget deal reached Monday evening could extend and raid customs fees, worrying aviation groups.
IT’S TUESDAY: Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports. I’m back at the helm after a Cape Cod vacation that featured terrible traffic, small planes sporting advertising banners over the beach, and plenty of boats. Get in touch with tips, feedback and 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?
DICKSON ON THE VERGE: The Senate is inching closer to confirming Dickson to lead the FAA. A procedural vote is scheduled for noon today, opening the door for final confirmation later in the week (as well as serving as a barometer for how close that confirmation vote will be). Dickson is expected to be confirmed but will face opposition from Democrats.
If confirmed, Dickson will join a battered agency “still trying to reassure the traveling public and other nations’ aviation regulators about its ability to oversee the safety” of the grounded Boeing 737 MAX, as our Brianna Gurciullo reported Monday.
A big part of the challenge he’ll face in turning around the reputation of the agency is jumping in and picking up where acting Administrator Daniel Elwell, who has earned praise from some quarters for his management of the Boeing crisis, will leave off. “I think Elwell’s doing an outstanding job. … To suddenly take him out and put in this unknown that has the added detractor of a controversy is not good,” said consultant Jeff Guzzetti, a former FAA, DOT and NTSB aviation official.
That controversy is an ongoing complaint against Dickson’s former employer Delta Air Lines, which pilot Karlene Pettit says retaliated against her, including ordering her to undergo a psychiatric exam, after she reported concerns about pilot training, fatigue and other issues to Dickson and another executive. Dickson has said he has no direct role in the referral, but the case and his failure to disclose it to the committee has turned Democrats and safety advocates like Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger against him.
AVIATION FUEL TAX SPARKS STATE-FEDERAL CLASH: California is negotiating with the FAA to avoid losing close to $250 million in federal funding for airports after the FAA raised concerns about how the state was spending its aviation fuel tax dollars, Pro California’s Debra Kahn reports. She writes: “The state Department of Finance is trying to resolve the FAA’s concerns about whether it’s complying with a 2014 change in law that requires it to apportion tax revenue to airports, according to a letter Finance Director Keely Bosler sent the FAA on Friday.” The federal agency also sent a similar letter to Illinois in May.
OH SAY CAN YOU EV? The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee are still barreling toward a markup of surface transportation legislation Aug. 1 in committee. Both indicated Monday that they expect significant investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure would be part of the package. Chairman John Barrasso, who has called for ending tax breaks for electric vehicles, said he favored more funding for charging infrastructure. “If you have an established market, you need infrastructure so it can be used, but it doesn’t need more tax subsidies to subsidize the purchase of those vehicles,” Barrasso told reporters, while also calling for a “some sort of user’s fee for the wear and tear that are produced by those vehicles.” He said the EV investments would be greater than Congress had dedicated “previously” to the evolving market.
Ranking member Tom Carper told reporters he expected the measure to be unveiled July 29, ahead of an Aug. 1 markup. “We have not locked down every single item but huge progress has been made,” the Delaware Democrat said.
MAILBAG: State government groups are pushing back on a provision in Sami’s Law, a bill that would require states to implement several safety regulations aimed at protecting ride-share users. In a letter to the bill’s sponsors, the directors of the National Conference of State Legislatures and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials asked them to remove a provision that would punish non-compliant states by taking away as much as 2.5 percent of their federal highway funding. Their suggested revision: Find a carrot rather than a stick.
BUDGET DEAL COULD RAID CUSTOMS FEES: The White House and congressional leaders reached a budget agreement on Monday to lift the deficit and boost federal spending levels. Here’s the transportation angle: POLITICO’s Congress team reported that negotiators settled on extending expiring customs fees as part of the pay-for. No text was available for the deal as of late Monday, and it wasn’t clear what exactly will be in it, but we’ll be tracking for Pros.
Earlier on Monday, aviation groups and House Democrats had expressed concern about such a possibility rather than using it for enhancing security. As our Stephanie Beasley reported for Pros, airlines and airports are united in their opposition to proposals that would raise the passenger security fee, immigration inspection user fees, and a customs user fee.
GAO ON TRANSIT COSTS: The Government Accountability Office issued a new report on the cost of transit projects and how the FTA estimates them, offering two recommendations: The agency should use GAO’s own cost estimate guide, and the FTA should share all of its cost estimate materials in an easy-to-access location. It also lays out in detail many of the cost factors involved in such projects, and cost-reducing strategies developers utilize.
What the report didn’t really do: Answer the original question asked by members of Congress, who asked the watchdog to compare transit capital costs in the U.S. to other countries in Europe and Asia. Some context: It costs multiple times more to build rail transit here than in our peer countries.
The report cites “stakeholders” like FTA officials, transit agency reps and academic experts as saying essentially that it’s too complicated to compare. The report refers several times to the importance of “context” in comparing project costs, and says that aggregate metrics like costs per mile are “likely flawed.” And there’s a lack of data to make comparisons, GAO says, because sponsors and contractors don’t want to share information that’s proprietary or is “adverse information” — i.e., makes them look bad.
AN LA SUCCESS STORY: The Eno Center for Transportation dropped a new report today diving deep into the success of a transportation finance plan in Los Angeles called Measure M, which was approved by voters in November 2016. With a half-cent sales tax increase, it’s expected to generate $120 billion over 40 years to fund 50 transportation projects, with a primary focus on expanding transit and public transportation.
FROM THE DOL: The Department of Labor on Monday published an opinion letter clarifying that employers don’t need to pay truck drivers for the time they spend sleeping. Here’s Pro Labor’s Ian Kullgren: “Although many drivers sleep in truck berths provided by their employer, DOL said the drivers need not be paid unless they’re on call to work. The opinion was issued at the request of a family-owned, long-haul trucking company.”
Todd Spencer, president of the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, said the opinion underscores the need for removing the exemption for truck drivers in the Fair Labor Standards Act. “A primary duty of a truck driver’s job is waiting, but unfortunately they are paid by the mile and nothing for their time,” Spencer told MT.
— “Was the automotive era a terrible mistake?” The New Yorker.
— “Boeing’s outlook drops amid 737 MAX trouble.” POLITICO Pro.
— “Ford making another investment in Chicago assembly plant, hiring 450 more workers.” Chicago Tribune.
— “Gateway report: Tunnel, bridge problems caused 85 days of delays over 5 years.” POLITICO Pro.
— “EU redoubles threat to retaliate if U.S. raises auto tariffs.” Reuters.
DOT appropriations run out in 69 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,530 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 438 days.
