In addition to thanking the countless number of members and partners (especially NACo) who have pushed this issue forward, we also want to publicly thank Chairman Jimmy Duncan (R-TN), Reps. Tim Walz (D-MN) and Richard Hanna (R-NY), and Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) for championing the RTPO and rural local official language.  We are also very appreciative of the willingness of the “Big 4” committee leaders on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Senate Banking Committee and Environment and Public Works Committee to compromise on this important issue.  We will be thanking all of these key leaders once the bill is complete.

If passed by Congress and enacted by the President, the final SAFETEA-LU reauthorization compromise:

• Establishes a formal definition and scope of work for Regional Transportation Planning Organizations (RTPOs) to serve areas outside the boundaries of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs).  It states that “a State may establish and designate regional transportation planning organizations to enhance the planning, coordination, and implementation of statewide strategic long-range transportation plans and transportation improvement programs, with an emphasis on addressing the needs of nonmetropolitan areas of the State.” There is currently no reference or definition for RTPOs and their potential work programs in federal law.
• Requires states to “cooperate” with nonmetropolitan local officials (or if applicable, through RTPOs) in carrying out the planning sections of the bill and in the development of the Long-Range Statewide Transportation Plan with respect to nonmetropolitan areas. However, the final deal retains current language that the U.S. DOT Secretary shall not review or approve the consultation process in each state.
• Outlines that states shall, to the maximum extent practicable, develop a consultative process for nonmetropolitan local official involvement (including through RTPOs) that is “separate and discrete” from the public involvement process.  This was a major priority of NADO.
• Allows states to “consult” with nonmetropolitan local officials (or if applicable, through RTPOs) in the development of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) with respect to nonmetropolitan areas. (The STIP is the 4 year program for project investments.) Similar to the Long-Range planning section, the final deal retains the current prohibition that the U.S. DOT Secretary shall not review or approve the consultation process in each state.
• Clarifies that certain categories of federal highway projects for areas of less than 50,000 would be selected by the state “in cooperation” with affected nonmetropolitan local officials (of if applicable, through RTPOs).  For National Highway System, Interstate maintenance and bridge, and sections 5310, 5311, 5316 and 5317 transit projects, the state will select projects “in consultation” with affected nonmetropolitan local officials.
• Under the structure of RTPOs, a fiscal and administrative agent, such as an existing regional planning and development organization, shall be selected to provide professional planning, management and administrative support.  The bill would also require RTPOs to form a policy committee and carry out specific planning and coordination activities.
• If a State chooses not to establish or designate RTPOs, the state shall “consult” with affected nonmetropolitan local officials to determine projects that may be of regional significance.  This provision remains a major concern for NADO in states without a formal and well defined process for rural local elected official involvement in the statewide transportation planning and programming processes.

For MPOs, the final deal also:

• Retains the current population threshold for all MPOs (existing and new) for urbanized areas of 50,000 or greater.  Transportation Management Areas (TMAs) would also remain at 200,000 or greater population.  The conference committee rejected the Senate plan to establish Tier 1, Tier 2 and Nonmetropolitan Planning Organizations within the MPO program.
• Requires states to coordinate with MPOs on performance measures for performance-based plans.
• Allocates a portion of modified Transportation Enhancement program resources to TMAs in areas above 200,000.

Among the other rural highlights:

• Extends the Secure Rural Schools program by one year, as proposed by the Senate, with clarification that funds for eligible Title III projects under the program must be obligated by the end of the following fiscal year but not necessarily initiated.
• Extends by one year the full funding for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program.
• Maintains the existing structure for public transportation in rural areas, while incorporating the rural component of the “Job Access and Reverse Commute” program into the 5311 formula.
• Establishes a new “Appalachian Development Public Transportation Program” to distribute $20 million to states within the Appalachian region.

Overall, the final compromise extends federal highway, transit and safety programs until the end of FY2014, consolidates the number of federal highway programs by two-thirds (increasing allocations to states), places a significant focus on project streamlining and performance measures, and establishes new policies and goals to improve freight movement.  The final deal does NOT include language requiring presidential approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Key resources for Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21):

• Enrolled Bill (the bill as presented to the President for signature) H.R. 4348 for FY 2013-2014 signed into law July 6
• Summary of Estimated FY 2012, FY 2013, and FY 2014 Apportionments Under the Conference Report For the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21)
• Transportation Weekly chart on statutory deadlines by bill section for FY2013-2014 in MAP-21 signed into law July 6
• Transportation Weekly chart on statutory deadlines by date for FY2013-2014 in MAP-21 signed into law July 6

• Technical and conforming changes to the surface transportation reauthorization conference report released June 28
• Final surface transportation reauthorization conference committee report (H.R. 4348) filed on June 28
• Conference committee Statement of Managers for the conference report (H.R. 4348) filed on June 28
• Joint Committee on Taxation estimated revenue effects of the conference agreement for the revenue provisions contained in Division D of MAP 21 (released June 28)
• Joint Committee on Taxation review of estimated General Fund and Trust Fund effects of the conference agreement for the revenue provisions contained in Division D of MAP-21 (released June 28)
• U.S. Department of Transportation preliminary summary of conference report (H.R. 4348) released June 28
• U.S. Department of Transportation MAP-21 public transportation state chart released June 28
• U.S. Department of Transportation summary of estimated apportionments (FY12-FY14) under the conference report (H.R. 4348) released June 28
• Transportation Weekly chart on conference surface transportation funding authorizations for FY2013-2014 in the final conference report (H.R. 4348) released June 28
• Transportation Weekly chart comparing conference report with the Congressional Budget Office’s baseline released June 28
• Transportation Weekly chart of funding levels for surface transportation programs in conference report (H.R. 4348) vs. FY11 and FY12 released June 28

Today marks one of the most critical deadlines yet for the surface transportation reauthorization bill (H.R. 4348). If a conference report is not completed and posted on the Internet before midnight tonight, the House will not have enough time to vote on the final committee report before the Saturday deadline (and Monday marks the first day of the Fourth of July recess).  Congress would then either need a very short-term extension to avoid a shutdown of transportation programs and provide more negotiation time, or they would need to pass a longer extension (although House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has decreed “no more extensions lasting less than six months,” which would defer action until after Election Day).

Reports emerged this morning that leadership and conferees have agreed to a basic structure of a deal and are working as quickly as possible to finalize all remaining issues. One of the agreements, as reported this morning by CQ Today, is that the House will drop the Keystone XL pipeline and coal ash provisions in the bill. In exchange, the Senate will drop expansion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and will make significant concessions to the House on streamlining environmental reviews for infrastructure projects. Transportation Weekly reported that the final deal could be a 27-month bill (through September 2014) offset by the “smoothing of private sector pension payments, as first proposed by Senate Majority Leader Reid on June 7.”

WHAT’S HAPPENED OVER THE LAST SEVERAL DAYS

Although discussions seem to be back on track, over the weekend, talks appeared to break down as word circulated of a set-back on Saturday.  However, as the week has progressed, both the House and Senate have grown increasingly optimistic about getting a conference report completed by Saturday.

Several key events occurred yesterday (June 26):

1. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-FL) called a meeting of all House Republican conferees to personally brief them on the state of negotiations.  He then met with House Speaker Boehner.
2. It was reported that Speaker Boehner also met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to discuss remaining issues of disagreement that need to be resolved at the leadership level (including Keystone XL pipeline, coal ash, RESTORE Act, and RAMP Act). Reports have also emerged that other issues discussed included overall spending levels, length of the bill, how to pay for the bill, a highway funding formula, and details involving project delivery and environmental streamlining.
3. The House voted on two measures—both “non-binding” motions—to instruct the House conferees on the ongoing conference:
1. The House rejected a motion (172 to 255) offered by Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) to instruct the House conferees to accept the Senate bill
2. The House agreed (201 to 194) to a motion offered by Diane Black (R-TN) to instruct the House conferees not to agree to a new distracted driving incentive grant program (under the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) in the conference report

RULES MOVING FORWARD

Under House rules, a conference report filed and posted online by midnight today (June 27) can be considered for a vote on Friday morning.  Although House leaders can waive this rule through the Rules Committee if they so choose, Republicans promised repeatedly in 2010 not to do so.

Under Senate rules, a conference report must be posted on the Internet for at least 48 hours before a vote can occur.  Under this rule, they do not have enough time to complete the bill. However, the Senate can by-pass this rule (which they will need to do), by securing the vote of 60 Senators to waive the rule.  It is expected that there will be no problem in getting the 60 votes needed to proceed.

Even if all outstanding issues are resolved and a conference report is filed by tonight, there also exists a lingering challenge for both House and Senate leadership—that is, to rally enough votes to pass the conference report in both chambers (despite the major ideological issues that have stalled this bill for so long).

As reported so aptly by Transportation Weekly, “the fundamental question of this conference, then, is: how far can Democrats go in altering the Senate bill to attract House Republican support before they start losing Democratic votes?  And how many Democratic votes can they afford to lose in the hopes of gaining Republican votes which may or may not show up (there is no way to know until after the conference report is filed and people have had time to digest the details)?”

Although change is occurring by the hour, there appear to be three potential scenarios.  To avoid a shutdown of highway funding, Congress would need to negotiate and pass a final bill, clear a short-term extension to buy conferees more time, or agree to House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) threat of a six-month extension that would postpone action on a bill until after the November elections.

Earlier this week, following growing concern that conferees would not reach an agreement before the current extension expires, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker Boehner met with Sen. Barbara Boxer, the transportation conference committee chairman, and Rep. John L. Mica (R-FL), the panel’s vice chairman, to try to jump start negotiations and re-confirm their commitment to completing a bill.  With no final decisions made at this particular meeting, they agreed to keep forging ahead with the conference.

According to various news reports of that meeting, Speaker Boehner and Leader Reid directed Chairman Boxer and Chairman Mica to resolve the outstanding transportation portions of the bill (including issues like environmental streamlining rules for road projects, project delivery, consolidating U.S. DOT programs, and enhancements), potentially leaving the other controversial provisions (Keystone XL pipeline, coal ash, RESTORE Act, and RAMP Act) to be negotiated at the leadership level.

Throughout the day on June 20, Mica and Boxer met behind closed doors with their senior staff in an attempt to advance negotiations. That same day, with a significant 386-34 vote, the House passed a procedural motion offered by Rep. Tim Walz (D-MN) that directed highway bill conferees to wrap up their work and report a bill no later than Friday, June 22.  The motion was “non binding” and demonstrated overwhelming support in the House for a final agreement to be reached. The vote tally can be found here.

Today (June 21), reports emerged that an agreement has now been reached on how to resolve the major transportation policy differences on the highway title of the bill and staff have been instructed to finish drafting a bill incorporating the agreements as well as other minor issues remaining that were not elevated to the “member level.”  Adding weight to the positive rumors, Boxer and Mica issued a joint statement this afternoon:

“The conferees have moved forward toward a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on a highway reauthorization bill.  Both House and Senate conferees will continue to work with a goal of completing a package by next week.”

As reported by Transportation Weekly, several cautions should be noted:

1. Nothing is final yet.
2. Even if there is an eventual agreement between the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee conferees and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee conferees on the highway portion of the bill, it does not necessarily cover all other sections of the bill, including those under the jurisdiction of the Senate Banking Committee (transit), the Senate Commerce Committee (freight, safety, pipelines, and rail) or the Senate Finance Committee (how to pay for the bill).
3. Even if all the transportation parts of the bill reach agreement, it does not cover the Keystone XL pipeline, coal ash, RESTORE Act and RAMP Act portions of the conference.

Stay tuned for more developments, but if an agreement is reached by tomorrow, Congressional leaders may bring a very short-term extension to the floor to avoid a shutdown and provide additional time for the highway portions of the measure to be written into legislative text and for further negotiation on outstanding issues.

SPECIFIC ACTION NEEDED: Urge your Senators and Representatives to support language for state DOT “cooperation” with non-metropolitan local officials in the statewide transportation planning process (including the establishment of Regional Transportation Planning Organizations for areas outside of MPOs), as part of the pending House-Senate conference committee on the federal surface transportation reauthorization bills (H.R. 4348 / S. 1813).

As reported in last week’s edition of NADO News, on May 8, the House-Senate conference committee on the surface transportation reauthorization bill kicked off its first official meeting with all 47 House and Senate conferees (33 Representatives and 14 Senators) gathering for the first time in one room. During the meeting, conferees were allowed time for opening statements, including five minutes for all committee chairs and three minutes for all other members.  The only official business conducted was the formality of naming Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) as the chairman of the conference committee and naming House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman John Mica (R-FL) as vice chairman.

• To view a list of Senators and Representatives that have been named to the conference committee, click here.
• A video of the May 8 conference committee meeting is available here.
• To view the NADO action alert on the surface transportation reauthorization bill, click here.

Over the next several weeks, the Congressional schedule will present a challenge to passing a final bill. The current extension (H.R. 4348) is set to expire on June 30, leaving only three weeks in which both the House and Senate are in session simultaneously. Although no second official meeting of the conferees has been announced, the earliest that a second meeting could occur would be the week of June 4.

At the staff level, lengthy meetings have already begun with “walk throughs,” where each chamber’s staff reviews and discusses provisions in their bill with the other chamber and explains what the provisions are intended to do. Although the first staff meetings were simply introductory and set the organizational framework for negotiations, more substantive meetings began this week and will continue next week.

On May 16, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sent the conferees a letter giving the Obama Administration’s detailed views on the policy issues to be addressed in the surface transportation conference report. The four-page letter can be read here. The letter restates the earlier White House veto threat on the House-passed Keystone XL regulatory approval provision and expresses strong disapproval of the House-passed environmental streamlining provisions. The letter also notes that “S. 1813 and H.R. 4348 are the only bills passed by their respective chambers and therefore determine the scope of the conference,” although the letter does include Administration views on some elements of H.R. 7.

BACKGROUND ON THE HOUSE-SENATE CONFERENCE: Since the House Republican leadership was not able to secure the floor votes needed to pass the five-year, $260 billion package (H.R. 7) assembled by the Transportation and Infrastructure, Ways and Means, and other related committees, the House is technically using its three-month extension bill (H.R. 4348) as the conference vehicle with the Senate’s two-year, $109 billion measure (S. 1813). The House extension bill includes provisions that would accelerate approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline and steer penalties from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to Gulf Coast states, as well as some environmental streamlining provisions and other bill language that were part of the multi-year bill (H.R. 7).  However, the House-Senate negotiators may use some of the provisions included in the House’s multi-year bill (H.R. 7) as part of the House-Senate conference deliberations.

Since the 2005 SAFETEA-LU surface transportation law (P.L. 109-59) expired on September 30, 2009, most federal highway, transit, safety, and other related programs are now operating under the 9th short-term extension which expires on June 30, 2012.

SPECIFIC ACTION NEEDED:

• Urge your Senators and Representatives to support the House language (included in H.R. 7) for state DOT “cooperation” with non-metropolitan local officials in the statewide transportation planning process (including the establishment of Regional Transportation Planning Organizations for areas outside of MPOs), as part of the pending House-Senate conference committee on the federal surface transportation reauthorization bills (H.R. 4348 / S. 1813).  Click here for the full action alert and background information.
• Urge your Senators and Representatives to support language in H.R. 7 that would grandfather existing MPOs and set the population threshold for new MPOs at 100,000 within an urbanized area.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A COMPLETE LIST OF HOUSE-SENATE CONFEREES

This week, conferees from both the House and Senate will hold their first official meeting on Tuesday, May 8 to begin formal negotiations toward a surface transportation reauthorization proposal. The 14 senators chosen by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and the 33 representatives appointed by House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) will work to settle the differences between the House and Senate proposals. Staff for the various House and Senate transportation committees have already been meeting to prepare for the House-Senate conference committee.

Since the House Republican leadership was not able to secure the floor votes needed to pass the five-year, $260 billion package (H.R. 7) assembled by the Transportation and Infrastructure, Ways and Means, and other related committees, the House is technically using its three-month extension bill (H.R. 4348) as the conference vehicle with the Senate’s two-year, $109 billion measure (S. 1813). The House extension bill includes provisions that would accelerate approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline and steer penalties from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to Gulf Coast states, as well as some environmental streamlining provisions and other bill language that were part of the multi-year bill (H.R. 7).  However, the House-Senate negotiators are planning informally to use many of the provisions included in the House’s multi-year bill (H.R. 7) as part of the House-Senate conference deliberations.

Since the 2005 SAFETEA-LU surface transportation law (P.L. 109-59) expired on September 30, 2009, most federal highway, transit, safety and other related programs are now operating under the 9th short-term extension.  The current extension expires on June 30, 2012.

SENATE CONFEREES:

Democrats

• Sen. Barbara Boxer, California
• Sen. Max Baucus, Montana
• Sen. Jay Rockefeller, West Virginia
• Sen. Dick Durbin, Illinois
• Sen. Tim Johnson, South Dakota
• Sen. Charles Schumer, New York
• Sen. Bill Nelson, Florida
• Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey

Republicans

• Sen. James Inhofe, Oklahoma
• Sen. David Vitter, Louisiana
• Sen. Orrin Hatch, Utah
• Sen. Richard Shelby, Alabama
• Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas
• Sen. John Hoeven, North Dakota

HOUSE CONFEREES:

Republicans

• Rep. John Mica, Florida
• Rep. Don Young, Alaska
• Rep. John Duncan, Tennessee
• Rep. Bill Shuster, Pennsylvania
• Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia
• Rep. Rick Crawford, Arkansas
• Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, Washington
• Rep. Larry Bucshon, Indiana
• Rep. Richard Hanna, New York
• Rep. Steve Southerland, Florida
• Rep. James Lankford, Oklahoma
• Rep. Reid Ribble, Wisconsin
• Rep. Fred Upton, Michigan
• Rep. Ed Whitfield, Kentucky
• Rep. Doc Hastings, Washington
• Rep. Rob Bishop, Utah
• Rep. Ralph Hall, Texas
• Rep. Chip Cravaack, Minnesota
• Rep. Dave Camp, Michigan
• Rep. Patrick Tiberi, Ohio

Democrats

• Rep. Nick Rahall, West Virginia
• Rep. Peter DeFazio, Oregon
• Rep. Jerry Costello, Illinois
• Rep. Jerrold Nadler, New York
• Rep. Corrine Brown, Florida
• Rep. Elijah Cummings, Maryland
• Rep. Leonard Boswell, Iowa
• Rep. Tim Bishop, New York
• Rep. Henry Waxman, California
• Rep. Ed Markey, Massachusetts
• Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Texas
• Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Oregon
• Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia

Please continue to urge your Senators and Representatives to support the House language for state DOT “cooperation” with non-metropolitan local officials in the statewide transportation planning process (including the establishment of Regional Transportation Planning Organizations for areas outside of MPOs), as part of the pending House-Senate conference committee on the federal surface transportation reauthorization bills (H.R. 4348 / S. 1813).  Although the conference committee will not hold its first official meeting until Tuesday, May 8, staff are already working to negotiate a final measure.

• If your Member of Congress has been named as a conferee (see list below), please reach out to your Senator or Representative personally or to their Washington, D.C. staff.  Congress is in recess this week and Members will be back in their state/district.  If you need help with appropriate staff contact information, please contact Deborah Cox at 202.624.8590 or dcox@nado.org. The NADO legislative fact sheet is attached.

UPDATE ON HOUSE-SENATE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE PROCESS:   

House and Senate Leaders Name Conferees to Negotiate Surface Transportation Legislation 

This week, House and Senate leaders announced the appointment of conferees, setting the stage for the start of negotiations on a final surface transportation reauthorization measure.  Although the conference committee will not hold its first official meeting until Tuesday, May 8, negotiations have already started at the staff level.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) appointed 14 senators, including eight Democrats and six Republicans. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) appointed 33 representatives, including 20 Republicans and 13 Democrats.

While the make-up of the Senate and House conferees is comprised of the senior members of committees with jurisdiction over various titles of the bill, it is interesting to note that freshman Republican House members outnumber their veteran colleagues on the conference committee (five veterans and seven freshmen). Since opposition from the large Republican freshman class has been one of the primary factors in the House’s inability to move its own surface transportation reauthorization bill this year, the fact that freshmen outnumber the veterans on the conference committee appears designed to ensure their buy-in on a final measure.

The House and Senate conference committee will negotiate the differences between H.R. 4348, a 90-day extension of the current surface transportation authorization which the House passed on April 18, and the Senate’s two-year $109 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill, MAP-21, which passed last month.

SENATE CONFEREES:

Democrats

• Sen. Barbara Boxer, California
• Sen. Max Baucus, Montana
• Sen. Jay Rockefeller, West Virginia
• Sen. Dick Durbin, Illinois
• Sen. Tim Johnson, South Dakota
• Sen. Charles Schumer, New York
• Sen. Bill Nelson, Florida
• Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey

Republicans

• Sen. James Inhofe, Oklahoma
• Sen. David Vitter, Louisiana
• Sen. Orrin Hatch, Utah
• Sen. Richard Shelby, Alabama
• Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas
• Sen. John Hoeven, North Dakota

HOUSE CONFEREES:

Republicans

• Rep. John Mica, Florida
• Rep. Don Young, Alaska
• Rep. John Duncan, Tennessee
• Rep. Bill Shuster, Pennsylvania
• Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia
• Rep. Rick Crawford, Arkansas
• Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, Washington
• Rep. Larry Bucshon, Indiana
• Rep. Richard Hanna, New York
• Rep. Steve Southerland, Florida
• Rep. James Lankford, Oklahoma
• Rep. Reid Ribble, Wisconsin
• Rep. Fred Upton, Michigan
• Rep. Ed Whitfield, Kentucky
• Rep. Doc Hastings, Washington
• Rep. Rob Bishop, Utah
• Rep. Ralph Hall, Texas
• Rep. Chip Cravaack, Minnesota
• Rep. Dave Camp, Michigan
• Rep. Patrick Tiberi, Ohio

Democrats

• Rep. Nick Rahall, West Virginia
• Rep. Peter DeFazio, Oregon
• Rep. Jerry Costello, Illinois
• Rep. Jerrold Nadler, New York
• Rep. Corrine Brown, Florida
• Rep. Elijah Cummings, Maryland
• Rep. Leonard Boswell, Iowa
• Rep. Tim Bishop, New York
• Rep. Henry Waxman, California
• Rep. Ed Markey, Massachusetts
• Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Texas
• Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Oregon
• Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia

The current extension of highway programs (P.L. 112-30) will expire on March 31.  If the House and Senate were unable to come to agreement on an extension, a shutdown of the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration would have occurred beginning April 1.  In addition, the ability of the federal government to collect on federal motor fuel excise taxes would also have lapsed.

To view NADO’s fact sheet on surface transportation reauthorization, click here.

The surface transportation finance bill is a companion piece to the Moving Ahead for Progress for the 21st Century Act (MAP-21 – S. 1813) passed by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. If favorably reported by the Finance Committee, it will be folded into the larger transportation bill for Senate debate. According to the Finance Committee, amendments will be available online at http://finance.senate.gov/legislation/.

Summary of the Highway Investment, Job Creation and Economic Growth Act of 2012

Committee Note: The Chairman’s Mark is intended to fully fund the transportation trust funds as provided by the authorization bills (from Environment and Public Works, Commerce and Banking) with a total of $9.6 billion in offsets.  The Senate Finance Committee staff is reviewing additional offsets that have been discussed with Member staffs but have not seen final scores or specificity. The Chairman intends to provide these offsets in a modification and will notify Members as soon as possible.

Extension of Revenues and Trust Funds

Extension of Highway-Related Taxes.  Six separate excise taxes are imposed to finance the Federal Highway Trust Fund program.  Three of these taxes are imposed on highway motor fuels. The remaining three are a retail sales tax on heavy highway vehicles, a manufacturers’ excise tax on heavy vehicle tires and an annual use tax on heavy vehicles.  The annual use tax on heavy vehicles expires October 1, 2012. Except for 4.3 cents per gallon of the Highway Trust Fund fuels tax rates (which is permanent), the remaining taxes are scheduled to expire after March 31, 2012.  This provision would extend the motor fuel taxes and all three non-fuel excise taxes at their current rates through September 30, 2015.

Extension of Highway Trust Fund Expenditure Authority. Under present law, revenues from the highway excise taxes, as imposed through March 31, 2012, generally are dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund.  Dedication of excise tax revenues to the Highway Trust Fund are governed by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). The IRC authorizes expenditures (subject to appropriations) from the Highway Trust Fund through March 31, 2012.  This provision would extend the expenditure authority for the Highway Trust Fund through September 30, 2013.

Revenue Provisions

Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund.  The Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Trust Fund was established in 1986 to support States and the Environmental Protection Agency in efforts to remediate leaks from underground storage tanks.  On every gallon of taxable motor fuel, 0.1 cents is deposited in the LUST Trust Fund. These revenues have consistently been greater than outlays and the fund has accumulated a balance of $3.745 billion as of the end of fiscal year 2011.  The total revenue into the fund including interest is over $300 million per year while outlays are just over $100 million per year. This provision would transfer $3 billion from the LUST Trust Fund to the Highway Trust Fund as of the date of enactment.  In addition, this provision would direct 0.066 cents-per-gallon of each gallon of taxable motor fuel to the LUST Trust Fund in order to better match revenues to the fund and outlays from the fund.  Revenue estimate for this provision to be provided by the Congressional Budget Office.

Close Black Liquor Loophole.  As part of the kraft process for making paper, a byproduct called black liquor is created.  This process has been used for seventy years to manufacture paper.  Black liquor qualified for the alternative fuel mixture tax credit and the cellulosic biofuels tax credit.  Congress never intended for black liquor to qualify for these credits and, in 2010, prohibited the credit for black liquor sold or used on or after January 1, 2010. This provision would prohibit taxpayers from claiming the alternative mixture credit or the cellulosic biofuels credit on any new or amended returns made on or after February 3, 2012.  This provision is estimated to raise $2.786 billion over ten years.

Dedicate Gas Guzzler Tax to Highway Trust Fund.  Under current law, a tax is imposed on automobiles that are manufactured primarily for use on public streets, roads, and highways and that are rated at 6,000 pounds unloaded gross vehicle weight or less and fails to meet the current 22.5 miles per gallon fuel economy standard. This provision requires that amounts equivalent to the gas guzzler taxes received in the Treasury be transferred to the Highway Trust Fund.  An exemption applies to non-passenger vehicles.  The provision is estimated to provide $697 million to the Highway Trust Fund over ten years.

Revoke Passport of Individuals Owing More Than $50,000 in Back Taxes.  Currently the Federal government revokes passports and denies new passports to individuals who owe more than $2,500 in child support payments.  Similarly, this provision would authorize the government to deny the application for a new passport or renewal of an existing passport when the individual has $50,000 or more (indexed for inflation) of unpaid federal taxes which the IRS is collecting through enforcement action.  It would also permit the Federal government to revoke a passport upon reentry into the United States for such individuals. This provision is estimated to raise $743 million over ten years.

Increase Levy Authority on Payments to Medicare Providers with Delinquent Tax Debt.  Under current law, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may impose a levy of up to 15 percent against Medicare service providers with tax delinquencies.  This provision will permit the IRS to impose a levy of up to 100 percent on tax delinquent Medicare service providers.  This provision is estimated to raise $841 million over ten years.

Transfer to the Highway Fund Proceeds on Certain Imported Tariffs.  This provision would appropriate to the Highway Trust Fund amounts equivalent to amounts received in the general fund on articles classified under subheadings 8703.22.00 and 8703.24.00 of Chapter 87.  The provision provides $2.475 billion to the Highway Trust Fund between fiscal years 2012 and 2014.

Overall, the legislation reforms and reauthorizes the SAFETEA-LU surface transportation law through FY2016.  The measure would average approximately $52.6 billion each year over the FY2012-2016 period.  The $286.4 billion SAFETEA-LU law averaged about $47.7 billion per year during the FY2004-2009 timeframe for highway, transit and highway safety programs.  By comparison, the Senate’s MAP-21 bill (S. 1813) is a two-year, $109 billion package (FY2012-2013).

The House Republican plan focuses on the major themes of clearly defining the federal role in transportation, advancing program consolidation and reform, and streamlining the project delivery process.  It also encourages more private sector participation in building infrastructure, boosting resources for the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation (TIFA) program, and providing incentives for states to build upon existing State Infrastructure Bank programs.  The bill contains no project earmarks, whereas the previous transportation law included more than 6,000 earmarks.

Within the statewide planning section (Title IV-Transportation Planning)(Chapter 52-Transportation Planning, Sec. 5204), the House bill includes NADO-championed language to give federal recognition for Regional Transportation Planning Organizations (RTPOs) for areas outside of MPOs and to require state DOTs to “cooperate” with rural local elected and appointed officials (including through RTPOs), rather than simply “consult.”  The House plan essentially incorporates the RTPO and rural planning language from the legislation (H.R. 1565) introduced by Reps. Richard Hanna (R-NY) and Tim Walz (D-MN) and supported by Chairman Duncan (R-TN).

Under the metropolitan planning section, the House bill would allow the continuation of all existing MPOs (includes keeping the current TMA threshold at 200,000 and above), yet would set a new urbanized area population threshold of 100,000 to be designated as an MPO in the future.  In addition, the House inserted a new provision that would permit the Governor of a state to modify an MPO TIP when the MPO and the State fail to agree on programming a project of statewide significance on the Interstate.  This is very problematic since a Governor may modify the TIP to add the project without the approval or endorsement of the MPO, and the MPO would be required to amend the long-range plan to be consistent with the TIP.

Historically, the surface transportation legislation has been considered a largely bipartisan effort, but the drafting of this measure has been riddled with partisan criticisms.  As a result, approximately 100 amendments were filed and about 90 were considered during the markup, most but not all of these being offered by committee Democrats.

The main controversies centered around the elimination of the 10 percent minimum set-aside for Transportation Enhancements, increased truck weight limits on Interstates, funding cuts for Amtrak’s operations, and new authorities for environmental streamlining and project acceleration.

Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA) successfully offered an amendment that removed a new provision that would have allowed the President to expedite transportation infrastructure projects to improve U.S. economic competitiveness and let trucks with at least six axles and weighing a maximum of 97,000 pounds operate on Interstates.  Instead, the amendment requires DOT to conduct a comprehensive three-year study of the safety and pavement performance impacts of the widespread use of bigger trucks.  The amendment leaves the provision allowing 126,000 pound trucks on specific 25-mile Interstate segments.

The committee also accepted an amendment by Rep. Peter Defazio (D-OR) that removed a new section of the bill that would have allowed the President to issue an expedited permit for any transportation infrastructure project within two years of the bill’s enactment if the President determined the project would boost the country’s economic competitiveness.

The committee rejected an amendment by Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI) that would have preserved an annual set-aside for transportation enhancements (at the FY2009 level) and preserved the eligibility of abandoned railways to bike paths, scenic preservation and safe routes to schools as eligible uses of TE funds.  The amendment failed narrowly by a vote of 27-29.

The House is expected to bring the full SAFETEA-LU rewrite proposal to the House floor before the President’s Day recess, which begins February 20.

To view a copy of the legislation that will be considered on the House floor, click here.

As part of the SAFETEA-LU rewrite process, the Senate is pursuing a two-year, $109 billion package (S. 1813) that maintains most programs at current levels plus inflation. In the Senate, the Environment and Public Works Committee handles the highway title, the Banking Committee has oversight of the transit title, and the Commerce Committee is responsible for safety and research.

• Senate MAP-21 Highway Committee Summary
• Senate MAP-21 Highway Title (S. 1813)
• Senate MAP-21 Highway Title – Manager’s Amendment
• Senate MAP-21 Highway Title – En Bloc Amendments
• Senate Banking  Transit Title
• Senate Banking Transit Committee Summary
• Senate Amendment Combining Transit, Freight, and Finance Titles

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is pushing a $262.9 billion, five-year bill, known as the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012 (H.R. 7). The SAFETEA-LU law provided $286.6 billion over six years, averaging $47.7 billion per year over the FY2004-2009 period.  The House Republican proposal would average a total of $52.6 billion per year during the FY2012-2016 period while the Senate EPW bill totals around $54 billion each year.

• Text of House Reauthorization Bill to be considered by the full House (H.R. 7)
• Updated list of House Highway and Transit AMENDMENTS
• Committee Summary of House Bill (H.R. 7)
• Text of House Revenue Title (H.R. 3864)
• Comprehensive analysis by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of surface transportation reauthorization in the 112th Congress