U.S. Legislative News

House Speaker Plans to Split Up Trump’s Infrastructure Proposal

There are concerns in Congress about whether there will be enough time or cohesion to get through President Trump’s infrastructure proposal, as one major piece of legislation, before lawmakers begin their campaigns for re-election. In remarks made on March 8 in Atlanta, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said his caucus will pursue President Trump’s infrastructure plan as a series of smaller bills, rather than take up one sweeping piece of legislation. He said they will first address airports and runways as part of a must-pass reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, then work on more traditional highway and bridge issues. He suggested that Congress will start on infrastructure legislation in the coming weeks. “We just think it’s easier to do this in pieces,” Ryan said.

Trump released his proposal to upgrade U.S. roads, bridges and other public works last month and it calls for allocating at least $200 billion in federal funds over 10 years, mostly as incentives to spur states, localities and the private sector to spend at least $1.5 trillion. The plan would also reduce the time for granting permits for projects to two years or less. Speaker Ryan said Republicans are on board with Trump’s idea of using federal dollars to draw private investment in infrastructure projects and on streamlining the environmental review and permitting process.

The White House has yet to propose a funding source for the plan, preferring to negotiate those details with Congress. Lawmakers who attended a February 14 meeting with the president said he offered to support a 25-cent increase in the federal gas tax to help pay for his plan, but Speaker Ryan ruled out a gas tax increase in a telephone town hall hosted by the conservative group Americans for Prosperity on March 7.

Concerns over timing and the looming elections persist on the Senate side, as well. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, has said he doesn’t know whether his chamber will have time to get to an infrastructure bill either.

 

Democratic Lawmakers Introduce Legislation to Overhaul RFS

On March 8, Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) introduced the Growing Renewable Energy through Existing and New Environmentally Responsible (Greener) Fuels Act, legislation that would overhaul the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). RFS compels the use of biofuel, including biodiesel and ethanol, to limit the use of corn as a feedstock. The bill aims to reduce the climate change impacts of first-generation biofuels and boost so-called second-generation biofuels, those made from feedstock like waste products and woody crops. Specifically, the measure would cap the conventional renewable fuel target at 9.7 percent of the fuel supply and gradually phase out the requirement for conventional - mostly corn-based renewable fuel, beginning with 13 billion gallons in 2023 and dropping to zero in 2030.

“A standard that was intended to benefit the environment may well be hurting it. Instead of promoting the kind of advanced biofuels that might deliver real benefits, the RFS has supported fuels that are not much cleaner than gasoline and not any more efficient,” Sen. Udall said in a statement.

The bill comes amid growing calls for reforming the RFS program, which mandates that fuel refiners blend certain volumes of biofuels into their fossil fuel products like gasoline and diesel. Some Republicans, impelled by the recent bankruptcy of a major Philadelphia refiner, are considering ideas to change either the law or its implementation. Unsurprisingly, Republicans from corn-heavy states are pushing back and defending ethanol.

 

DOT Says Updated AV Guidance to be Released Soon

On March 1, NAFA attended an automated vehicle (AV) summit hosted by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in Washington, D.C. As part of the summit, DOT Secretary Elaine Chao announced that updated federal guidance for manufacturers and states seeking to deploy self-driving vehicles could be released as soon as early summer. The updated policy, to be titled Automated Vehicles 3.0, will address automated policy guidance for trucks, cars, rail, and mass transit. The policy will build on last year’s Automated Driving Systems 2.0: A Vision for Safety, which provided guidance for AV manufacturers and outlined the respective roles of federal and state governments in regulating AVs. The new guidance will assist with the actual implementation of automation technologies across all modes of surface transportation.

In her remarks at the summit, Secretary Chao touted the benefits of automation, highlighting the potential for AVs to reduce the 94 percent of traffic collisions caused by human error, increase efficient use of roadways, and expand access to transportation for the elderly and people with disabilities. “It’s an exciting time for the future of our nation’s transportation,” she said. “Autonomous technology – including automated cars, trucks, and drones – has the potential to revolutionize the way we travel, transport goods, and connect with one another.”

She also acknowledged the potential challenges surrounding AV technologies including concerns about security and privacy, as well as how AVs might impact the workforce.