Showing posts with label Surface Transportation Act. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Surface Transportation Act. Show all posts
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Conferees May Be Close to Coal Ash Resolution
Conferees May Be Close to Coal Ash Resolution
By Nathan Hurst and Alan K. Ota, CQ Staff
Highway bill negotiators appear to be nearing a compromise on the contentious question of regulating coal ash, potentially settling one of the big remaining obstacles to a conference agreement.House Republicans have been demanding language in the surface transportation authorization (HR 4348) that would bar the EPA from regulating fly ash as a hazardous waste. Recycled ash is often used in concrete and paving materials, and some states, including California, require its use to prevent water from seeping into concrete.
The House is set to vote Thursday on a motion instructing conferees to oppose EPA regulation of coal ash, an action that Republicans portrayed as a stand against an Obama administration “war on coal.” But the motion’s sponsor, West Virginia Republican David B. McKinley, acknowledged during floor debate that conferees were “deep in productive negotiations” on the issue and expected to resolve it soon.
The deal under discussion would prevent the EPA from listing coal ash as a “hazardous” material, which could preclude its use in road and bridge construction. Instead, the EPA could establish a national disposal standard for coal ash that states would administer, with support by federal regulators.
“We are confident we are very close to having language that Senate Democrats will agree to,” said an industry supporter, who added that negotiations were ongoing.
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., also hinted during a Wednesday morning television appearance that conferees were close to settling differences on toll roads. Hoeven suggested conferees would rescind Senate-passed language to stop states from including certain privatized toll roads in their state spending that qualifies them for matching federal funds. The provision was added by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., as an amendment to the Senate-passed highway bill (S 1813).
“We have worked out a resolution on those issues,” Hoeven said on C-SPAN. “Essentially, the federal government will provide the money to the states, and it won’t count against them.”
Despite a call by leadership to complete a conference agreement this week and a flurry of urgent negotiations, many industry lobbyists and congressional aides believe another short-term extension will be needed. The current authorization (PL 112-102) expires June 30.
Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer said “core” transportation issues would have to be settled before other issues, such as House demands to include language mandating quick approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, are taken up.
“We first have to resolve the transportation part,” the California Democrat said. “Once we do that, then we’ll focus on where we are with the others. . . . I feel we can get it done quickly. It just depends on what the House decides to do.”
Some Issues to Require Boehner’s Attention
Adding to the sense of urgency, the House voted 386-34 on Wednesday to adopt a motion by Minnesota Democrat Tim Walz instructing conferees to produce a conference report by Friday. House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., plans to offer another motion Thursday that would instruct conferees to take up the Senate-passed bill in their report.“This commonsense motion to instruct simply says that we should take up the Senate bill,” Hoyer said in a written statement. “I believe the Senate version would pass the House if Republican leaders bring it up for a vote.”
Some of the most contentious remaining issues — including the Keystone pipeline — are likely to require the attention of House Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. But Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said such leadership discussions would not occur until Boxer, House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John L. Mica, R-Fla., and the other conferees resolve the remaining transportation policy issues.
Mixed Signals on Keystone
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans sent mixed signals about the importance of including a Keystone pipeline provision in a final agreement.John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, was among those who said including Keystone language is vital, noting that he voted against the Senate-passed bill, which didn’t address the pipeline.
“I think Keystone’s critical,” Cornyn said.
Other GOP senators instead emphasized concerns about meeting budget-related targets and restricting funding for non-highway projects.
“It would be great to get Keystone accomplished,” said Rob Portman of Ohio, who voted against the Senate’s two-year, $109 billion bill. He said the addition of Keystone would sway his vote in support. Without Keystone, Portman said he and other Republicans would expect the finished bill to live within Budget Control Act (PL 112-25) limits.
“Even without Keystone, if the bill comes back within the budget constraints that we set up just last year under the Budget Control Act, I would be inclined to support it,” Portman said. The Senate rejected a Republican effort during floor debate in March to limit spending to Budget Control Act levels.
Jim DeMint of South Carolina, chairman of the Senate Republican Steering Committee, said it would be “important for the highway bill to stay within the revenues of gas taxes.”
DeMint also opposed the Senate bill, which is estimated to need about $12 billion in offsets to pay for spending in excess of projected Highway Trust Fund tax receipts over two years.
“To establish the precedent that we’re going to start paying for it in other ways is just not a good thing to do,” DeMint said. “We just need to pay for it with the trust fund.”
Sen. Charles E. Grassley, a supporter of the Senate-passed bill, said he favors Keystone but doesn’t think differences on the issue should preclude a final bill.
“We’ve got to make sure that people know that our highways are going to continue to be improved,” the Iowa Republican said. “So, we’re going to have to pass a highway bill one way or another. But I hope Keystone is in there.”
Humberto Sanchez and Richard E. Cohen contributed to this story.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Update on Surface Transportation Bill
Public-Private Partnerships, Highway Tolls Key Issues in Conference
By Nathan Hurst, CQ Staff
At issue is whether states should be allowed to introduce tolls on existing interstate highways and whether highways leased to private investors should be counted in formulas that determine each state’s share of federal surface transportation aid.
The two-year, $109 billion surface transportation measure (S 1813) passed by the Senate in March includes a major expansion of the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program, which gives states and localities access to federal dollars up front for projects that are eventually financed through public-private partnerships. The Senate bill is expected to be the basis for most of what the conference committee agrees to.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat who is chairing the conference committee, called the expansion of TIFIA funding from $100 million currently to $1 billion under her bill a “big step forward” in leveraging federal dollars to go further for highway projects, claiming it will create 1 million jobs in the process.
But other financing language has created a rift among transportation interest groups.
Transportation advocates at the motor club AAA, the American Trucking Associations and the American Highway Users Alliance have banded together in support of Senate language that would remove from highway funding formulas portions of highway mileage that states have privatized.
The coalition supports the language, which was added to the bill through an amendment by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., contending “states that remove highways from their balance sheet through long-term lease agreements (and with it the cost of maintaining those roads) should have those costs covered through the lease terms.”
Their prime example is the Chicago Skyway, a stretch of freeway leading into the Windy City from nearby Indiana. It was leased for 99 years to foreign investors for a one-time $3.5 billion payment, which Illinois then spent to pay down debt.
Other groups, including the libertarian Reason Foundation and the Bipartisan Policy Center, argued in favor of another amendment, offered but ultimately withdrawn by Sen. Thomas R. Carper, D-Del., that would have expanded the ability of states to impose tolls on existing stretches of interstate highways. Carper’s amendment was withdrawn along with a proposal by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas,, that would have restricted the imposition of new tolls on existing freeways.
In a letter to conferees last week, the Reason Foundation-led coalition argued that flexibility with tolling expansion would “greatly enhance the capacity of states and metropolitan regions to leverage additional private capital for investment in the restoration, rehabilitation, and expansion of major transportation facilities.”
The disagreement about tolls is among the unresolved questions facing the 47-member conference committee, which is racing to reach an agreement before the current extension of surface transportation authorization (PL 112-102) expires on June 30.
After House Republicans were unable to bring their five-year, $260 billion highway bill (HR 7) to the floor because the caucus was divided, the House passed an extension (HR 4348) that also included oil and gas drilling provisions and a mandate for executive branch approval of the Keystone XL pipeline project.
Last week, Boxer remained optimistic that conferees would be able to produce a conference report by early to mid-June, providing both chambers with enough time to vote on the measure and send it to President Obama.
Though several significant policy disagreements remain, Boxer predicted there were “no sticking points” that would hold up a conference report. She also was upbeat about the financing of the bill, which will need more than $10 billion in revenue offsets to cover the difference between its cost and the amount expected to be available in the Highway Trust Fund, which relies mostly on slumping fuel tax receipts.
Boxer said Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., had found a “very sweet spot” for financing the bill, though several Republican aides said Boxer’s assessment was “overblown.”
Baucus struggled for months to identify enough offsets to fund the Senate bill, which Boxer eventually moved ahead without a fully formed financing plan.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)