House, Senate OK Final Version of Five-Year Highway Bill
Data by Association of American RailroadsCongress approved a final version of a five-year, $305 billion highway reauthorization bill that would call on trucking regulators to fix a controversial safety performance scoring program for motor carriers long criticized by industry leaders.
The bill also would pave the way for employers to use hair testing as an alternative for screening prospective truckers.
The 359-65 vote in the House on Dec. 3 set up Senate action on the bill, but a vote had yet to take place when this edition of Transport Topics went to press. (Editor's note: Subsequently the Senate voted 83-16 to pass the bill, and President Obama signed it on Dec. 4.)
With funding authority for highway programs scheduled to expire Dec. 4, legislators were trying to send President Obama the measure to avoid a disruption across the country’s transportation system. If cleared by the Senate, it would mark the first time in a decade that Congress has approved a long-term highway measure.
Obama administration officials indicated support for the reconciled highway bill, the product of House- and Senate-passed transportation measures.
Federal transportation policy has operated through a series of authorizing extensions since 2009.
Overall, the bill would guarantee the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund through fiscal 2020. It would require offsets for a general fund transfer to the trust fund of $70 billion. About $50 billion of that would be dedicated for highway programs, with $18 billion directed for mass transit systems.
A collection of “pay-fors” were used to fund the legislation. These included relying on a Federal Reserve surplus account and selling units at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
“Seeing a long-term highway bill passed was one of ATA’s top priorities,” said American Trucking Associations Chairman Pat Thomas, also senior vice president of state government affairs for UPS Inc. “While not perfect, this bill is a tremendous step forward for trucking in many respects.”
The bill would require the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to ensure the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program provides “the most reliable” analysis possible. To achieve that goal, it calls for a review of the program, during which time certain metrics would be removed from public view.
FMCSA also will be required to determine the effect an increase in minimum insurance levels would have on safety and to study the ability of the insurance industry to offer expanded coverage.
Additionally, the legislation would require the U.S. Department of Transportation to establish a pilot program for current or former members of the military who are younger than 21 and with truck driving experience, to operate commercial vehicles across state lines. Participating drivers would be prohibited from transporting passengers or hazardous materials, and special configurations. DOT must establish a working group to monitor the program and make recommendations.
For policymakers, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, or FAST, signifies the culmination of years negotiating over provisions related to truck safety policy, railroad braking systems and infrastructure funding programs.
“Since I became chairman, one of my top priorities has been to pass a long-term surface transportation reauthorization bill. For the last year and more, I have traveled across the country, talked to transportation and business leaders about the need for a reauthorization bill,” said House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), the bill’s lead author.
Committee ranking Democrat Peter DeFazio of Oregon added the legislation will be the “biggest jobs bill” passed by this Congress this year.
“States have been forced to operate off of one short-term extension after another, and our roads have suffered,” said Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), chairman of the House subcommittee on highways.
Also tucked into the bill is a provision that would allow hair testing as an alternative to urine tests for employment screening. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services would have a year to establish federal standards for the hair-testing provision that would need to be adopted by DOT.
In addition, FAST would require states seeking to toll an existing interstate to have legal authority to do so. DOT would impose a three-year deadline for states that apply. It also would streamline environmental reviews for infrastructure projects.
And the bill includes a $4.5 billion grant program for highway projects meant to improve the flow of freight. Freight rail and intermodal systems would be eligible for up to $500 million.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration will be required to withdraw its proposed wetlines rule within 30 days of the legislation’s passage. PHMSA’s proposal would require carriers that haul flammable liquids to either retrofit their existing tankers to protect wetlines or install a system to purge product from the lines.
A non-transportation provision included in the bill is the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank for four years. The bank’s charter expired in June.
The bill’s funding structure was not well-received by a few lawmakers, including Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and Reid Ribble (R-Wis.).
“Most of the offsets are from general fund transfers. Now it would take a magician of miraculous skill to transfer money out of a fund that has a negative balance,” Ribble said. Polis referred to it as “gimmicks.”
Transportation for America, an infrastructure advocacy group, also criticized the bill’s funding structure: “As far as the bill’s policy goes, it uses tomorrow’s dollars to pay for yesterday’s ideas and represents a missed opportunity to do something much better.”
