Â鶹ÊÓƵ

Â鶹ÊÓƵ is cooperating with the Federal Highway Administration in promoting a series of webinars on the use of 3D models in transportation construction. The webinars are offered free of charge, but you must register in advance.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ submitted supplemental comments to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on its Sept. 6, 2012, proposal to make significant changes in the administration of its Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program. The original comment period closed in 2012, but because of the outpouring of negative criticism from the industry, DOT decided to hold a listening session in early December and extend the comment period.  Moreover, the agency has chosen to seek specific comments on the costs associated with the proposed changes.  Along with Â鶹ÊÓƵ of America, many chapters and individual members also submitted comments and participated in the listening session.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ, along with a broad-based diesel coalition, sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget encouraging them to include funding in the fiscal year 2015 budget for grants, loans, and rebates made possible by the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA). 

This week, the House approved - by a vote of of 332-94 - a two-year budget agreement that was negotiated by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R.-Wis.) and Senate Budget Chairman Patty Murray (D-Wash.). The agreement sets overall levels for discretionary spending for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 and also partially mitigates the impact of the across-the-board sequestration cuts for both years.  The Senate is expected to vote on the deal next week before adjourning. Specifically, the budget deal sets spending caps for 2014 and 2015 at $1.012 and $1.014 trillion, respectively. 

Â鶹ÊÓƵ of America has joined with the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Council of Engineering Companies and several other trade associations in filing a friend-of-the-court (amicus) brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Mingo Logan Coal Company’s lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Mingo’s suit challenges whether EPA has broad discretion to withdraw disposal sites from a Section 404 (wetlands) permit long after the U.S. Army Corp of the Engineers issued it, or whether the Corp is the only federal agency with the authority to modify its existing permit.

On Wednesday, Â鶹ÊÓƵ and other transportation stakeholders joined in support of Oregon Democrat Congressman Earl Blumenauer as he introduced his bill H.R. 3636, the Update, Promote, and Develop America’s Transportation Essentials Act (UPDATE Act) at a press conference at the Capitol.  The bill would phase-in a 15 cent gas tax increase starting in 2014, indexes the gas tax to inflation, and then confirms Congress’s intention to replace the gas tax with a more equitable, stable source of funding by 2024.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) released its semi-annual regulatory agenda last week, which gives a status report on a number of pending rules and regulations the agency is working on. During fiscal year 2014, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will continue to focus on creating national performance measures and standards to meet the national transportation goals identified in MAP-21.  Specifically, FHWA will initiate rulemaking on national goals and performance measures for safety; bridges and pavement; congestion reduction, CMAQ; freight; and interstates and the national highway system.

As the conference committee on the budget continues to debate a path forward for fiscal year 2014 and possibly 2015, Â鶹ÊÓƵ and other transportation stakeholders continue advocate for addressing the pending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund in our outreach to the members of the House and Senate serving on the budget conference committee.

The Federal Highway Administration this week identified the highway routes it proposes for inclusion in the Primary Freight Network (PFN).,The PFN was mandated in MAP-21, which directed the Transportation Secretary to designate up to 27,000 existing miles of interstate and other roadways, along with the possibility of 3,000 miles in the future, as part of the PFN. The expectation is that the PNF designation will encourage states to direct resources in a strategic manner to improve freight movement. FHWA's PFN proposal was based on several factors, including the origins and destinations of freight, shipment tonnage, population, and traffic volumes.

This week, Â鶹ÊÓƵ submitted a statement to the House Small Business Subcommittee asking for construction industry drivers to be exempted from new hours of service restrictions that require a 30-minute break during an eight-hour on-duty period and a requirement that those who do not meet the construction driver definition can only restart the weekly on-duty clock following a 34-hour off duty period that includes at least two periods between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. The new regulations went into effect on July 1, 2013, and have caused problems for certain segments of the industry. New Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rules continue the construction exemption which allows a reset of the on-duty clock after a 24-hour off duty period for drivers delivering construction materials within a 50 air mile radius of their work reporting office. However, in circumstances where drivers travel greater distances or are required to work 12-hour shifts, more stringent rules apply.