The House of Representatives is currently debating the Fiscal Year 2011 funding bill for the Department of Transportation.  The bill is expected to pass and now includes an amendment that will restore $200 million to the Highway Trust Fund due to AGC's lobbying efforts. Because several of the amendments would cut various transportation investment programs, AGC and our colleagues in the transportation construction industry sent a letter opposing any effort to scale back the transportation funding levels in the bill.

An amendment offered by the Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), drew the most attention.  The amendment restored $200 million that was taken from federal highway formula funds to fund DOTs "livable communities" initiative.  The "livable communities" initiative is an unauthorized, yet to be defined grant program that DOT hopes to create to provide certain planning grants to communities. The amendment was opposed by the Chairman of the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, John Olver (D-Mass.), as well as several House Democrats who wanted to ensure that federal transportation dollars were not spent on particular modes or types of projects. 

AGC along with its transportation construction stakeholder partners led the lobbying efforts for the DeFazio amendment.  These efforts ultimately led to Chairman Olver accepting the amendment, ensuring that the $200 million will remain in the Highway Trust Fund.

The bill provides $45.2 billion for the highway program, $11.3 billion for transit program funding, $3.5 billion for the Airport Improvement Program (the same amount as appropriated in previous years), $1.4 billion for high-speed passenger rail, and $400 million for TIGER Grant programs, while failing to provide the $4 billion requested by the president for a National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund.

AGC participated in a town hall-style meeting with U.S. Department of Transportation's top leaders who addressed the next long-term transportation bill.  This meeting was the final event in the Department's series of "listening tours" leading up to its release of the surface transportation principles. 

The senior DOT officials provided very few specifics about their current thoughts regarding various aspects of a surface transportation bill and provided no answer when asked when they will release their principles for reauthorization.  DOT officials did however pledge their support for a long-term funding authorization and expressed the need to expedite the process of approving and finishing construction projects.

With the administration not taking the lead on reauthorization and the House and Senate yet to move on their individual bills, the chances of seeing a surface transportation bill before the elections in November is highly unlikely.  AGC will continue to urge both House and Senate leaders to take action and remind them of the importance of infrastructure investment and its ability to create jobs.

The new video from AGC's media event last week on the costs of traffic congestion includes comments from Caterpillar Global Paving's Jim McReynolds, member Gary Sauer of Tiller Corporation, Dave Semerad of AGC of Minnesota and Steve Sandherr. 

AGC's release of the new congestion cost figures garnered significant media attention, with the news covered by the MinnPost and the local Channel 12 News (start at 5:27), as well as the Portland Tribune, New Orleans City Business and NJ Biz, among others.

Click here to watch the video.

On May 28, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the availability of $600 million in TIGER II grants for capital investment in surface transportation projects.  According to DOT, TIGER II grants will be awarded on a competitive basis to projects that have a significant impact on the nation, a region or metropolitan area and can create jobs.

According to the DOT press release, the grants will be awarded based on primary criteria, including the contribution to the long-term economic competitiveness of the nation, improving the condition of existing transportation facilities and systems, improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving the safety of U.S. transportation facilities, and improving the quality of living and working environments of communities through increased transportation choices and connections. 

Pre-applications for the TIGER II grants are due on July 16, and applications are due on August 23 from state and local governments, including U.S. territories, tribal governments, transit agencies, port authorities and others. The Federal Register notice can be accessed by clicking here.

AGC on Tuesday announced that the Senate climate change bill neglects efforts to cut traffic congestion and breaks a decades-long promise that transportation user fees will be dedicated to financing highway and transit improvements.

On Tuesday, AGC and transportation partners sent a letter to Senators Kerry and Lieberman, warning that their bill fails to provide enough funding to the Highway Trust Fund to keep it solvent or pay for a multi-year surface transportation reauthorization bill.

The Kerry-Lieberman bill, The American Power Act, places new pollution fees on the gasoline and diesel fuels used by cars and trucks without returning most of the revenue generated from that fee to improving our transportation system. AGC estimates these fees would generate at least $19.5 billion in revenue and divert at least 77 percent of the funds from on-road fuel consumption away from transportation investment. The bill will allocate $6.25 billion annually for transportation. Of that $6.25 billion, $2.5 billion would go to the Highway Trust Fund - with a mandate to set aside funding for projects that decrease greenhouse gas emissions - while the rest of the money will be equally divided between the competitive federal TIGER grants and local land-use planning, as laid-out in the CLEAN-TEA bill.

AGC was quoted in a number of publications, including thePittsburgh Post-Gazette and Engineering News-Record.

Last week, AGC issued this statement in response to the bill.

The American Power Act (explained above in detail) places new pollution fees on the gasoline and diesel fuels used by cars and trucks without returning most of the revenue generated from that fee to improving our transportation system. 

AGC estimates these fees would generate at least $19.5 billion in revenue and divert at least 77 percent of the funds from on-road fuel consumption away from transportation investment.  The bill will allocate $6.25 billion annually for transportation.  Of that  $6.25 billion, $2.5 billion would go to the Highway Trust Fund - with a mandate to set aside funding for projects that decrease greenhouse gas emissions - while the rest of the money will be equally divided between the competitive federal TIGER grants and local land-use planning, as laid-out in the CLEAN-TEA bill.

AGC and its transportation stakeholders will send a letter and request meetings with Senators Kerry and Lieberman with the clear message that the amount of funding that they are providing to the Highway Trust Fund will not only fail to keep the trust fund solvent but will make it impossible to find the revenue necessary to pay for a multi-year surface transportation reauthorization bill.  AGC issued this statement in response to the bill.

For more information and to write your Senator, click here.

The Kansas Contractors Association and Heavy Constructors Association of Greater Kansas City celebrated a major victory Tuesday when the Kansas House of Representatives passed an $8.2 billion transportation improvement program, giving the state Department of Transportation responsibility for managing a ten-year program to upgrade highways, transit, short-line rail and airports.

The bill allocates $2.7 billion in new financing and $5.5 billion in existing state and federal appropriations to projects. The new financing is supported by a one cent sales tax increase, with .4 cents going to highways, $1.7 billion in new bond debt and an increase on registration fees for trucks greater than 16,000 pounds.

Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) are planning to continue their push to advance climate change legislation with or without the support of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and may introduce a bill as early as next week. Questions remain as to Senator Graham's level of participation in the discussions but Senator Kerry insists that all three Senators are working together behind the scenes on the proposal.

One of the main issues said to be holding up the introduction of the bill is the treatment of the revenue that would be generated from requiring oil companies to pay a fee or a penalty on the emissions from transportation fuels.  AGC and others transportation stakeholders contend that the money generated from this  or any other fee on transportation motor fuels  should be treated as a user fee and dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund to support a multi-year surface transportation bill.  AGC continues to deliver that message in meetings with Senate offices.  Support this effort by sending a letter through AGC's Legislative Action Center.

The release of climate change legislation being drafted by Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) was once again delayed when Senator Graham pulled out of negotiations last weekend over Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) handling of negotiation on immigration legislation. However, the draft bill has been sent to the Environmental Protection Agency (with Senator Graham's consent) for an economic study that needs to be performed before the bill can be considered in the Senate.

It remains unclear in what form a fee on motor fuels will take.  AGC has been informed by one of the Senators writing the legislation that it will not be a "linked-fee" on motor fuels based on the price of carbon, but would instead require oil and gas producers to buy special, non-tradable emission allowances that would be pegged to the carbon market and retired at a certain date.  Questions remain as to what if any of the revenue generated from this mechanism of billing the oil and gas industry would be dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund.

AGC continues meeting with Senate offices to ensure that any money derived from fees on motor fuels be deposited into the Highway Trust Fund and used to finance a multi-year surface transportation bill.  Support this effort by sending a letter through AGC's Legislative Action Center.

In a related activity, the EPA continues plans to move forward with efforts to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.  AGC opposes this effort because it could lead to a requirement that EPA approve all building and land use permits.  Please urge your Senators and Congressman to support Congressional resolutions that would block EPA's efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

On April 28, the House passed by voice vote a short-term extension of federal aviation programs set to expire this week.  This extension will allow the Federal Aviation Administration to continue collecting fuel and ticket taxes, make expenditures from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, and continue contract authority from the Airport Improvement Program through July 3, 2010.