U.S. Legislative Issues

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Anthony Foxx, the Secretary of Transportation, held an online town hall meeting on Wednesday, August 6 where he took questions submitted by the public regarding transportation issues. The talk, entitled "National GROW AMERICA Town Hall," provided Secretary Foxx the opportunity to speak on the importance of a long term highway funding bill. During the town hall, Secretary Foxx criticized the eight month, $10.9 Billion bill passed by Congress in July as inadequate and asked for citizens to contact their members of Congress to encourage them to act on longer term legislation. "We can’t afford to sit on our hands waiting until May of 2015," the Secretary told participants.

You can watch a video of the town hall by clicking here.

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will accept applications in the fall for projects to reduce diesel emissions at marine and inland water ports in areas with poor air quality. Port authorities, as well as state and local government agencies with jurisdiction over transportation or air quality, are eligible to apply.   

The program is funded through the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) and is offering approximately $5 million in this round of grants. The Request for Proposal (RFP) will be open in the fall and EPA plans to award funding through this competition in early 2015.

For more information on this round of funding, visit: http://epa.gov/otaq/ports/ports-dera-rfp.htm

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A bill filed in the US Senate by Senators Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN) would create an exception to the 80,000 pound weight limit currently in place for most roads in the country if the truck is fueled by natural gas, which has heavier fuel tanks that those that run on diesel. The bill, titled the "Natural Gas Long Haul Truck Competitiveness Act of 2014," would create an exemption equal to the weight of the natural gas tank and fueling system relative to the weight of a comparable diesel tank and fueling system. The bill is designed to level the playing field between diesel and natural gas, as natural gas trucks have to carry roughly 2,000 pounds less freight in order to comply with the weight limits.

The bill is a companion to legislation introduced in the House of Representatives in January by Congressmen Terry Lee (R-NE) and Sam Graves (R-MO).
 

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