U.S. Legislative Issues

Before leaving for the Memorial Day recess, Congress voted to extend federal funds for highways and mass-transit programs through July 31, leaving just eight weeks for lawmakers to work on a longer-term financing plan. Current funding authority for the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) was set to expire May 31, 2015.

HTF spending has outpaced its tax revenue since 2001, with shortfalls made up by periodic transfers from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s general fund. There has been no long-term funding plan since 2009, and Congress has repeatedly failed to address the estimated $58 billion annual shortfall caused by stagnant gasoline and diesel-fuel tax rates which the HTF relies on to stay solvent.

With the HTF set to hit its low around the same time the authority is set to expire at the end of July, lawmakers now have to come up with the funding offsets that have been so elusive to date. Many Republicans, including leaders of the House and Senate transportation committees, are leaning toward yet another extension to allow for more time to come up with the estimated $90 billion needed for a six-year bill. However, disagreements within the party over whether to include the HTF as part of a major tax overhaul remain. Democrats, on the other hand, are pushing for a long-term bill and worry that Republicans will give up on negotiations if another highway patch is passed later this summer.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is now planning to mark up its multi-year transportation proposal on June 24, but details regarding the funding mechanism needed to execute a long-term plan have not been made public. Over in the House, the Ways and Means Committee has announced it will hold a hearing on long-term surface transportation funding in early June.

You can find NAFA's position on this outcome elsewhere in this issue of NAFAConnection.


Following acknowledgement by Takata that airbag inflators it produced for certain vehicles were faulty, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced the nationwide recall of 33.8 million vehicles. This announcement represents the first time Takata has admitted that its airbag inflators are defective.  The recall involves passenger and driver-side air bag inflators in vehicles made by at least 11 automakers. At least six people have died and more than 100 have been injured when air bag inflators have ruptured, ejecting shards of metal into drivers and passengers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) anticipates that the remedy of vehicles will be prioritized based upon risk, with the vehicles that present the greatest risk in terms of age and geographic location to be serviced first. The recall is expected to take years to complete, with many drivers being told it’ll take months before their vehicle’s airbag can be replaced.

Notably, however, testing and investigation by Takata, NHTSA, auto manufacturers, and independent researchers have not yet established a definitive root cause of the inflator malfunctions. NHTSA reports that its initial analysis of test results points to moisture infiltrating the defective inflators over extended periods of time as a factor. In light of this uncertainty, it is entirely possible that the replacement inflators that are currently being installed could eventually need to be replaced if it turns out that the real problem was not addressed before Takata began making parts to fix the vehicles covered under the recall.

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade will hold a hearing on June 2, 2015 entitled, "An Update on the Takata Airbag Ruptures and Recalls."  

NAFA has reached out to NHTSA to request that fleet managers be a part of any conversation at the earliest point involving the organization and prioritization of recall and remedy programs.


Severe storms can often result in broad power outages, with significant economic and human costs. In the aftermath of a storm, electric utilities mobilize vast resources to restore electric services to consumers. This includes dispatching vehicle fleets with utility-service teams and support contractors to the area of the country hit by the storm. For example, utility companies from throughout the country dispatched crews and vehicles to the Mid-Atlantic area in support of the restoration efforts spurred by Super Storm Sandy. The timely restoration of power is thwarted, however, when electric utility fleets face delays due to conflicting state requirements on issues such as hours of service, fuel taxes, toll lanes, registration, clearance through weigh stations and licensing.

On May 18, 2015, NAFA and the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) co-hosted a meeting of stakeholders in Washington D.C. to explore options for the development of a national system for preclearance of utility service and support vehicles for storm response and to reach consensus on a path forward.  Participants included the National Governors Association; EEI; the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA); All-Hazards Consortium; and the International Bridge, Tunnel, and Turnpike Association.

As part of the meeting, participants developed a draft consensus statement that stakeholders will use to develop a single vehicle identifier, which will provide automatic operating authority to allow all electric utility vehicles to cross all state lines prior to, during and after support for an emergency restoration event. A second meeting will be scheduled in Washington D.C. for the last week of June. The agenda will include further refinement to the consensus statements and work on an outline of a path forward to implement the solution.