The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation today marked-up the FY 2011 transportation spending bill. The bill provides $45.2 billion for the highway program, an increase of more than $4 billion over this year's funding level of $41.07 billion and  President Obama's budget request of $42.36 Billion. The bill also would provide $11.3 billion for transit program funding, a $500 million increase over the President's budget request. The bill also provides $3.5 billion for the Airport Improvement Program, the same amount as appropriated in previous years and $1.4 billion for high-speed passenger rail, a $400 million dollar increase from the President's budget request but a $1.1 billion decrease from FY 2010. In addition, the bill provides $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. At this time it is unclear if or when the full committee will consider the transportation spending bill. If they fail to act prior to the end of FY 2010 the transportation programs will continue to operate at current funding levels. Congress must also act to provide the necessary authorization as the current short term extension expires on December 31, 2010 the end of the first quarter of FY 2011. In addition, more revenue will be needed in the Highway Trust Fund as the current revenue will only support funding through mid 2011.
Following months of ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø and other transportation construction stakeholders successfully lobbying Congress and the administration to restore $8.7 billion of rescinded highway contract authority, the House of Representatives is poised to take $2 billion of that unobligated money away to offset a $10 billion appropriation to preserve teachers' jobs included in the House supplemental appropriations bill. The intent of the bill is to provide funding for U.S. troops; however, the House Appropriations Committee added additional funding that required an offset of $11.7 billion. As co-chair of the Transportation Construction Coalition, ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø sent a letter to Congress opposing the House supplemental proposal, and argued that the rescission creates further uncertainty in an already-suffering transportation construction marketplace. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø also argued that it raises questions about future federal transportation investment commitments.
Congress approved a bill to extend aviation programs and excise taxes through Aug. 1. The short-term extension will give lawmakers another month to attempt to finalize a multi-year FAA reauthorization bill.Both the House and Senate have passed long-term authorization bills but they are very different. An attempt was made to pass a longer term extension to allow time for compromise legislation to be negotiated, but that effort failed. Upon its return Congress will hopefully get to work on resolving the different bills.
The Transportation Construction Coalition, co-chaired by ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø, is meeting today in Washington, D.C. to urge lawmakers to pass a multi-year program to fund critical highway, bridge, transit and aviation construction programs. The group also placed an advertisement in Capitol Hill's Roll Call newspaper.
³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø has been receiving inquiries these past few days from highway contractors and ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø chapters from around the country concerning the shortage of a variety of pavement marking materials. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø has learned that a number of factors have conspired to create a significant shortage in supply of these materials. These factors include a breakdown of a Dow Chemical plant that produces the majority of the feedstock for a resin used in the production waterbourne traffic paint, and shortages in the supply of Titanium dioxide, widely used as a whitener for paint and other products, and rosin esters, the primary resin system used in alkyd-based thermoplastic.In addition to shortages, the price of these materials have already increased and are expected to continue to increase significantly. Supplies of these paints are running 40 to 50 percent below project demand.From what ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø has learned, Dow chemical and several of the major paint and marking material suppliers have taken the dramatic step of protecting their interests by claiming a "force majeur" exemption to relieve themselves of liability under their contracts for failure to meet contract requirements.³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø has contacted FHWA and AASHTO to urge that they work with the state DOTs to develop a contingency plan to ensure that critical highway construction projects can move forward safely to completion, including final stripping and to ensure that there are no negative ramifications for contractors, subcontractors or suppliers for events that are out of their control.³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø chapters and contractors have been meeting with their state DOTs to discuss a variety of remedies that may provide at least temporary relief, including extension of contract deadlines, change orders, prioritizing stripping requirements and easing up on MUTCD specification requirements, at least temporarily, until this shortage is resolved.Please keep us informed of what's happening in your state and remedies that have been effective.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued guidance to state DOTs advising them on implementation of President Obama's Executive Order 13502 encouraging the use of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs). The order specifically permits the use of PLAs on projects receiving federal financial assistance, including the federal-aid highway program. While the order directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue guidance on the use of PLAs on federally-assisted projects, OMB has not yet acted. FHWA indicates that following issuance of guidance by OMB new FHWA guidance may be necessary.Generally the guidance states that a decision to use a PLA is a state determination. FHWA will consider the request for the use of a PLA as part of its normal review of project requirements. The use of a PLA may be approved if the state DOT has made a reasonable showing that the use of the PLA on the project will advance the interests of the government. While the Order only applies to projects with a total cost of more than $25 million, FHWA indicates that PLAs can be used on projects below that threshold. FHWA spells out the factors that will be considered to determine if a PLA is in the governments interest, include: size of project, importance of the project timeline; risk of labor unrest on the project; impact of labor unrest on users; cost of delays caused by labor disruption; availability of labor with appropriate skills. A PLA that a state wishes to include in a contract must meet the following criteria to gain FHWA approval: a) Bind all contractors and subcontractors on the construction project through the inclusion of appropriate specifications in all relevant solicitation provisions and contract documents;b) Allow all contractors and subcontractors to compete for contracts and subcontracts without regard to whether they are otherwise parties to collective bargaining agreements;c) Contain guarantees against strikes, lockouts, and similar job disruptions;d) Set forth effective prompt, and mutually binding procedures for resolving labor disputes arising during the PLA;e) Provide other mechanisms for labor-management cooperation on matters of mutual concern, including productivity, quality of work, safety, and health; andf) Fully conform to all statutes, regulations and Executive Orders.
³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø today 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.
The US DOT this week issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking   proposed changes in several sections of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise regulations. Comments will be accepted until July 9, 2010. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø will be submitting comments. The proposed revisions are as follows:Requires a state to present justification if they have not met the annual DBE goal and the steps it will take to remedy this situation in the future. States not meeting these requirements could lose their federal funding;Instead of annually submitting a DBE goal for Federal approval, states would now be required to submit its goal every third year;New oversight requirements are proposed;The personal net worth of an individual characterized as economically disadvantaged would be increased from $750,000 to $1.31 million with an annual adjustment for inflation;DBE certification would be transferrable from state to state;Requires states to develop steps to increase DBE participation such as unbundling contracts or offering bonding assistance;Requires states to approve the termination or substitution of a DBE after contract award in order to receive DBE credit;Retains existing policy denying states the ability to count material purchased from the prime by a DBE towards DBE accomplishment. Â
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today its intent to propose the first-ever national rules related to the disposal and management of coal ash from coal-fired power plants. Coal combustion wastes include coal ash and fly ash, which are both widely used in construction applications.EPA intends to propose two potential regulatory paths the agency could follow under the Resource Recovery and Conservation Act (RCRA). One option is to regulate under Subtitle C, which creates a comprehensive program of federally enforceable requirements for waste management and disposal. The other option, under Subtitle D, gives EPA authority to set performance standards for waste management facilities and would be enforced primarily through citizen suits.EPA stated its intention that this proposal would safeguard environmentally safe and desirable forms of recycling coal ash, known as beneficial uses. Under both approaches proposed by EPA, the agency would leave in place the "Bevill" exemption for beneficial uses of coal ash in which coal combustion residuals are recycled as components of products instead of placed in impoundments or landfills. Large quantities of coal ash are used today in concrete, cement, wallboard and other contained applications. EPA states that these "encapsulated" uses would not be impacted by the proposal, however, depending on the classification of the waste there may indeed be an impact resulting from the rule. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø is concerned about implications for the shipping and handling of the material as well as any increased potential liability related to beneficial use. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø raised many of these concerns in a letter to EPA in November 2009.The public comment period is 90 days from the date the rule is officially published in the Federal Register. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø of America is currently reviewing the 536 page proposal and will submit comments. If you would like to advise ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø in the comment-writing process, please contact Melinda Tomaino at tomainom@agc.org or 703-837-5415. More background information can be reviewed in ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø's Environmental Observer.  EPA's proposed regulation can be viewed here.