Yesterday, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) held their organizational meeting where they approved subcommittee chairman and ranking members, provided subcommittee assignments for the 113th Congress, and adopted the Committee rules and oversight plan.聽
Several states are looking to increase their transportation investments by increasing revenue sources. 乌鸦传媒 chapters are working in support of these efforts. Some of the more high profile initiatives include:
New House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) announced the Committee leadership he intends to appoint for the 113th Congress.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has offered an alternative proposal to address his state鈥檚 chronic transportation underinvestment. The proposal would eliminate the state gasoline tax of 17.5 cents per gallon and replace the lost revenue by increasing the state鈥檚 sales and use tax (SUT) by 0.8 cents and dedicating that portion for transportation, increasing the portion of the existing SUT for transportation, increasing the vehicle registration fee by $15, and imposing a $100 fee on alternatively fueled vehicles.
The Wyoming House today passed legislation by a vote of 35-24 to increase the state鈥檚 motor fuels tax by ten cents, from 14 to 24 cents per gallon. The increase would provide the Wyoming Department of Transportation and local governments an annual revenue increase of $71 million. The initiative was proposed and pushed by Gov. Matt Mead (R) who said that, 鈥渢hough $71 million won't entirely cover the $134 million annual funding gap for Wyoming's roads, it is a good start.鈥 The Wyoming Senate is expected to take up the legislation next week. The last time Wyoming raised its motor fuels tax was 1998.
MAP-21, the surface transportation reauthorization legislation included a provision directing the US Department of Transportation to standard transaction model contracts for Public Private Partnerships (P3s) that could serve as a base template to guide States and other public transportation providers in developing their own P3 contracts, including model documents for development, financing, construction, and operation of transportation facilities. 乌鸦传媒 was invited by FHWA to participate in a Listening Session on February 16 to provide industry input as to what should be included in these model documents.
In addition to the Department of Labor, the Transportation Department (DOT) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have released their top regulatory priorities for 2012.聽 Below is a list of regulations from these two agencies that have the potential to impact the construction industry, if finalized.
The recently enacted MAP-21 legislation requires FHWA to develop standard public-private partnership (P3) transaction model contracts for the development, financing, construction, and operation of transportation facilities. 乌鸦传媒 has been invited by FHWA to participate in a listening session to present the construction industry鈥檚 perspective before it initiates development of these contracts. FHWA has asked for input on: a) the design of the model contract template; b) the scope of the model contracts; c) the specific provisions included in the model contracts; and d) the model contracts that should be delivered first.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) sent a Memorandum to its Division offices clarifying the application of Buy America requirements to manufactured products used on Federal-aid highway contracts. Since 1982, Buy America requirements have applied to all steel and iron products used on projects with FHWA funding. 聽At that time, FHWA waived the application of these requirements to manufactured products that are not predominantly steel products. When Congress enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), stimulus legislation, it instituted Buy America requirements for projects funded under this legislation. The new law created a great deal of uncertainty as to what is and is not covered under Buy America and many states were applying these requirements more broadly than intended.
乌鸦传媒 of America submitted a comprehensive assessment of proposed changes to the Department of Transportation鈥檚 (DOT) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) regulations. In addition, 15 乌鸦传媒 chapters submitted their own unique comments on the proposal and 125 members commented through 乌鸦传媒鈥檚 Legislative Action Center website. Additional 乌鸦传媒 member comments were submitted directly to DOT. The comment period closed on December 24, 2012.