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Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit considered and reported to the full committee the draft Surface Transportation Authorization Act (STAA), which would authorize and fund surface transportation programs for the next six years. Although the committee has yet to formally introduce the 775 page bill, it went ahead and reported a preliminary draft “Committee Print” to the full committee. The majority of the “mark-up” session, which was presided over by Subcommittee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR), featured opening statements by members, who praised the committee for their work on the bill, and expressed their dissatisfaction with the Administration’s push for an extension rather than a full six year authorization.

Full Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) and Ranking Member John Mica (R-FL) reached an agreement prior to the session that no substantive changes would be made to the legislation during the mark-up session. Republican members of the committee offered and then withdrew 12 amendments to the bill – none of which would have had a significant direct impact on the transit program. Committee leaders pledged to work with committee members who wish to make substantive changes in the legislation in the coming weeks, prior to full committee consideration. The legislation at this point does not include funding levels or “high priority” member projects. Chairman Oberstar stated that he hopes to mark-up the legislation in full committee by the end of July, but noted that this would require an agreement with the House Ways & Means Committee on the financing portion of the bill.

For APTA’s recent summary of the legislation, click here.

House to vote on Waxman-Markey climate bill on Friday; Senate consideration could begin in July. Contact your Representative and Senators to ask for dedicated transit investment!

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the “American Clean Energy and Security Act” (H.R. 2454, “Waxman-Markey” or “ACES”) this Friday. In anticipation of floor consideration, Chairman Henry Waxman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee released a new draft of the bill on Tuesday. The new version of ACES allows states to use a limited portion of State Energy and Environment Development (SEED) allowances for investments in public transportation projects and other surface transportation activities that benefit the environment. In total, the bill specifies that just under 1 percent of allowances from the overall bill will be made eligible to fund the non-federal share of transit projects, car pool and van pool projects and CMAQ-eligible projects (Sec. 132). One percent of emission allowances is expected to be valued at approximately $1 billion annually under the ACES cap-and-trade program.

APTA sent a letter to Chairman Waxman to express support for the change, but has urged Congress to provide a larger share of dedicated allowances for transit and transportation investment. To view the letter click here. The sale of emission allowances from fuel consumed for road and highway use will generate approximately $20 to $30 billion annually by 2015 according to preliminary Environmental Protection Agency modeling data, but the SEED program structure would, at best, make available slightly less than $1 billion annually for new investment in transit systems and other transportation activities. Because transportation investment would be considered only an eligible activity, it is possible that zero funding would be available in some states and regions.

If the House approves ACES later this week, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee led by Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) could begin considering its version of the bill in July. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) is expected to seek dedicated transit investment, as he did during Senate development of the Lieberman-Warner legislation last year. Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) and Arlen Specter (D-PA) are also championing CLEAN-TEA (S. 575), which would set aside up to 10 percent of emission allowances for transportation investment, including transit funding, and institute comprehensive transportation planning efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. APTA supports all of these efforts and urges APTA members to contact their Senators to ask them to support transit investment in climate change legislation and to co-sponsor CLEAN-TEA.

While the recent proposed change to the House version of ACES does not require dedicated transit investment, APTA is grateful for the efforts of Chairman Waxman, Chairman James L. Oberstar (D-MN) of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, and Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Anthony Weiner (D-NY) to modify ACES to include language that recognizes the connection between climate change and the transportation sector, and makes transit an eligible expendature under the SEED program. When contacting you Senators and Representatives, APTA encourages its members to please cite the need for transit investment in conjunction with other investments that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and petroleum consumption. Transportation produces one-third of carbon-dioxide emissions in the United States, and the transportation sector is responsible for approximately 70 percent of U.S. oil consumption.