Senate EPW Committee Holds Hearing on Surface Transportation Reauthorization

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing entitled “Investing in America’s Surface Transportation Infrastructure: The Need for a Multi-Year Reauthorization Bill” to discuss a multi-year reauthorization of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), which expires next September. Witnesses included Wyoming Department of Transportation Director Luke Reiner, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) President Carlos Braceras, Associated General Contractors Chairman Max Kuney, Georgetown Climate Center Executive Director Vicki Arroyo, and University of Delaware Senior Policy Fellow Carolann Wicks.

In his opening remarks, Chairman John Barrasso announced that the Committee plans to advance a five-year package this summer. He outlined a commitment to preserve the existing formula allocation to distribute highway program funding to states and investments in rural infrastructure. The bill will have streamlining provisions to expedite project delivery. On revenue, Chairman Barrasso noted that he will be “making sure that everyone who use the roads contributes to maintaining and improving them. That must include electric vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles which will become an increasing share of the cars on the roads.”

Ranking Member Tom Carper outlined his priorities for an infrastructure package in his opening remarks, including electric vehicle and alternative fueling infrastructure, climate resilience, emissions reduction, safety improvements, and road upgrades for autonomous vehicles (AVs). He emphasized that the upcoming measure should pave the way for vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fees. While witnesses outlined a variety of policy priorities, they all agreed that the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) requires a stable source of funding.

House T&I Committee Holds First Hearing on 2020 WRDA

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held a hearing on “Water Resources Development Acts: Status of Implementation and Assessing Future Needs.” Witnesses included Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations Scott Spellmon, and a separate panel of water resources stakeholders. Full Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio announced that the Committee would follow the biennial schedule of developing a reauthorization of the Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA) in 2020, and he advocated for passage of the Full Utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Act (H.R. 2440) to invest funds from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) for water infrastructure. Subcommittee Chairwoman Grace Napolitano highlighted a few of her priorities for the next WRDA bill, including dam safety, nature-based infrastructure initiatives, data-driven practices at reservoirs, and reduction of the Corps authorized project backlog. We will continue to monitor any legislative developments regarding WRDA 2020. We encourage you to share your priorities with us.