Federal, State Environmental Developments in the News

U.S. Senate Environment and Public Work Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D. Calif.) has softened her timeline for passage of climate legislation from her original target of June; she now hopes to finish the job by the end of the year.

Meanwhile House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) appears more open to exploring all options in acting on climate change in the coming months.

Both chambers continue to hold hearings on the issue, and attention in the Senate seems to be centering on the cap-and-trade bills and away from Senator Jeff Bingaman's (D-N.M.) intensity reduction bill.

In state developments, Illinois is considering joining the number of states that are taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Also, New Jersey Governor John Corzine (D) has targeted an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gases from 2006 levels by 2050. As an interim goal, his executive order would call for a 20 percent reduction by 2020.

Several states in Australia—the only developed country that joined the United States in rejecting the Kyoto Protocol—have vowed to establish a greenhouse gas trading system.

The White House also has softened its position on climate change. At a meeting this week with PCA staff and other representatives, Council for Environmental Quality Chairman Jim Connaughton—when asked about the viability of the debate over the validity of climate-change science—said a comprehensive approach to reducing greenhouse gases would have the benefits of reducing other emissions, enhancing clean development around the world, and ensuring energy independence.

Contact Tom Carter

Senate Clears Funding Package for President's Signature

The U.S. Senate this week approved a $463.5 billion bill encompassing domestic and foreign aid spending for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007.

Despite some last minute roadblocks, the Senate passed the bill by a comfortable margin of 81-15. The President is expected to sign the measure on Friday.

Of interest to NACA members, the Federal-aid highway program is funded at $38.965 billion, the level authorized in the SAFETEA-LU surface transportation law, and $3.4 billion over the FY 2006 level.

The Airport Improvement Program (AIP), which provides aviation construction grants, is level-funded at $3.5 billion. Although AIP funding is less than the level authorized in VISION-100, it is $765 million over the Administration's FY 2007 request. The spending measure also provides $1 billion for the Clean Water state revolving loan program, an increase of $197 million over the FY 2006 level.

Although transportation and water infrastructure programs received funding increases, other programs of interest to NACA members received funding cuts or were eliminated. Among those were:

• $3.1 billion from the President's request for military base realignment, which will significantly impact the rate of planned military housing construction projects.
• Funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) program. This program spearheaded several research projects that have been successful in advancing the use of cement-based building systems.
• $40 million for the Natural Resources Conservation Service's small watershed dam rehabilitation program.

With the FY 2007 spending measure out of the way, the Democratic-controlled Congress will now focus on FY 2008 spending, which will undoubtedly set the stage for future battles with the Bush Administration.

Contact David Hubbard, Robert Sullivan, or John Sullivan

Transportation Meeting Aims at Congestion, Funding Solutions

NACA partner ACPA was one of a number of transportation organizations participating in a meeting to discuss the future of our national transportation infrastructure.

"Moving Enterprise: Transportation and the Global Economt," co-hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Chamber Foundation, and Americans for Transportation Mobility was held Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

In a keynote address, the Honorable Mary Peters, U.S. Transportation Secretary, told the estimated 100 attendees that fighting traffic congestion on U.S. highways was a top priority for the Administration. Secretary Peters said the agency has a department-wide congestion relief initiative focused on two major components: forming urban partnerships to test leading-edge solutions to congestion mitigation and developing corridors of the future.

On the subject of funding, public-private partnerships were mentioned as a potential solution to help address this critical issue, although it was generally acknowledged that other solutions must be advanced, too. Along with the highway-related topics, discussions also focused on airfields and rail issues.

In addition to Secretary Peters, a number of other speakers, representing various sectors of the Intermodal transportation community, also spoke about key challenges and opportunities facing the transportation community.

Most notably, the need for a new national framework for surface transportation policy was cited as a critical need. In terms of financing, an indexed fuel tax was mentioned several times, regardless of what final funding strategies are decided.

Contact Leif Wathne

House Aviation Panel Criticizes Proposed User Fee

The U.S. House Subcommittee on Aviation this week stated its disapproval of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) plan to restructure the financing of aviation programs.

FAA's proposal would eliminate the 7.5 percent domestic passenger ticket tax and reduce by half the $14.50 international arrival and departure tax. In its place, the FAA proposes to implement an airline industry-supported user fee, raising the fuel tax on general aviation from 21 cents per gallon to 70 cents per gallon including a 13.6 cent per gallon fuel tax on all domestic commercial flights.

At the Subcommittee hearing, FAA Administrator Marion Blakely argued that the new financing plan would be more equitable for the commercial airline industry, which contributes 90 percent of the revenue to the aviation trust fund, while being responsible for 70 percent of the aviation traffic.

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) and Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Costello (D-IL) expressed concern that the funding plan would generate significantly less revenue than the current system. Both the House and Senate aviation panels are preparing to reauthorize FAA programs as the current excise tax expires on September 30. NACA members are evaluating the FAA proposal. Construction groups have expressed concern over the current percentage-based ticket tax because it is difficult to estimate revenue receipts to the aviation trust fund.

Contact David Hubbard, Leif Wathne, or John Sullivan

Congress to Consider Reversing Toxic Release Rule

Members of both houses of Congress plan to introduce legislation that would overturn a recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule to broaden the applicability of the short form for reporting to the toxic release inventory (TRI).

Prior to the rule, facilities releasing more than 500 pounds of a listed chemical had to use the more detailed Form R to report the releases. Meanwhile, facilities could use the shorter Form A for those chemicals released in quantities less than 500 pounds.

The new rule raised the Form R threshold from 500 to 2000 pounds, meaning that the releases are still reported, but in less detail.

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Representative Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) plan to introduce legislation that would overturn the rule, claiming that it keeps important information from the public.

Contact Tom Carter

Committee to Recommend Tighter Lead Standards

The Clean Air Science Advisory Committee (CASAC) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's external Science Advisory Board plans to recommend that the Agency reduce the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for lead.

The current level of 1.5 micrograms per cubic meter of air was established in 1978 and has been reviewed several times since. Each review determined that the standard was adequate to protect human health and the environment.

Since lead was removed from U.S. gasoline, levels in the air have diminished dramatically. For this reason, EPA is considering removing the metal from the list of criteria pollutants originally prescribed by the Clean Air Act of 1970.

The CASAC recommendation is the latest in a series of clashes between CASAC and EPA policy makers that stemmed from the particulate matter NAAQS revision and may have affected the panel's recommendations on the ozone standard currently under review.

CASAC has not yet identified a recommended level for a new standard.

Contact Tom Carter

House Education and Labor Committee Approves Card-Check Bill

The House Education and Labor Committee on Wednesday held a lengthy mark-up of H.R. 800, the Employee Free Choice Act.

Under this legislation, if a majority of workers in a workplace sign cards authorizing a union, then the union would be allowed.

The bill would do away with the long-standing 'secret ballot' system, where employees cast a private vote for or against union representation in a federally supervised election.

During mark-up, several amendments were offered by the Republican members of the committee, including language that would strip the mandatory arbitration section of the bill.

Ultimately, the legislation was favorably reported out by the committee following a 26-19 vote along party lines. It is likely that the legislation will be considered by the full House of Representatives upon return from the President's Day district work period.

Contact Robert Sullivan

House Vote on Minimum Wage Hike Expected Today

The U.S. House of Representatives is poised to approve a tax package worth about $1.8 billion over 10 years, less than one-fourth as big as the U.S. Senate-passed breaks.

The minimum wage bill has become a test case for the new Democratic majority in Congress. The $2.10 an hour increase—from $5.15 to $7.25 over two years—is one of the party's legislative priorities.

Restaurateurs, retailers, and other small-business owners who usually employ low-wage workers contend they need tax relief to make up for the higher overhead of a wage increase.

The Senate bill includes an $8.3 billion tax package that extends tax credits and tax write-offs, while also providing new tax preferences to certain companies. The Senate version also would eliminate some tax shelters and add new taxes on lawsuit settlements and punitive damage payments, as well as on deferred compensation packages for higher paid executives.

The House legislation, though smaller, also would extend business tax credits and increase the amount of capital spending that a business can write off. The House bill would be paid, in part, by eliminating a provision that allows wealthy taxpayers to shift income to their dependent children to avoid higher capital gains and dividend taxes.

Despite efforts to cover the lost revenue caused by the tax breaks, the House bill only provides about $1.4 billion in revenue over 10 years, more than $400 million shy of its total cost.

Both the House and Senate bills provide most of their tax relief over the next five years.

Contact Robert Sullivan

Associations, Government Officials Discuss Mine Safety Implications

As part of a broad coalition initiative, representatives from NRMCA, PCA, and the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association met with officials from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last week to discuss impacts on the association's members from a proposed rulemaking that MSHA issued in late 2006.

MSHA issued the proposal to increase penalties associated with violating the Mine Act, the governing statute which enforces mandatory safety and health standards among the nation's metal and non metal (N/NM) mining sectors, including cement, stone, sand, and gravel.

It was clear during the discussion that MSHA failed to consider key points with significant importance to raw material producers when determining the broad economic effects the proposal would have on the M/NM mining sector.

As a result, the OMB asked for additional information from the associations. The OMB has a 90-day review period for all proposed regulations, and the MSHA proposal has been at the OMB since December 26. A revised proposal is expected in April 2007.

Contact Tom Carter, Tom Harman, Andy O'Hare, or Robert Sullivan

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