House Reintroduces Climate Act

U.S. Representative Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) last week introduced the Safe Climate Act of 2007.

The bill, H.R. 1590, would establish strict limits on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by calling for an 80 percent reduction in U.S. emissions by mid-century. The bill also would cap U.S. Emissions in 2010, and then reduce them by 2 percent per year until 2020. After 2020, emissions must fall by roughly 5 percent per year.

The Waxman bill has 131 cosponsors, including two Republicans: Representatives Chris Shays (R-Ct.) and Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.). An almost identical bill from the 109th Congress peaked at 113 cosponsors.

Waxman's legislation was referred to the Energy and Commerce Committee, where he serves as the second most senior Democrat behind Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.).


Contact Tom Carter, John Shaw, or David Hubbard

Agency Finds Large Capacity for Storing Carbon Dioxide

There is very large capacity across the United States and Canada for storing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced at power plants and other stationary sources, according to U.S. Department of Energy research released Tuesday.

The new "Carbon Sequestration Atlas of the United States and Canada" links more than 3.8 billion tons of annual carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and other stationary sources to more than 3,500 billion tons of potential underground storage capacity for captured gas.

The data were presented by U.S. government officials during a three-day meeting on a voluntary international climate change initiative aimed at boosting carbon capture and sequestration.

The meeting of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, held Monday through Wednesday, included progress reports from officials representing 22 of the world's leading economies. The reports detailed more than a dozen closely monitored carbon capture and sequestration pilot projects.

Click here to find an interactive version of the new "Carbon Sequestration Atlas of the United States and Canada" (Scroll to the bottom of the page to view specific research & development initiatives.)

Contact Tom Carter

Flood Insurance Reform Legislation Introduced

Representatives Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) And Barney Frank (D-Mass.) earlier this week introduced H.R. 1682, the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2007, or FIRM Act.

The FIRM Act reforms the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), a program created in 1968 and administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The NFIP allows the federal government to offer flood insurance coverage that is not available through the private market. NFIP coverage became necessary because insurance companies were not able to offer flood insurance coverage due to the high risk involved.

For the majority of its 39-year history, the NFIP has been a self-funding program. However, flood insurance claims from the 2005 hurricane season have amounted to at least $21.5 billion, more than all claims from all other years combined.

The FIRM Act requires greater accountability and financial responsibility at the NFIP.

The FIRM Act is also sponsored by Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.); Gary Miller (R-Calif.), Gene Taylor (D-Miss.); Richard Baker (R-La.); Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Jo Ann Davis (R-Va.); Maxine Waters (D-Calif.); And Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.).

Contact Robert Sullivan or John Sullivan

House Passes Transportation Technical Corrections Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives this week approved legislation designed to fix mistakes in the surface transportation legislation (SAFETEA-LU or P.L. 109-69) enacted in August 2005.

The bill trims some transportation spending programs to pay for additional research. Of interest to NACA members, the non-controversial bill (H.R. 1195) restored the 80/20 research funding match for the High-Performance Concrete Bridge Technology Research and Deployment program and restored the contract authority language for the Magnetic Levitation program.

Also of note, the legislation extends the deadline by six months for the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission to issue its final report, now December 31, 2007. The bill authorizes an additional $2 million for the Commission.

NACA members are working with key offices in to advance legislation in the U.S. Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee.

Contact David Hubbard, Leif Wathne, or John Sullivan

Update on Air Quality Standards

Further developments occurred this week in the development of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

Notably, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is on the verge of finishing the language for the proposed national ambient air quality standard for ozone that the Agency will submit to the White House for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review.

The court-imposed deadline for the proposal is June, but OMB typically prefers a 60-day review period. EPA is almost certain to propose a more stringent standard than the current level of 0.08 ppm over an eight-hour period.

NACA member PCA is working hard to keep the proposed standard as close to the current level as possible, despite strident efforts to lower the level dramatically to 0.06 PPM or lower.

The Agency's Clean Air Science Advisory Committee (CASAC) of the external Science Advisory Board this week reiterated their call for a significantly lower ozone standard. CASAC also called for a reduction in the NAAQS for lead, which has been reviewed several times but never reduced since it was initially established following the Clean Air Act of 1970. This is in direct contravention to an EPA suggestion to remove lead from the list of criteria pollutants.

Finally, EPA finalized the rule implementing the 1997 NAAQS for particulate matter. This comes as the new PM standard, finalized last year, is currently being litigated.

Contact Tom Carter

House Panel Examines Highway Financing Issues

The U.S. House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Highways and Transit held a hearing this week to examine whether the long-standing federal fuels tax is sufficient to meet future transportation infrastructure needs.

Subcommittee Chairman Pete DeFazio (D-Ore.) announced this would be the first in a series of hearings to look at the fuels tax issue, the principal revenue source for the Highway Trust Fund (HTF).

A panel of four witnesses generally agreed that the federal fuel tax can be reformed, but it remains a critical source of revenue to the HTF.

Among the witnesses, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Deputy Director Donald Marron predicted the cash balance of the HTF will be depleted sometime around 2009, just as the surface transportation law (SAFETEA-LU) is set to expire. He suggested other options for funding highway and mass transit programs, including road-usage fees, more excise taxes, and indexing current fuel taxes.

Bill Buechner, PhD., Vice President of the American Road and Transportation Buildings Association, noted that much of the problem stems from soaring construction costs and a decline in the purchasing power of the fuel tax, which has not been increased since the early 1990's.

Daniel Sperling, PhD., Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy, and founding Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California-Davis, suggested Congress should adopt a carbon-based fuel tax.

ContactDavid Hubbard

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