... ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

Autos Driving Towards Carbon Caps

The U.S. auto industry appears to be adopting a supportive stance regarding mandatory cap-and-trade legislation for greenhouse gases. Under questioning from the House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee, executives from Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor North America, General Motors Corp., and the Chrysler Group of Daimler Chrysler all said they would back a new U.S. climate law with cap-and-trade regulations. Representative Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and the automobile executives suggested the legislation would regulate “upstream” inputs such as fuel, including encouraging more rapid introduction of renewable fuels. Opening the hearing, Rep. Boucher, the chairman of the Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee, said he hoped to pass climate legislation through the House before the end of the year. He also repeated his vow to write an economy-wide, cap-and-trade bill that could overcome a Senate filibuster and be signed into law by President Bush.

Contact: Deidra Ciriello

CASAC Urges Much Tighter Ozone Standard

A panel of outside advisors to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—the Clean Air Science Advisory Committee (CASAC) of the Science Advisory Board—unanimously recommended that EPA dramatically lower the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone. The current standard, established in 1997 but not yet fully implemented, is 0.08 parts per million. CASAC recommended that the standard be reduced to between 0.06 and 0.07 ppm, with a strong preference for the lower value. The panel cited studies showing reduced lung function among healthy young adults from short-term exposure to ozone at 0.06 ppm. EPA is under court order to propose a new ozone NAAQS by June 20, 2007.

Contact: Tom Carter

House Panel Approves Water Resources Bill

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved the long-overdue Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) reauthorization bill (H.R. 1495) this week, clearing the measure for full House consideration. Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) said that the bill would likely come up on the House floor prior to the April recess.

Meanwhile, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee staff announced that the committee will mark up its WRDA bill on March 29. Both Oberstar and Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) pledged to keep new projects out of the pending legislation. New project requests would be included in a second WRDA bill that would be considered following enactment of the current legislation.

The WRDA legislation authorizes various Army Corps of Engineers flood control, navigation, environmental restoration, and shoreline protection projects. Final legislation will likely include a provision establishing a peer review process for Corps projects. The House Committee-approved bill requires peer review on projects that cost more than $50 million.

Contact: David Hubbard or Robert Sullivan

Senate Railroad Competition Bill Introduced

On March 15, legislation was introduced in the Senate aimed at increasing competition between the Class I freight railroads. The legislation would ensure rail customer access to rail competition; ensure a workable rate challenge process at the Surface Transportation Board (STB) for those rail customers without access to transportation competition; ensure the STB is a proactive agency by empowering it to suspend and investigate unreasonable rail practices; and clarifies and enforces the railroad obligation to serve, similar to other monopolistic industries. The legislation would also empower the STB to address rail customer service issues.

Senators John D. Rockefeller (D-W.V.), Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and David Vitter (R-La.) are the lead sponsors of the legislation. Plans are underway for Representatives James Oberstar (D-Minn.) and Richard Baker (R-La.) to introduce companion legislation in the House. Oberstar chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that has jurisdiction over the legislation.

The Senate bill was introduced to coincide with the “3rd Annual Rail Customer Day” held on Capitol Hill. Several PCA member companies organized congressional visits to lobby in support of the legislation. No bill number was assigned at press time.

Contact: David Hubbard

Representative James Oberstar (D-Minn.), the new chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, indicated recently that he would consider authorizing a pilot project that would test the effects that raising truck size and weight limits would have on the nation’s highways. This reflects a course change for Oberstar who has been a critic of longer-combination vehicles and who is regarded as a leading safety advocate on the T&I Committee.

Oberstar said that there needs to be extensive discussions regarding the locations where heavier trucks could be accommodated and where they would help relieve congestion. He said that any permanent plan to expand sizes and weights would likely require separate truck lanes built to higher standards and that there may be a separate fee system for use of the reinforced roadways.

Oberstar’s comments reflect a positive realism about a common sense method of meeting the increased transportation demands as the nation’s economy continues to grow. Source: Transport Topics.

Contact: David Hubbard or Robert Sullivan

Questions about this newsletter? For more information or to unsubscribe, send an e-mail to info@washingtonbriefing.com.