When it comes to federal policy toward infrastructure, taxpayers deserve to be in the driver’s seat. And all too often, government falls short of doing so by pushing taxes, spending programs, and regulatory edicts that make the movement of goods and services through the supply chain costlier. Fortunately, several bills recently reported favorably from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee could help to ease those burdens to the benefit of taxpayers. Among the Committee’s legislation that NTU is now watching for additional opportunities to move forward:
H.R. 3316, sponsored by Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR), which would expand the “One Federal Decision” (OFD) regulatory model from its current jurisdiction over highway projects to ports, aviation, and pipeline initiatives as well. The OFD concept, which NTU has enthusiastically backed, creates a streamlined regulatory review across federal agencies, and limits the overall red tape involved in environmental evaluations to ensure a more timely process for determining whether a project can move forward.
H.R. 3372, from Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD), which would create a 10-year pilot program that would allow (not require) states to experiment with prudent truck weights of up to 91,000 pounds on six axles. As NTU has noted for many years, this kind of weight flexibility, supported by sound engineering, could help to ease road congestion while protecting taxpayers from additional construction and maintenance costs. Providing this reasonable latitude could address future congestion problems on the nation’s highways without massive infusions of higher taxpayer funding – thereby lessening the pressure for increases in fuel taxes or federal deficits. It is long past time to gather real-world data on how various truck-weight options can be rightsized to reflect the ideal benefits for highway transportation. Likewise, HR 3318 from Rep. Crawford would permit modest weight variances on dry-bulk truck shipments to account for the fact that these goods can shift their weight in transit.
H.R. 3013, authored by Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), which would make permanent two COVID-based regulatory waivers that reduce the red tape surrounding Commercial Driver’s License testing. Earlier this year, NTU voiced support for this approach, because “[t]he costs associated with obtaining the proper certifications to begin a career can be a barrier of entry for many people looking to make the jump into a new field.” For example, reciprocity among states for CDL qualifications and testing would, if made permanent, help to ease potential future driver shortages that have complicated supply chain problems.
The Committee’s markup late last month featured other bills with the potential to benefit taxpayers, among them H.R. 1500 (sponsored by Rep. Garret Graves, R-LA), which could help to address the persistent problem of traffic-light management. Utilizing third-party data to better sequence traffic signals could help to reduce congestion in a cost-effective manner.
Whether on the roads or rails, seaways or skyways, Congress can be doing more to put taxpayers first. Here’s hoping that the House and Senate will take this opportunity provided by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to do so.