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Quick Fix
A COMPLICATED CONFERENCE: Now that the House has passed a surface transportation bill, its leaders have to start thinking about how to hash things out with the Senate. With a deadline just under three months away, things could start to get dicey as the process gets dragged into the fierce riptide of Washington infrastructure politics and reconciliation talk.
Regular order: Under typical circumstances, House Transportation Chair Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) would start sitting down with his Senate counterparts on various committees about how to meld their bills together. The Environment and Public Works Committee has approved its own surface bill, but it’s pretty different from what DeFazio is proposing, largely maintaining a status quo of highway funding, whereas the House bill sets new limitations on how states can spend their money. It also doesn’t include millions in earmarked projects, as the House’s version does. Then there’s the transit problem: The Senate Banking Committee has jurisdiction over the authorization of transit spending but has yet to produce its piece of the legislation.
The bipartisan deal: DeFazio, who is a veteran policymaker and can tell which way the wind is blowing, has expressed a desire to mash up his bill with a bipartisan deal that a group of senators has hashed out with President Joe Biden. But there are a number of issues and barriers with that way forward. For one, there’s no legislative text yet, even though the White House and the bipartisan group agreed on a framework. Also, that process is currently tied to a separate budget reconciliation proposal, which is still in its infancy, and has intense political implications that have made progress slow and negotiations contentious.
The outlook: All of this would suggest that the surface transportation authorization could come down to the last minute, a familiar situation in the Capitol Hill sausage factory. And it’s absolutely still well within the realm of possibility that lawmakers might need to extend the deadline, which was already pushed a year from last September, to give them more time to figure out how to bring together the various competing visions for infrastructure.
IT’S TUESDAY: You’re reading Morning Transportation, your guide to Washington policy and politics on planes, trains, cars and everything that moves. We hope you had a very happy Fourth, and smooth travel whether by air, land or sea. Send your tips, pitches and feedback to [email protected] or @samjmintz.
Aviation
UPDATE ON TRANSAIR 810: The NTSB is searching for a cargo jet on the ocean floor near Honolulu after it crashed shortly after takeoff on Friday, the agency said in a Monday update. The Boeing 737-200 operated by Transair, a cargo company running flights between the Hawaiin islands, crashed into Mamala Bay. Both members of the flight crew were injured but rescued by the Coast Guard and Honolulu Fire Department.
Location still unknown: NTSB investigators have found a small amount of debris, the agency said, but still need to determine the “exact location of the plane on the ocean floor” before they can recover the cockpit data and voice recorders. They were using sonar on Monday to survey the debris field and to try to pin down the condition and location of the plane. Investigators are also scheduling interviews with the two pilots, air traffic controllers and Transair maintenance employees.
NEW AIRLINE RULES COMING: The Biden administration is working on a set of rules creating new consumer protections for airline passengers, our Kathryn A. Wolfe reported Friday. The new regulations were teased by National Economic Council director Brian Deese during the White House’s news briefing.
The specifics: Deese said the rules would make it easier for airline passengers to demand refunds for paid add-on services, such as Wi-Fi and checked bags. "If a passenger pays to check a bag they should get that fee back if the bag doesn't arrive on time — also if the passenger pays for a service like Wi-Fi and it doesn't actually work, that you'll get that fee back quickly," Deese said. Another rule will direct airlines to make these ancillary fees clearer at the time of purchase.
Around the Agencies
SOME OLD FACES ON THE NMB: Biden is looking to fill out a key transportation labor agency, renominating two members of the National Mediation Board, which helps resolve disputes between workers and management in the airline and rail industries. Chair Gerald Fauth and Linda Puchala are the two nominees whom Biden has tapped to reclaim their spots on the board, and they would join new nominee Dierdre Hamilton.
Why it matters: Unions in the industries overseen by the NMB have been calling for months for Biden to refill the board, because Trump appointees retain control until new board members are nominated.
Shifting Gears
Kerry Arndt is leaving the Hill, where she was communications director for the House Transportation Committee, and heading to Navy Yard, where she’ll be joining the communications office of the Department of Transportation.
The Autobahn
— “Infrastructure success could help keep swing Pa. districts — and the U.S. House — blue.” NBC News.
— “Crumbling America: Meet Louisiana's climate-change refugees.” The Telegraph.
— “Gasoline is up and GOP sees an easy target: Biden.” POLITICO.
— “Southwest, American delays hint at hard summer for travelers.” The Associated Press.
— “Why roads in the Pacific Northwest buckled under extreme heat.” The Verge.
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