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Newsline Washington
May 20, 2013
Obama Directs Agencies to Streamline Permitting Process
Highway Trust Fund’s Bleak Future Focus of June Fly-In
President Obama issued a May 17 Executive Memo directing agencies to “advance the goal of cutting timelines for major infrastructure projects in half.” The memorandum is a continuation of an Executive Order from March 2012, which established a multiagency “Steering Committee on Federal Infrastructure Permitting and Review Process Improvement” to advance methods to speed-up project approval. The May 17 memo directs the Steering Committee to consider a number of ideas Continued on page 4
May22ARTBA WebinaronSurety Bonding While most construction projects have a surety bond requirement, the surety’s vital role is often misunderstood. On Wednesday, May 22, ARTBA is providing its contractor members with answers to frequently asked questions on surety bonds during a special, 60-minute Continued on page 2
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According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Highway Account revenues can fund no more than $3.1 billion of new obligations for highway improvements in FY 2015—an eye-popping 92 percent decrease from the $40 billion level authorized for FY 2014. The Mass Transit Account would be in even worse shape, with existing revenues unable to fund any new transit obligations in either FY 2015 or FY 2016. This situation will not go away on its own. Members of Congress have three options: 1) let highway and transit program funding drop
precipitously to what can be supported by existing revenues and jeopardize hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs; 2) continue to supplement Highway Trust Fund (HTF) revenues with general funds and add to the federal deficit; or 3) generate new revenues for the HTF by raising existing highway user tax rates or enacting new revenue sources. It’s up to transportation design and construction professionals to educate Congress about the imminent challenges facing the HTF, and educate them why the third option is the best policy
solution to improve the nation’s aging infrastructure, create and sustain jobs, and improve U.S. economic productivity and global competitiveness. The June 3-5 ARTBA Federal Issues Program and Transportation Construction Coalition provides several opportunities to deliver this message in face-to-face meetings with members of Congress and their staffs. Participants will also receive briefings on pending legislative and regulatory matters, and current transportation construction market conditions. Register today!
Register for ARTBA’s June 5 Transportation Construction Law & Regulatory Forum. ARTBA Washington Newsline
WebinaronSuretyBonding Continued from page 1
webinar led by Chrisopher Anzidei, an experienced construction lawyer, specializing in resolution of complex construction, surety, and contract disputes. Anzidei is a suretyship instructor for bar review courses in Virginia and North Carolina and teaches legal writing courses as an adjunct professor at his alma mater, Georgetown University Law Center. By the end of this webinar participants will know: the purpose of surety bonding, how a surety bond differs from insurance, if the bond form matters, the rights and remedies of the principal, obligee, and surety, and defenses available to sureties. Registration is $99 for ARTBA members and $150 for non-members. Contact ARTBA’s Brie Johnson with any questions.
Upcoming Events
2013
Visit our Events Page for more information. Project Management Academy May 29-31 Snowbird, Utah. [Add to Calendar]
Federal Issues Program & TCC Fly-In June 3-5 Washington, D.C. [Add to Calendar]
Young Executive Development Program June 3-6 Washington, D.C. [Add to Calendar]
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5th Annual Transportation Construction Law & Regulatory Forum
Dr. J. Don Brock TransOvationTM Workshop & Awards Program
25th Annual ARTBA P3 Conference
Local Transportation Management Virtual Conference & Innovation Showcase (LoTransTM 2013)
June 5 Washington, D.C. [Add to Calendar]
July 24-26 Washington, D.C. [Add to Calendar]
ARTBA National Convention September 8-10 Milwaukee, Wis. [Add to Calendar]
October 28-30 San Jose, Calif. [Add to Calendar]
November 19-20 [Add to Calendar]
Regional Meetings
Western: December 2-3, Austin, Texas Central: December 4-5, St. Louis, Mo. Southern: December 9-10, Charlotte, N.C. Northeastern: December 11-12, Baltimore, Md.
Historic Transportation Funding Bill Signed by Va. Governor Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) signed the largest transportation funding bill in the commonwealth’s history May 13. At left (standing near the podium) is Jeff Southard, executive vice president of the Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance, ARTBA’s affiliated chapter that was a major supporter of the legislation. ARTBA is currently tracking 32 other state-level transportation funding initiatives. For more information, please contact Lital Shair.
Don’t Miss the June 5 Annual ARTBA Construction Law & Regulatory Forum
Products & Services
The 5th annual ARTBA Transportation Construction and Regulatory Forum, scheduled for June 5, is being held in conjunction with the ARTBA Federal Issues Program, allowing members to maximize their trip to Washington, D.C. Federal Highway Administration Chief Counsel Fred Wagner will deliver the keynote address. Wagner will discuss top issues for the administration, including MAP-21 implementation and project delivery reforms. Other panel sessions will focus on environmental compliance, alternative dispute resolution, DBE compliance, and more.
This is your best deal! Purchase ARTBA’s best-selling training videos as a three-pack and save $75. These videos provide: “common sense” tips for avoiding runovers and backovers, instruction on the proper use of PPE, and the fundamentals for becoming a better and more commanding flagger. To purchase: www.artbastore.org
Speakers include: • William Penny, member, Stites & Harbison; • Neal Sweeney, partner, Kilpatrick Townsend; • Mike Branca, partner, Peckar & Abramson; • Lorraine D’Angelo, senior vice president, Ethics and Compliance, Dragados; • Chris Anzidei, Law Offices of Christopher Anzidei, PLLC; • Matt DeVries, attorney, Stites & Harbison; • Jamie Auslander, principal, Beveridge & Diamond; • Parker Moore, principal, Beveridge & Diamond; and • Chris Brasco, partner, Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald. Participants will also have the opportunity to attend a networking reception with ARTBA past chairmen and the ARTBA Foundation’s Young Executive Development Program fellows. Registration is $395 for past attendees, ARTBA committee members, and those who register separately for the ARTBA Federal Issues Program; $595 for ARTBA members; and $750 for non-members. Register today, or contact ARTBA’s Sara Jones for more information. ARTBA Washington Newsline
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Overheard
Legislative & Regulatory News Streamline Permitting Process
“When it comes to building Continued from page 1 and repairing roads, states are going nowhere fast. long championed by ARTBA Starved of revenue, they aimed at reducing delay, such have been underfunding construction and maintenance as greater coordination among by as much as $185 billion per federal agencies and reducing year…the simplest, fairest and unnecessary duplicative work least invasive way to respond during the project review to lower gas tax revenue is process. While the President’s with higher gas taxes.” efforts are separate from the May 13 “USA Today” editorial, “Gas tax alternative takes wrong turn.” “So the latest deficit numbers, though interesting, settle nothing. They don’t provide a road map for long-term budget discipline or resolve the debate over the short-term effects of deficits. They do provide an excuse for both Congress and the White House to postpone genuine discussion and decisions.” May 16 “Washington Post” oped, “The $542 Billion Excuse,” by columnist Bob Samuelson, about the projected drop in the 2013 federal deficit. “If you look at some of the opposition to [Water Resources Development Act] WRDA that has been coming from the environmental community, [EPW Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)] has clearly made a decision that advancing legislation is a lot better than issuing press releases. And so she’s had to do things that some traditional stakeholders of the Democratic Party have not been enthusiastic about.” ARTBA’s Dave Bauer, senior vice president of government relations quoted in “Politico” May 16. 4 ART BA Washington Newsline
project delivery reforms in the “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century” (MAP21) reauthorization law, the Executive Memo represents another positive step in the effort to reduce delays to transportation improvements. ARTBA will closely follow the Administration’s progress in this area and provide input on how to achieve meaningful reforms to the transportation project delivery process.
Senate Approves Water Infrastructure Bill The U.S. Senate May 15 passed 83 to 14 legislation authorizing a variety of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects to improve water transportation, flood control, and water-related environmental restoration. The measure includes a number of key ARTBA priorities, such as provisions to accelerate the environmental review and approval of water projects and ensure that all Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund user fee revenues are fully invested to improve the flow of goods into and out of the nation’s ports and harbors. House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) has said he
plans to try to move comparable legislation through the House this summer. View the latest “Washington Newsline Plus” for more details about the Senate’s action.
DOT Official Calls for More Goods Movement Projects U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari May 15 told members of a House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee “special panel” that federal investment in freight improvement should be increased. Porcari said that despite the success of efforts like the TIGER grant program—which has awarded approximately $1 billion to freight projects since 2009— and the Transportation Infrastructure Financing and Innovation Act and loan guarantee program, freight needs vastly exceed current investment levels. Rep. Jerold Nadler (D-N.Y.) called for a return of another grant program, the Projects of National and Regional Significance (PNRS), to help tackle the need for large, multi-
modal projects. In the past PNRS were heavily earmarked by members of Congress and, therefore, some questioned if the program supported projects of the greatest need. Assistant Secretary of the Army Jo-Ellen Darcy, who heads up the Army Corps of Engineers, also testified before the panel and received criticism for the Obama Administration’s expressed dissatisfaction with the call for increased investment in port and harbor improvements. Darcy explained that, due to budget constraints government-wide, dramatic increases for water projects would require cuts elsewhere. The T&I Committee’s “special panel,” chaired by Congressman John Duncan (R-Tenn.), is tasked with creating a bipartisan set of recommendations for future legislation on multimodal issues, such as goods movement.
Surprise, Surprise: Anti-
Multimodal News
Fostering Innovation
A service of ARTBA’s multimodal councils, it features current transportation developments making news across all modes and regions. Contact Sara Jones to become a subscriber or visit www.artbamultimodal.org.
TRB Newsletter: May 14
Highlighting new research, technologies, industry best practices and information resources available to the transportation design and construction industry.
Highway Group Issues Report Claiming Americans Driving Less The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) released a May 14 study that claims “The Driving Boom is Over” and that younger Americans are driving significantly less than previous generations. The report bases these conclusions on the driving patterns of the “millennial” generation (people born between 1983 and 2000) and the fact that “people aged 16 to 34 drove 23 percent fewer miles in 2009 than they did in 2001.” The PIRG study repeats the common flaw of many recent claims about the demise of driving by ignoring the global recession that lasted from late 2007 to mid2009. For example, the report fails to mention the current unemployment rate for the millennial is 13.1 percent—well above the 7.9 percent overall national rate. While travel for the last four years has been roughly 3 percent below its
pre-recession peak in 2008, the overall U.S. economic and employment situations remain the primary factors in automobile travel trends.
Senate Panel Sets Confirmation Hearing for DOT Nominee Foxx The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee has scheduled a May 23 confirmation hearing on President Obama’s nominee, Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, to be the next U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Foxx’s nomination has generated little controversy to this point, but senators are still expected to question him on a wide range of transportation issues. If approved by the Commerce Committee, Foxx will then have to be confirmed by the full Senate.
ARTBA News ARTBA Urges Senators Not to Single Out Construction in Immigration Debate The Senate Judiciary Committee last week began consideration of legislation, S. 744, to reform the nation’s immigration laws. ARTBA wrote to all senators May 13 to emphasize the importance of an efficient and dependable employment verification system for U.S. employers and expanding temporary visas for all classes of future foreign workers. ARTBA expressed concern about an S. 744 proposal for a new guest worker program that would limit the number of temporary visas for the construction sector. ARTBA urged senators to modify the legislation to ensure the construction sector would be allowed to fully participate in this program.
ARTBA & Allies Warn EPA Against Possible Ozone Settlement ARTBA, along with 11 other industry associations, warned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) May 13 not to enter into exclusive negotiations with a professional environmental organization, Earthjustice, over tightening the federal Clean Air Act’s ozone standard. The groups urged EPA to make any discussion over the ozone standard transparent and involve all of the regulated community. For the transportation construction sector, stricter ozone standards would result in more counties being out of compliance with the Clean Air Act, which could threaten federal highway funding in these areas. EPA has yet to issue a response to the associations’ concerns. Read the full text of the letter.
ARTBA is now accepting story submissions for the May/June issue of its bimonthly magazine “Transportation Builder” (TB). The annual “innovation issue” spotlights the transportation construction industry’s use of pioneering design and construction techniques, materials, equipment, state-of-the-art technology or improved safety features. Stories should be 250 words or less, and should include the project or product’s official name, location, cost, completion date and partners, if applicable. Please include a photo (minimum 300 dpi). View an example of last year’s project profiles, and send your write-up and photo to TB Editor Jenny Ragone by May 24.
Register for ARTBA’s June 5 Annual Transportation Law & Construction Regulatory Forum. ARTBA Washington Newsline
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White House Honors ARTBA Members Four ARTBA members along with eight other individuals were honored May 8 at the White House as “Transportation Champions of Change” for their leadership in developing technology solutions that enhance performance, reduce congestion and improve safety across the transportation industry. They include: Thomas Dingus, director, Virginia Transportation Technology Institute (VTTI) Under Dr. Dingus’ leadership, the VTTI has been instrumental in conducting transportation
safety and human factors research; and testing connected vehicle and other smart transportation technologies. José HolguínVeras, director, Center for Infrastructure, Transportation, and the Environment (CITE) at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Dr. Holguin-Veras’ development of an off-hour freight delivery system has led to substantial improvements in the ability to model and induce changes in the behavior of the freight industry.
Michael L. Pack, director, CATT Laboratory at the University of Maryland Mr. Pack’s work on automated transportation data sharing, dissemination and archiving systems has dramatically changed the way public agencies think about information sharing and enabled more efficient use of government resources.
John R. Hillman, CEO & chairman, HC Bridge, Inc. Mr. Hillman holds four U.S. patents for his landmark bridge technology. His most noteworthy achievement is the invention of the HybridComposite Beam (HCB), economical structural beam for railroads, highways and marine structures that offers a service life of more than 100 years.
25th Annual Public-Private Partnerships in Transportation Conference
SAVE THE DATE July 24-26
Grand Hyatt Washington Washington, D.C. Featuring a special gala awards dinner Program Contact: ARTBA P3 Division Managing Director, Hank Webster at 202.289.4434.
Program Contact: ARTBA P3 Division Managing Director, Hank Webster at 202.289.4434.
Sponsorship & Exhibits: ARTBA Events,EdEdTarrant Tarrant at 202.289.4434. Sponsorship & Exhibits: ARTBAVice VicePresident President of of Meetings Meetings && Events, at 202.289.4434.
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