Voting 88 to 11, the Senate passed an energy bill that will offer a wide array of incentives and tax breaks to encourage conservation, encourage more use of corn-based ethanol and other alternative fuels (including a ban on the oxygenation agent methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE), and encourage purchases of energy-saving appliances, the Washington Postreported.

Its provisions are expected to triple production of ethanol to be used in fuel blends -- to produce "gasohol" -- but also include Sen. Max Baucus' amendment to move 2.5 cents of the federal tax on ethanol-blended fuels, or "gasohol," into the Highway Trust Fund beginning October 1, 2003. The Montana Democrat has spearheaded a move to redirect that portion of the tax on ethanol blends from the General Fund, where it was originally placed for deficit reduction, to transportation use. It would generate an estimated $590 million a full year for two years, and an estimated $700 million annually thereafter.

The energy bill as passed by the Senate does not clear the way for drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - which the House-passed version of the measure did permit - and does not include a Democratic-inspired increase in motor vehicle efficiency standards, by 50 percent over 13 years. Both approaches had been put forward by the opposing sides on the bill as ways to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

Action on the measure, S 517, had spread out over about six weeks as the Democrats, who control the Senate, and Republicans representing the positions of the Bush Administration had gone head-to-head on several controversial segments. In the end, however, votes on several segments, and on the final bill, did not reflect strong party-line splits.

President's Veto Position Unknown

President George W. Bush noted that the Senate bill contains "many of the provisions" he had sought, and said he looks forward to working with conferees.

The House-passed version of the measure, HR 4, contained clearance for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. An attempt to resurrect that is likely from House conferees, but the Senate is likely to remain strongly opposed, the Post reported. The president has not indicated whether he will veto the measure over that issue.

The bill does include language, also backed by the House, to encourage construction of a natural-gas pipeline from the northern slope of Alaska to the lower 48 states.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) said it's possible there will be no agreement on a final reconciliation between the House- and Senate-passed bills. "There's no requirement we have an energy bill this year," he told the New York Times.

The Senate-passed bill would require utilities to gradually increase the percentage of electricity generated by wind, solar power and other renewable energy resources, rising to 10 percent of energy produced by the year 2020. As a concession to large electricity providers, it would repeal the Public Utility Holding Company Act, which dates back to the Great Depression and restricts the ownership and operations of utilities.

It would also give businesses and consumers tax breaks of up to $14 billion over the next 10 years to encourage new energy source development and conservation of existing resources. The House bill offered more than twice that level of incentives. And it would set new efficiency standards for home appliances, but tighter standards for air-condition efficiency were rejected.

MTBE, Ethanol Provisions Spur Controversy

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), who led the drive for expanded use of ethanol to oxygenate gasoline for pollution abatement, faced some internal opposition from Democrats in states where consumers may face higher gasoline prices because insufficient ethanol production or distribution in, or near, those states may create market scarcities.

Specifically, Democratic senators from California - where Gov. Gray Davis has delayed a state ban on use of MTBE due to gasoline-price-spike concerns - and New York complained they had been left out of negotiations over the ethanol language in the Senate bill, the CQ Daily Monitor reported.

Attempts by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, and Barbara Boxer, D-CA, to ease provisions that required states to boost ethanol use while phasing out MTBE were rejected, along with Feinstein's proposed amendment to delay implementation and Boxer's amendment to clarify that ethanol producers could be sued if their product could be shown to harm people or the environment.

Expediting the environmental approval process for critical airport capacity projects was a top concern of House and Senate transportation committees prior to Sept. 11. The subsequent drop-off in air travel due to the terrorist attacks resulted in less delays and congestion at airports, and attention was drawn instead to developing and implementing new security measures. This year air travel has slowly increased, and the Federal Aviation Administration has projected that the attacks resulted in a temporary blip in the expected number of future flights.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Thursday cleared the Airport Streamlining Approval Process Act of 2002 (ASAP). The bill (H.R. 4481) was previously considered and approved by the House Aviation Subcommittee on April 18, and the full committee passed the bill after minor modifications were made to address concerns by Democratic members.

The legislation includes provisions that:

• Direct the Department of Transportation to coordinate the process and agencies involved in approving environmental reviews, within deadlines established by DOT. The process is to be outlined under a Memorandum of Understanding among DOT and other agencies;
• Allow states to participate in the coordinated review process;
• Establish procedures for notifying Congress if agreed-to deadlines are not met, and direct agencies to report on reasons for any missed deadlines and steps to be taken to complete reviews; and
• Bind any federal or state agency doing an environmental review that requires an analysis of purpose and need to be bound by the purpose and need for specific capacity projects as determined by DOT. Further, DOT is directed to decide which alternatives and analytical methods should apply to a capacity project.

S. 1991 by Committee Chairman Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC), titled the National Defense Rail Act, would also add security funding to passenger rail and take Amtrak out from under the "operating self-sufficiency" requirements imposed on it in 1997 under another law. There also is a high-speed rail component in the measure. The bill overall would offer Amtrak a $58 million combination of appropriations, loans and loan guarantees. The Hollings bill passed out of committee by a vote of 20-3, and a proposed amendment to establish an Amtrak Control Board, offered by Amtrak critic Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), was rejected.

The panel also turned down a McCain amendment requiring approval of the Secretary of Transportation before Amtrak could assume further debt, including capital leases or equipment loans. McCain refrained from offering the total of 29 amendments he had prepared.

"We've treated Amtrak with benign neglect over the years, and guaranteed it wouldn't perform as we wished," Hollings told the committee.

Amtrak executives have identified rail corridors the passenger-rail service will cease serving if further financial support from Congress is not forthcoming. Bolstered by federal subsidies since its inception, Amtrak has been under Congressional orders to alter its operations in order to pay for all its own costs by the end of this year.

Roll Call Daily reported that Domenici, who is up for re-election this year, said the new position would give him a chance to "work more directly on federal highway policies, rural economic development and disaster relief policies." He also cited the environmental issue, in some western states including New Mexico, of arsenic contamination in drinking water.

AASHTO's priority objectives also include maintenance of funding guarantees and firewalls, and amendments to the revenue-aligned budget authority program to make it less susceptible to economic swings; retaining the basic program structure; increasing flexibility to meet priority needs for security, safety, congestion relief, freight, preservation and capacity; and improving environmental stewardship and streamlining.

The comprehensive reauthorization policy position adopted by the Board addressed the following topics: planning and conformity, environmental stewardship and streamlining, interjurisdictional and intergovernmental issues, surface transportation, research, operations/ITS, safety, security, freight, transit, and finance.

After consultation with the DOTs, transportation officials throughout government and fellow transportation groups, the AASHTO staff will bring a refined set of proposals to the Board of Directors for action at the AASHTO Annual Meeting in October.

AASHTO Treasurer Larry King and AASHTO Director of Management and Business Development Jack Basso presented a menu of reauthorization financing options to the Board of Directors on Sunday.

Because inflation will erode transportation-financing revenue much more sharply than increased economic activity, including travel, will boost it, King said "Doing nothing is not an option."

Expanded economic activity -- estimated at 2 percent a year -- could over 6 years starting late in 2003 bring in $186 billion, a 9 percent increase over the TEA-21 total of $171 billion. But over that same period of time, purchasing power is projected to decline by 26 percent. King said that will trigger a real decline in purchasing power. Some means of growing the program must be explored, and there are several potential pieces to that puzzle, he said.

The Board directed staff to explore a series of revenue-generating options and financing initiatives to show how growth in the program could be funded.

Several Approaches Considered

King noted that there are several approaches that might lead to a growing program, but each has pros and cons that affect their likelihood of being a factor when Congress is slated to enact reauthorization legislation late next year.

Means of increasing revenue for infrastructure may include changes in the tax break now accorded to ethanol gasoline blends, drawing down the surplus in the Highway Trust Fund, or an outright fuel-tax increase. But King noted none of those steps individually will cover projected program needs, and all are subject to debate that could take them off the table before Congress makes final reauthorization decisions.

In brief, the reorganization plan aims to keep the committee out in front of developing issues in the highway engineering field. It was brought about, in part, by a need to fit in a stronger emphasis on such areas as operations, maintenance, and program delivery.

Committee changes in SCOH's structure include:

• Two new "councils" were created, on Project Delivery and Operations. Councils would be comprised of the leaders of SCOH subcommittees. One role of the councils will be to ensure information is shared among subcommittees and their activities are coordinated. Councils also will give guidance and direction on technical issues to the subcommittees, review work plans, and identify key policy areas for full SCOH involvement.
• Two new task forces were created on Cost Estimating and Non-Motorized Transportation.
• AASHTO staff will take responsibility for coordinating continuing education crediting of units in conjunction with SCOH and related subcommittee meetings; coordinate with the Local Technical Assistance Program Association; represent AASHTO on the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Laws and Ordinances; and oversee the annual applications for the Theodore Matson Award.

Though great strides have been made in transportation safety by AASHTO member DOTs and associated groups in recent years, the nearly 42,000 highway deaths recorded in 2000 -- the most recent full year for which national statistics are available -- means it is not enough, Mallory said.

Noting that he received, on AASHTO's behalf, an award from the American Road and Transportation Builders Association recognizing state DOTs' financial support for work-zone safety efforts, Mallory said "I'd a heck of a lot rather been receiving an award for reducing the number of work-zone fatalities." Such deaths rose substantially - from 872 in 1999 to 1,093 in 2000 - nationwide despite concerted efforts by AASHTO, ARTBA, the American Traffic Safety Services Association and the Associated General Contractors to focus public attention on work-zone safety.

AASHTO activities in recent months promoting safety included partnership with CALTRANS and FHWA to host a national forum on Integrated Traffic Incident Management; a two-week European scan on highway safety management, led by Idaho DOT Director Dwight Bower; and the inaugural meeting of the Future Strategic Highway Research Program's Technical Panel on Safety, led by Nebraska Department of Roads Director John Craig.

AASHTO also got strong nationwide press coverage of the event it annually cosponsors, National Work Zone Awareness Week, with a national event held this year in Maryland, at which AASHTO was represented by its Vice President, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary James Codell, and Maryland DOT Secretary John Porcari.

Regarding security, Mallory said Missouri DOT Secretary Henry Hungerbeeler has secured $2.25 million in National Cooperative Highway Research Program funds through AASHTO's Transportation Security Task Force. The panel has issued several professional service contracts and in early May expects to distribute new AASHTO security handbooks on vulnerability assessment and emergency response.

Reauthorization Progress

Mallory also pointed out that, as AASHTO members plan their approach to reauthorization of TEA-21, considerable progress has been made on eliminating the cut in revenue-aligned budget authority (RABA) originally planned in the federal budget at the beginning of the year. He thanked board members for their leadership role in convincing Governors, members of Congress and Senators to back restoration of most, if not all, of the planned cut.

Environmental Stewardship and Streamlining

Finally, Mallory cited progress in environmental stewardship and streamlining. In December, he and members of AASHTO's Environment and Planning Committees briefed Federal Highway Administrator Mary Peters on AASHTO's recommendations on what FHWA could do administratively to advance environmental streamlining.

Mallory said a business plan has been developed for AASHTO's Center for Environmental Excellence, visits have been made to five states to determine the range of services desired, and AASHTO has hired Chris Hoellen, previously with the Transportation Research Board, as the center's director. AASHTO has the support of Administrator Peters for the center, Mallory said.

Looking toward June, he also said AASHTO in conjunction with FHWA , the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and others, will hold a national conference on historic preservation.

AASHTO Board Adopts Resolutions on Safety, Funding, Superpave

AASHTO's Board of Directors adopted several policy resolutions speaking to issues of safety, transportation financing and other topics at AASHTO's Spring Meeting April 18-22 at Nemacolin Woodlands, Pennsylvania.

Copies of the full text of the resolutions, in final form, are enclosed for members of the Board.

The resolutions include:

• PR-1-02, concerning use of child booster seats in vehicles, which resolves that AASHTO encourages all states that have not yet done so to upgrade child passenger-safety laws to eliminate loopholes that leave children unprotected, and to include provisions that children be properly restrained in age- and size-appropriate restraint seating devices, including the use of booster seats for children up to 8 years old unless they are at least 4'9'' tall;
• PR-2-02, requesting continued advice from the TRB Superpave Committee, which resolves that AASHTO requests that the National Research Council clear the way for the Transportation Research Board's Superpave Committee to keep providing advice and guidance to AASHTO and its relevant committees and subcommittees regarding technology transfer, standards development, and research needs related to deployment of the Superpave system through calendar year 2005;
• PR-3-02, concerning implementation of AASHTO's Strategic Highway Safety Plan, which resolves that the AASHTO Board supports development of the lead-states concept for implementation of safety guides, and urges its members to assess their crash and fatality data and become a lead state in one or more of the emphasis areas where there is a state concern to significantly reduce annual state and national deaths and injuries;
• PR-4-02, concerning long-term maintenance of load and resistance factor design specifications, which resolves that the AASHTO Board supports establishment of a technical service program and to solicit voluntary contributions from the member departments to implement the LRFD specification program;
• PR-5-02, concerning restoring FY 2003 highway funding, which resolves that AASHTO urges the full Senate to adopt a FY 2003 budget resolution and appropriations bill funding highways at at least $28.9 billion, and further urging funding at the FY 2002 level of $31.8 billion, and urging the House to support funding at this level as well.

The Board also adopted two revisions to existing policy resolutions. One, numbered PR-2-01 (revision 4/02) urges the U.S. Department of Transportation to work with other appropriate federal agencies, and AASHTO, to develop statutory, regulatory and procedural proposals for a single consolidated process that would eliminate overlap of Section 106 and Section 4(f) requirements for historic properties potentially impacted by federal-aid transportation proposals, and to bring the treatment of Section 4(f) properties in line with the principles of NEPA.

The change in practice also will include the lifting of a late-night ban on flights and resuming use of the airport by Boeing 757 jets. The longtime approach of having planes follow the river was altered to require straight-line paths which crossed several residential neighborhoods, because that would make straying aircraft easier to detect. Terrorists used four hijacked U.S. aircraft last September 11 as flying bombs, deliberately crashing them into structures including the two towers of New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon; the fourth plane crashed in a rural area of Pennsylvania, apparently after passengers determined the hijackers' goals and sacrificed their own lives to foil the plan.

"For the commercial side of the airport, it's just really great," said Jonathan Gaffney, spokesman at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. "Now we can say we're 100 percent back." Reagan National was closed for an extended period following the terrorist attacks, due to security concerns about its proximity to major public buildings.

A U.S. Department of Transportation spokesman, Lenny Alcivar, said the Bush administration has determined that strict security at Reagan National -- including more air marshals on National flights and the fortification of cockpit doors -- make the straight-in flight paths no longer necessary.

Passengers will still be required to stay in their seats within 30 minutes of departing or arriving at National, and a ban on general aviation to and from the airport remains in place.

First Federal TSA Screeners Starting at BWI

In just four months since its invention hit the news, the battery-powered, two-wheeled vertical scooter now most commonly known as the "Segway" has won legislative clearance for sidewalk use in 20 states - but some safety activists are concerned about the effects on pedestrians.

"I'm not against Segway devices - they're phenomenally innovative and exciting - but I'm concerned that if we allow (them) onto sidewalks, this will be a major injury waiting to happen," Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Columbus Children's Hospital in Ohio, told The Washington Post.

The scooter, formally dubbed the "human transporter" and also known by the terms "It" and "Ginger," lets a rider stand on a platform over its single axle, moving forward by leaning on handlebars and slowing down by pulling back on them. Though it is vertical, and weighs up to 95 pounds, it is stabilized by gyroscopes and can travel up to 12.5 miles an hour under battery power.

Between the weight of the device and the weight of the rider, Smith said, "with that much mass, even traveling at 12.5 miles an hour, the virtual laws of physics say they won't be able to stop on a dime," he said.

Charles Trainor, chief traffic engineer for Philadelphia, agrees: "Our sidewalks are pretty crowded now, even without a Segway, and some of our center-city streets aren't wide enough" to accommodate the scooters and regular pedestrians as well.

The device, invented by engineer Dean Kamen who holds more than 150 patents, is being tested for possible use by the U.S. Postal Service, the Atlanta Police and the General Electric Company.

Brian C. Toohey, vice-president for international and regulatory affairs for Segway, said it is not meant for roadway use, and as a result is not fitted out with turn signals, rear-view mirrors and similar accessories. The company has retained lobbyists in an attempt to get various states to clear its use on sidewalks, and sought letters from federal agencies prior to the unveiling of the device detailing how safety officials would regulate it.