Wetlines
PMAA and a few coalition members were successful in including a wetlines study and cost benefit analysis which would require the Secretary of Transportation to coordinate with an independent non-partisan organization before DOT’s proposed wetlines rule can be finalized. Late last year, PMAA and coalition members met with House Transportation Committee members expressing our concerns with DOT’s proposed wetlines rule and urged committee members to include language in the Highway reauthorization bill that would require an independent study on wetlines including a cost benefit analysis. PMAA argued that the DOT failed to justify the need for wetlines retrofit because DOT used incorrect incident data which resulted in a seriously flawed regulatory cost benefit analysis. Although this is good news for petroleum marketers, the fight is not over. The House will need to reconcile differences with the Senate, and there is no guarantee that the highway reauthorization bill will be signed into law this year.
Commercialization of Rest Areas
PMAA also continues to urge Congress to oppose any attempt to commercialize rest stops. There is some language in H.R. 7 that would allow expanded tourism advertising, ATM placements, lottery machine access and corporate sponsorships at rest areas. PMAA is working with the Partnership to Save Highway Communities to tighten the rest area language.
Hours-of-Service
Included in H.R. 7 is a section which would require an Hours-of-Service (HOS) study to be completed by March 31, 2013. Until the study is completed, the 2008 HOS rule would remain in effect which would void the recent HOS rule from Dec. 27, 2011 that requires a thirty minute break period for drivers, restricts and limits the 34-hour restart provision, and imposes new fines for violations.
Truck Weight Limits
H.R. 7 includes a provision that would increase the weight of trucks allowed on interstate highways from 80,000 to 97,000 pounds. PMAA supports this provision, which would essentially eliminate an inequitable government regulation permitting six-axle trucks weighing up to 97,000 pounds to travel on some states’ interstate highways and not others. In 27 states, trucks up to 100,000 pounds can travel on interstate highways, but in some states, trucks weighing more than 80,000 pounds must either unload cargo or travel to through secondary roads across small towns. This section is contentious among the railroad and traffic safety advocates who argue that the increase in truck weight limits would increase chances of collisions.
Funding Mechanism Could Potentially Impact Marketers in the Senate Proposal
Meanwhile in the Senate, its highway reauthorization bill would reauthorize programs for two years and totals $109 billion. Portions of the Senate version will be marked up tomorrow by the Banking Committee while the Senate Finance Committee is tasked with finding at least $13 billion to close the funding gap between the bill’s cost and the projected revenue from motor fuels excise taxes. A Finance Committee bill markup date has yet to be set. One of the proposals to close the funding gap includes a transfer of $3 billion from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Trust Fund to help finance the highway infrastructure bill. While PMAA agrees that Congress needs to fund a long-term extension of highway infrastructure programs, PMAA adamantly opposes any proposal to remove vital funds which support important UST related programs.
