| | | | | |  | | By Tanya Snyder and Irie Sentner | | | | | — NTSB holds its investigative hearing into the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment this week. — What’s not happening this week: a Senate FAA markup. (Probably.) — AAR sues California’s CARB over a rule that seeks to force the railroad industry to use zero-emission trains. IT’S TUESDAY: You’re reading Morning Transportation, your Washington policy guide to everything that moves. Send tips, thoughts, song lyrics and recipes you like to adaugherty@politico.com, tsnyder@politico.com and isentner@politico.com. Find us on Twitter @alextdaugherty, @TSnyderDC and @iriesentner. "Oh me oh my oh, look at Miss Ohio / she's a-running around with her rag-top down / she says I want to do right but not right now."
| | | | A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports: FAA Reauthorization is at risk. The Senate Commerce Committee has already punted it’s markup of the 2023 bill over controversial negotiations, highlighting what the Coalition to Protect America’s Regional Airports already knows – passengers don’t want any changes to DCA’s slot and perimeter rules. With an already strained aviation sector, America can’t afford to wait any longer for the much-needed bill. Learn more about why we need a noncontroversial FAA Reauthorization bill at https://www.protectregionalairports.com/. | | | | | ACTION IN EAST PALESTINE: Wednesday marks the start of three days of intense focus on East Palestine, Ohio, with the NTSB holding a rare investigative field hearing there on the Feb. 3 train derailment that caused a fireball and a toxic plume as hazardous chemicals from the train were released. The hearing itself is intended to inform the board’s ongoing investigation into the Norfolk Southern derailment that hammered politicians — including DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whom critics lambasted for a too-late response — and captivated the media for weeks. Emergency responders, freight rail lobbyists, union officials, scientists and chemical companies will be testifying, as well as officials from FRA, PHMSA and Norfolk Southern. WHAT WE’RE WATCHING FOR:
- Who shows up. The extended coverage of the derailment in February brought out quite a cast of characters. (ICYMI, read Adam Wren’s excellent piece.)
- Details of what went wrong. Though the board won’t release any probable cause for months yet, often factual details can point to causality and related policy improvements. We’ll be getting those details from both the oral testimony and the hundreds of pages of documents that will be released as the hearing starts.
- Response from the Biden administration and Norfolk Southern. The administration and the freight railroad responsible for the derailment made a lot of promises in February. Have they kept them?
WHAT’S HAPPENING: Wednesday 6 p.m.: NTSB will hold a town hall where residents will be invited to ask federal investigators about their work and share their own experiences. Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., day one of NTSB’s investigative hearing Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., day two of NTSB’s investigative hearing. Our own Tanya Snyder will be on the ground in East Palestine to cover all the twists and turns. You can also watch it live on the NTSB YouTube channel.
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| | DELAYED TAKEOFF: After the markup of the FAA reauthorization, S. 1939 (118), crashed and burned in the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday, the outlook for the bill is still unclear. As Alex laid out last week, Wednesday is the only day before the two-week Fourth of July recess that would be possible for a markup, but Wednesday is out of the question: Aviation Subcommittee Chair Tammy Duckworth will be tied up in defense authorization markups all day. Duckworth took to the Senate floor Thursday afternoon to excoriate senators who might consider voting to change the training rules for pilots, saying such a change “will mean blood on your hands when the inevitable accident occurs as a result of an inadequately trained flight crew.” Reminder: Pilot training isn’t the only sticking point in the FAA bill — slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport are another hot potato — but the amendment to make it easier for pilots to earn their 1,500 training hours, submitted by Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), was the thing that threw the entire bill into chaos on Thursday. The House Transportation Committee was able to approve a change to training rules “and there wasn’t too much hoopla over it, [with opponents] thinking, ‘Well, they'll never do that in the Senate,’” said an aviation lobbyist, speaking anonymously in order to be candid. But Sinema’s sponsorship of the amendment meant that it would be approved in the Commerce Committee, with its 14-13 party split. — Stay tuned for updates. As soon as anyone knows what happens next, you’ll be the first to know. FLY IN THE OINTMENT: A House Ways and Means markup on the routine extension of airport fees that will help fund the FAA bill erupted into a partisan fight recently over what Democrats charged includes an earmark for a member of Republican leadership. The issue arose over a bill, H.R. 3796 (118), that includes a provision similar to a bill, H.R. 2979 (118), introduced by Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) that would designate the Plattsburgh International Airport in her district a “port of entry.” That designation would mean it would be exempt from paying user fees for Customs and Border Protection services like security screenings and immigration inspections, which normally costs the airport about $600,000 a year. Democrats balked at the measure's inclusion in a routine tax extender, with ranking member Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) saying it was included "because we have a high-ranking member of the Republican Party who's very desirous of getting this piece of legislation she couldn't pass in the last Congress approved in this Congress — and I think it's wrong to handle it in this way." But Republicans had the votes to approve it. It hasn't yet hit the House floor. The next question is whether Senate Democrats will take as hard a line in opposition to the provision, given that it benefits Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's home state. Schumer's office didn't respond to a request for comment on the matter.
| | | | A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports:   | | | | | LUFTHANSA CEO Q&A: Summer travel is in full swing, and Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr’s “message from the top” is clear: “Aviation is back. Mobility is back. We have seen nothing like this in terms of turnaround in our almost 100 years.” During his annual trip to the Americas last week, Spohr, who has helmed Europe’s biggest airline since 2014, sat down with POLITICO to discuss sustainability in aviation, differing global approaches to sustainable aviation fuel, how his company is preparing for a summer of busy travel and more. Read the full interview here. SUMMER STRIFE: The Service Employees International Union launched a “wave of escalation” this week at airports across the U.S., starting today with a planned rally in Minneapolis where workers from Swissport Cargo and Swissport USA will call on Congress to “ensure good jobs with living wages and benefits for airport service workers” in its FAA reauthorization bills. FLYING CLOSE TO THE SPACE COAST: The FAA on Thursday announced it will no longer reroute most of the flights from the Northeast into Central Florida during space launches after determining existing airspace restrictions were “too large and could safely be reduced.” The agency estimated that each launch caused up to 36 flights to be rerouted to busier routes, delaying up to 4,300 passengers. MORE 5G ROOM FOR BOEING PLANES: The FAA on Friday issued seven airworthiness directives for Boeing aircraft operating around 5G signals (including 777 and 747 models that foreign airlines have said might not meet the end-of-July compliance deadline for altimeter retrofits). The directive applies primarily to aircraft “that have not been retrofitted with radio altimeters that are tolerant of 5G C-band signals,” the FAA said, noting that most “nearly all” the aircraft in the U.S. fleet already had been. It comes amid tension from some foreign carriers about whether they'll be shut out of serving U.S. airports over the issue.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | | 'NO MORE IMPORTANT PROJECT IN THE COUNTRY': President Joe Biden visited Philadelphia on Saturday morning to tour the site of the I-95 bridge collapse by helicopter with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Shapiro announced "with confidence" that the destroyed stretch of highway will reopen within two weeks. Mayor Jim Kenney, Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) all joined them for the press conference. “I’ve directed my team … to move heaven and earth to get this done as soon as humanly possible,” Biden said. “There’s no more important project right now in the country as far as I’m concerned.”
| | YOU HAD YOUR SAY: The comment period on the EPA’s heavy-truck emissions rule closed Friday. The rule would set new greenhouse gas emissions standards for trucks from model year 2028 through model year 2032 and change some parts of the model year 2027 rule, as well. Check out the docket.
| | | | A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports: Any changes to the slot and perimeter rules at DCA are not in the interest of passenger safety and threaten passage of a much-needed FAA Reauthorization bill. Congress should be focused on improving the nation’s air transportation infrastructure and passenger experience, not making it worse. FAA funding and operating authority will expire in September 2023 unless Congress passes an FAA Reauthorization bill. The Coalition to Protect America’s Regional Airports opposes any changes to the slot and perimeter rules so that we can continue to invest in our airports, passengers, pilots, and air traffic controllers. Learn more at https://www.protectregionalairports.com/. | | | | | CARB GOES TO COURT: Two railroad associations on Friday sued the California Air Resources Board over a rule requiring railroads to pay into a spending account an amount determined by their emissions in California and use the funds in the account to purchase cleaner trains. The railroads say the rule “uses unreasonable, flawed assumptions” and “would limit the useful life” of over 25,000 trains.
| | | | — “East Palestine residents scream for emergency declaration, months after train derailment.” The Plain Dealer. — “There’s no Uber or Lyft. There is a communal Tesla.” The New York Times. — “In Branson, Missouri, a two-wheeled fix for the commuter blues.” The New York Times. — “People are still being awful on flights, and no one really knows why.” NBC. — “How United became an airline.” The Wall Street Journal. — “Storms delay thousands of flights on busy Juneteenth weekend.” CNN. — “With commuters staying home, transit agencies try to reinvent themselves.” The New York Times. — “Analysis: Behind aviation recovery, suppliers struggle to keep up.” Reuters. — “Mumbai finds an underground solution to its above-ground chaos.” Bloomberg. — “Analysis: Lockheed-Airbus face lengthening odds in U.S. tanker re-run.” Reuters. — “Cruising to Nome: The first U.S. deep water port for the Arctic to host cruise ships, military.” The Associated Press. — "Canada announces $350M for sustainable aviation." POLITICO Pro.
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