Airport Alert: House Committee Approves Surface Transportation Bill; Leaders Prepare Broad Infrastructure Bill for Floor Consideration
June 18, 2020
After a two-day markup the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today approved a 5-year surface transportation bill. The move comes as House Democrats are preparing to bring a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill to the House floor that is expected to include billions of dollars for airports and other aviation initiatives.Infrastructure Package
House Democrats are planning to include the surface transportation bill in a broad infrastructure package known as the "Moving America Forward Act." Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and other Democratic leaders unveiled their plans during a press conference earlier today.
Democrats are making the case that infrastructure investment would help stimulate the economy and create good-paying jobs at a time when the country is still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) hit on this theme during the press conference.
"While this pandemic is far from over, we must now turn our attention to restarting our economy and getting hard-working Americans back on the job," Neal said. "I've been saying this for a long time: substantial investments in our nation's infrastructure will spur economic growth and uplift our workers and families."
According to a summary that House Democrats released today, their infrastructure package includes funding for traditional infrastructure such as "highways, bridges, rail, airports, ports/harbors." It also calls for investing in schools, housing, broadband, drinking and wastewater and includes other initiatives.
Democratic leaders intend to bring the infrastructure package to the House floor during week of June 29 and finish before July 4. We have been urging key lawmakers and Congressional staff to add provisions to the measure that would help airports build critical infrastructure projects and deal with significantly less revenue and new expenses related to COVID-19.
Airport Provisions: House Democrats have not released details on airport provisions in the infrastructure package. But Chairman DeFazio gave us a glimpse of what to expect during today's markup. He told his colleagues that House Democrats plan to add an aviation title to the infrastructure bill that would add billions of dollars for airports.
"We have a provision in the larger infrastructure package that would increase investments in critical airport projects that would reduce emissions -- particularly targeted to decreasing emissions -- increase climate resiliency, and make other needed investments including the potential to make available renewable fuels for aviation," DeFazio said. "It will be a very significant title, numbering in the billions of dollars."
Bond Provisions: The infrastructure package is expected to include various bond initiatives that could also help airports. According to the summary of the infrastructure package, the bill will spur "private investment through the tax code by permanently reinstating Build America Bonds and Advance Refunding Bonds, and increasing and expanding the issuance of Private Activity Bonds."
The Tax Cut and Jobs Act, which Congress passed in late 2017, repealed advance refunding bonds despite objections from airports. Doing away with advance refundings was expected to increase federal revenues by approximately $17 million over ten years, and Republican lawmakers needed ways to pay for the $1 trillion "tax" package.
Surface Transportation Bill
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today approved the INVEST in America Act, a bill that focuses on highways, rails, transit and other surface transportation initiatives. Lawmakers filed more than 300 amendments, and the Committee considered a handful of airport-related proposals.
Airport-Related Amendments
Crawford/Critical Infrastructure Workers: The Committee adopted an amendment offered by Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR) that would provide priority COVID-19 testing of "essential critical infrastructure workers." It also calls for those workers to have "priority access to personal protective equipment, sanitizers, nonmedical-grade facial coverings, and other health-related or protective supplies...."
The list of essential critical infrastructure workers includes those "who support the operation, distribution, maintenance, and sanitation, of air transportation for cargo and passengers, including flight crews, maintenance, airport operations, those responsible for cleaning and disinfection, and other on- and off- airport facilities workers."
Garrett Graves/Streamlining: The Committee rejected an amendment offered by Aviation Subcommittee Ranking Member Garret Graves (R-LA), that would have streamlined the environmental review process for safety, capacity and general aviation airport construction or improvement projects.
Garrett Graves/EPA: The Committee rejected another Graves amendment that would have added a number of projects to those categorically excluded from environmental review including: solar power or wind turbine systems; zero emission charging systems; fueling stations for alternative vehicles; small-scale renewable energy pilot projects; short pipeline segments; and small-scale ground source heat pumps.
Smucker/Innovative Financing: The Committee approved an amendment offered by Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) that would allow DOT to approve applications at up to 30 airports to use innovative financing techniques to help lower costs and expedite airport infrastructure projects. The amendment also proposes to expand Letters of Intent to small airports.
Spano/Emergency Stabilization for Airports: The Committee rejected a package of amendments including one from Rep. Ross Spano (R-FL) that included a number of airport provisions:
AIP Apportionments: The amendment would have ensured that airports receive higher apportionments despite the dramatic drop in enplanements this year.
Cargo Entitlement: It proposed to use CY19 landed weight for cargo in FY22 to determine the cargo entitlement instead of using the landed weight numbers in CY20.
Contract Towers: The amendment included our request to temporarily suspend the benefit/cost (b/c) analysis for contact tower airports except those that have or plan to submit applications in FY20 and FY21.
Unclassified GA Airports: The amendment would have allowed newly unclassified GA airports to continue to receive AIP funds for a broader list of projects including primary runway pavement.
