Transportation

Rep. Barletta’s family has long been connected to the road construction business. He knows the importance of preserving and improving our roads, bridges, and infrastructure.

Rep. Barletta is a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which has jurisdiction over all modes of transportation: aviation, maritime and waterborne transportation, roads, bridges, mass transit, and railroads. This committee also has jurisdiction over other aspects of our national infrastructure, such as clean water and waste water management, the transport of resources by pipeline, flood damage reduction, the economic development of depressed rural and urban areas, disaster preparedness and response, activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the various missions of the U.S. Coast Guard.

In the 112^th Congress, Rep. Barletta’s work on the committee has been focused on getting America moving again by reinvesting in our infrastructure. In doing so, Americans will get back to work by rebuilding America.

One way to do this is by passing a fiscally responsible, long-termsurface transportation law that includes funding and policy for the federal highway, transit, and highway safety programs. This proposal will streamline and reform federal programs, expedite the project approval process, maximize leveraging of resources, provide flexibility for states, and ensure long-term funding stability for states to plan major infrastructure improvements.This remains one of the committee’s and Rep. Barletta’s highest priorities for the 112^th Congress.

In January 2012, Rep. Barletta joined his colleagues on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure support of the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act, H.R. 7.  The American Energy and Infrastructure Act is a $260 billion, five-year reauthorization and reform of transportation programs that will create jobs and rebuild infrastructure in the district and the nation.  This bill streamlines and condenses the project review process by allowing federal agencies to review transportation projects at the same time, setting hard deadlines for federal agencies to approve projects, and granting more decision-making authority to states.  The measure will be the largest transportation reform bill since the Interstate Highway System was created in 1956.

With Rep. Barletta’s support, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee favorably reported out of the committee and the full House of Representatives passed the following key pieces of legislation:

H.R. 658, FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act, whichauthorizes the policy, projects and priorities of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In April 2011, the House approved the FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011, a fiscally responsible streamlining reauthorization of our nation’s aviation programs that improves our air transportation system for the good of the economy and helps create jobs.

H.R. 2838, the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2011, a fiscally responsible reauthorization of the U.S. Coast Guard, which includes programmatic reforms to help ensure the service can better utilize resources and more efficiently replace its aging assets. The legislation, which was passed by the House in November 2011, also includes important provisions that require vessel owners to install treatment technology certified to meet new ballast water treatment standards, setting a single nationwide performance standard that is technologically achievable and verifiable.

H.R. 2845, Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty and Job Creation Act of 2011, which strengthens pipeline safety programs and creates regulatory certainty in pipeline transportation necessary to allow businesses to create jobs. It was approved by the committee with unanimous bipartisan support. In December 2011, both the House and Senate passed this job-creating legislation.

If you would like more information about this issue, please contact my Washington, DC, office.