Subject: POLITICO's Morning Transportation, presented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International: For lawmakers, yet another WMATA smoke incident strikes at an inconvenient time — Tea party snub comes one day before Shuster primary — Katko aviation security bill gets last-minute add-ons
From: Morning Transportation <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2016 08:02:47 -0600

By Martine Powers | 04/26/2016 10:00 AM EDT

With help from Jennifer Scholtes, Kate Tummarello, Annie Snider, Heather Caygle, Lauren Gardner and Kalina Oroschakoff
 
THE PLOT THICKENS: After yet another smoke incident occurred on the Washington Metro's Red Line over the weekend, WMATA officials say they're looking at a wholly different cause than other smoke incidents that have plagued the system in the past. After ruling out an issue with power cables, which sparked similar recent episodes, investigators now think a metal part may have become dislodged from a railcar and made contact with the third rail, causing the loud sounds and smoke that alarmed passengers on board.
 
Congress gets word: By Monday night, news of the Saturday incident hadn't made many inroads on the Hill; Sens. Ben Cardin and Tim Kaine (of Maryland and Virginia, respectively) said they hadn't heard about the incident, but agreed that it was cause for concern. "Look," Cardin told MT, "we can't tolerate additional lapses, so we have to find out what happened." Kaine said it's still too early to hold General Manager Paul Wiedefeld totally accountable for incidents like this one that occur on the rails - though he maintained that Wiedefeld must demonstrate quickly that the agency is finding ways to prevent more of these occurrences from happening. "I have a lot of concerns," Kaine told MT. "I
 do think we have to give the current GM, in this institution that didn't have a GM for a while, that in my view was not being managed well ... we have to give this new GM the ability to grab hold and fix it."
 
Making the case for additional funding: Still, Kaine added, issues like Saturday night's incident don't help the region's lawmakers push for additional support for WMATA. "Because, look, we have to make the case for WMATA funding here because the capitol region doesn't run without it, but we can't make the case until we feel confident in the management," Kaine said. "Appropriations ... is a time when you have a lot of these discussions, because you're trying to make these arguments to your colleagues, and you can only do it if you really can make the case that we finally have somebody in place who's gonna get this on the right track."
 
IT'S TUESDAY: Good morning and thanks for tuning into POLITICO's Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports.
 
Say what you want: Tom Brady is an innocent man. Free Tom Brady! Send news, tips, greetings, letters of support to [email-masked] or @martinepowers.
 
"I've been to London/I've sailed a ship around the world." (h/t Zack Marshall)
 
TODAY'S THE DAY: House Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster's primary battle is today, complete with a last-minute kink in the race: On Monday, the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund Chairwoman Jenny Beth Martin announced the group is endoring Shuster's opponent, Art Halvorson. "Art Halvorson wants to rescue America. He is a strong constitutional conservative who, like many of his soon-to-be constituents, feels that the Republican Party has betrayed him," Martin wrote in a statement. "Art is an entrepreneur who understands firsthand both the defense challenges facing our nation and the economic opportunities available - if government would just unleash the power of the private sector."
 
ONLY THE FRESHEST BILL TEXT: Rep. John Katko's aviation security bill is inheriting a few new lines before it's called up for a floor vote in the House today. The measure orders the TSA to size up security at foreign ports with flights directly to the United States and allows the agency to help them out, too. The additions: language requiring the TSA to assess how well those foreign hubs share passenger name records, as well as provisions that would force the agency to request that its independent Aviation Security Advisory Committee report back with ideas for making passenger screening speedier and better by considering new technology, ways to stop perimeter breaches and to address the
 security vulnerabilities dredged up in the past year. Pros get a glimpse at that updated text here: bit.ly/1VPcTfr.
 
MIXED MESSAGES ON THE MARAD FORECAST: The Maritime Administration reauthorization is scheduled for a markup on Wednesday, and Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune told POLITICO that there are still issues being hashed out between the parties over some the dozen amendments that have been filed so far. "We're still trying to work out a few issues," he said, but Sen. Deb Fischer, one of the co-sponsors of the bill, seemed more optimistic. "I think we're ready to go on it. ... I think everything's pretty well worked out, there'll be some we agree with and some we don't, but it'll be good," Fischer told MT.
 
WORD UP, WRDA Today's the day Senate Environment and Public Works Committee leaders unveil their new Water Resources Development Act. This year the measure, which typically deals with Army Corps of Engineers projects and policy, has become the new vehicle for Michigan senators' bid to send aid to the lead-contaminated city of Flint. That portion of the bill is the same as was hammered out weeks ago under the auspices of the Senate's energy bill, according to details obtained by Pro's Annie Snider, including money not just for the Michigan city, but for communities across the country with aging and failing infrastructure, while offsetting the spending with cuts to an Energy Department
 advanced vehicle loan program.
 
But it's not all Flint. The more than $9 billion WRDA bill authorizes 25 new Army Corps projects, including Everglades and Los Angeles River restoration efforts, harbor work in Charleston, S.C., and flood protection projects in New Jersey and California, while creating policy changes like requiring the corps to update its reservoir operations, and establishing new programs like grants for innovative water technologies. The bill may be much more svelte than the 2014 bill, but that's the point: lawmakers are hoping to prove they can put Congress back on an every-other-year schedule for the bills.
 
BATTEN THE (CYBER) HATCHES: The Government Accountability Office is warning that the Department of Transportation must step up efforts to help automakers defend against cyberattacks infiltrating vehicle-to-infrastructure technology. The agency cited the potential for confusion if the agency needs to respond to a vehicular cyberattack, including "the lack of transparency, communication, and collaboration regarding vehicles' cybersecurity among the various levels of the automotive supply chain and the cost of incorporating cybersecurity protections into vehicles." Though NHTSA vows to continue working on vehicle cybersecurity issues, "NHTSA has not yet formally defined and documented its
 roles and responsibilities in the event of a real-world cyberattack," the GAO wrote. "Until it develops such a plan, in the event of a cyberattack, the agency's response efforts could be slowed as agency staff may not be able to quickly identify the appropriate actions to take."
 
** A message from the Air Line Pilots Association, International: By proposing to grant Norwegian Air International (NAI) a foreign carrier permit, Transportation Secretary Foxx is failing to enforce our Open Skies agreement with the European Union, thereby harming tens of thousands of U.S. workers. Secretary Foxx should stand up for U.S. workers and immediately deny NAI's request. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d35393a5401d5a75dc5afa707dd5fac4b317d212843c087be2aa9ece00f4f15f **

BUS SAFETY: DOT has announced a notice of proposed rulemaking that would mandate testing to determine whether special window glazing and improved emergency exit latches on buses might be necessary to ensure that passengers are not ejected out of windows and doors on impact. From Jennifer Scholtes: "The test simulates a scenario in which an unbelted passenger's body hits a window on the opposite side of a bus during a rollover crash. Besides improved glazing, the agency wants emergency exit latches to work after they have been impacted and to ensure latches don't protrude so far into exit window openings that they hinder passengers' ability to get out."
 
THE AUTO INDUSTRY REACTS: Europe's car industry on Monday reacted to test results published by Germany's transport ministry and the U.K.'s transport department in the wake of the VW emissions scandal. The message: Yes we know that there's a gap in results from lab tests and tests done in real driving conditions, we've known for a long time, and that's why we need to move to implement real driving tests as soon as possible. But it's not going to be easy, said European Automobile Manufacturers' Association's Secretary-General Erik Jonnaert. They represent "a tremendous effort for Europe's car manufacturers." While the second step of introducing the tests were wrapped up this year, the
 industry is now waiting for the European Commission to come forward with what the last two steps will entail, expected by October 2016 and early 2017, respectively.
 
Recalling their cars: As a reminder, the German transport ministry on Friday released the report by its inquiry commission. VW was found to be the only one to illegally manipulate emissions data yet the findings triggered a move by other car manufacturers like Audi, Porsche, Mercedes and Opel, on top of VW, to voluntarily recall 630,000 diesel cars. They used a legally permissible tweak during emissions testing, the so-called "thermal window." The S&uuml;ddeutsche Zeitung website used the occasion to argue that Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt, like his predecessors, doesn't want to clash with the powerful car industry. The Ministry's findings (in German): bit.ly/1MTkUNg. The SZ:
 bit.ly/1pyB4jM
 
IRISH POLITICIANS PUSH SUPPORT FOR NORWEGIAN IN THE USA: While lawmakers and lobbyist organizations have lambasted DOT's decision to grant tentative approval to Norwegian Air International to fly to the United States, politicians in Ireland are urging their own diplomats to keep the pressure on DOT and prevent the U.S. agency from caving to naysayers, according to the Irish Times. Norwegian's plans to operate in the United States would include service between Cork and Boston. "Hopefully the Cork-Boston service will take off but I think people are getting a small bit carried away by what happened last week - the issuing of the [tentative approval] is very good news but it's certainly not a
 formality because I expect there will be a lot of lobbying going on," Cork Councillor Tom O'Driscoll told the Irish Times. "I would imagine various people who want to stop this will go all out and make one last effort to block it. ... People should not be getting euphoric about it - yet."
 
Flint Crisis Could Happen in Cities Across America: Flint's water crisis began with a decision to save public funds. With the need to tighten budgets, have mayors felt forced to make cost-saving decisions that could lead to a threat in public safety or health? Mayors tell POLITICO Magazine that aging bridges, roads, and water pipes are some of their most pressing issues in our quarterly Mayors' Survey, part of the Magazine's award-winning "What Works" series. Read More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d35393a5401d5a7582d7843a666ea024ad429bd76495916c34fb9425df1a9853
 
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
 
- "A complete guide to the major problems facing Metrorail." The Washington Post.
 
- "Metro board chairman says smoke incidents could happen again." WTOP.
 
- "U.S. Motor Travel Rises at Record Pace in February." Reuters.
 
- A compelling counter-argument to that time-worn adage that widening highways doesn't help congestion. Wired.
 
- "Blowing Dust Closes I-10 Stretch Between Arizona, New Mexico." The Associated Press.
 
- "BMW to Let Car Owners Rent Out Vehicles Like 'Airbnb on Wheels.'" Bloomberg.

THE COUNTDOWN: DOT appropriations run out in 159 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 81 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 197 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 1,621 days.

** A message from the Air Line Pilots Association, International: The Department of Transportation's (DOT) order proposing to approve Norwegian Air International's (NAI) request ignores both the terms of our the Open Skies agreement and the will of Congress. NAI's operation as a "flag-of-convenience" carrier in Ireland would allow the airline to skirt Norway's employment laws, give NAI an unfair economic edge, and put tens of thousands of U.S. aviation jobs at risk. 

DOT's decision is at odds with the letter, spirit, and intent of the U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement and is opposed by U.S. and EU labor unions, airlines and others. More than 200 members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have urged Secretary Foxx to enforce the U.S.-EU agreement and deny the NAI application.

The Obama Administration needs to stand up for fair competition and U.S. jobs and deny NAI a foreign carrier permit. Learn more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d35393a5401d5a75dc5afa707dd5fac4b317d212843c087be2aa9ece00f4f15f **

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