New federal freight bill praised by green transportation group
Written by jrood
A bill introduced July 30 in the U.S. House of Representatives could help transform America's transportation policy and investment by directing federal investment to freight system projects that update the freight system and help reduce freight's environmental and health impacts, according to an environmental advocay group.
The legislation, the
Focusing Resources, Economic Investment and Guidance to Help Transportation Act
of 2010 (FREIGHT Act/HR 5976)-sponsored by Reps. Albio Sires (N.J.), Adam Smith
(Wash.), Laura Richardson (Calif.), and Steve Cohen (Tenn.)-mirrors a Senate
bill (S. 3629) introduced last week by Senators Frank Lautenberg (N.J.), Patty
Murray (Wash.) and Maria Cantwell (Wash.). The bill also complements freight
improvement provisions in the transportation authorization bill introduced last
year by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James
Oberstar (Minn.).
"We look forward to
continuing to work with Chairman Oberstar and Reps. Sires, Cohen, Richardson,
and Smith to ensure that federal freight investment simultaneously modernizes
the outdated freight transportation system and reduces its environmental and
public health impacts," said Kathryn Phillips, a transportation expert with the
Environmental Defense Fund. "These environmental and health impacts are especially
bad in communities adjacent to high-polluting freight hubs."
Freight air pollution is an
enormous health threat. The fine particle pollution from U.S. diesel
engines-the most common engines used in freight-is estimated to shorten the
lives of more than 20,000 people each year.’
The FREIGHT ACT directs the
U.S. Department of Transportation to develop and implement institutional
advances that will improve and coordinate policy within the federal government
and the states:
• A National Freight
Transportation Strategic Plan to guide and inform goods movement infrastructure
investments in future years.
• An Office of Freight
Planning and Development, led by an Assistant Secretary for Freight Planning
and Development/
• A new National Freight
Infrastructure Grants program, a competitive, merit-based program for
multimodal freight investment designed to focus funds where they will provide
the most public benefit.
