Author: jrood

Obama urges $53 billion for U.S. HSR

President Obama is advocating a six-year, $53 billion investment in high speed rail (HSR) as part of his thrust to use infrastructure spending to create jobs. The President will call for an initial $8 billion HSR investment in the budget he is set to release next week.

barack-obama-thumbs-up.jpgIn his State of the Union address last month, the President said he hoped to created HSR access to 80% of all Americans within a 25-year period.

Should the divided Congress approve Obama’s budget, the initial rail spending would focus on developing or improving trains that travel up to 150 miles per hour, and connecting existing rail lines to new projects. Republicans control the House of Representatives, while Democrats hold a small majority of Senate seats.

Critics of the President say the current U.S. HSR initiative, which includes higher-speed rail (HrSR) projects, say the current program is too scattered among many projects, most of them not truly HSR in nature. But others counter that choosing a single U.S. HSR project, regardless of location, would be a huge political gamble, allowing rail opponents to focus relentlessly on a single target.

Speaking at Amtrak’s 30th Street Station in Philadelphia Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden outlined three channels of development. "Core Express" will develop electrified trains operating at 125 mph to 250 mph, running on tracks dedicated to passenger service. "Regional" will develop 90 mph to 125 mph service (HrSR), an incremental step toward true HSR. "Emerging" will develop reliable train service in regions that are underserved, increasing access to the larger national intercity passenger rail network.

The President’s proposal received support Tuesday in a joint statement from U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue andAFL-CIO President Richard Trumpka.

Also praising the measure was the National Association of Railroad Passengers. "It is extremely heartening that the White House has the clarity of vision to propose this groundbreaking program in the face of recent narrowly-based attacks on high speed rail in the U.S.," said NARP President Ross Capon. "If we are to develop a modern transportation system that gives Americans the travel choices they need and cut our reliance on foreign oil, we need our leaders to show this steadfast determination to get the job done."

 

KCS partners with law enforcement for Operation Lifesaver

Kansas City Southern will be partnering with the Marshall Police Department to conduct an Operation Lifesaver “Officer on a Train” event at the KCS crossings in Marshall, Mo., starting at 11:00 a.m. on February 8, in an effort to promote public safety at railroad grade crossings.

“KCSR takes its position as a positive corporate citizen very seriously and we are committed to improving public safety in the communities where we operate,” said Allen Pepper, KCSR director public safety. “We are pleased to join forces with local law enforcement to raise awareness about the importance of safety at highway-rail grade crossings and the dangers of trespassing on railroad rights-of-way.”

During the Officer on a Train event, law enforcement officers will be stationed on a moving KCSR train and at nearby crossings, watching for grade crossing violations.  Motorists who do not heed the law may be issued a citation.

Officer on a Train is a safety program that brings local, county and state law enforcement officers into the locomotive cab to observe problems at highway-rail grade crossings and to assist enforcement of motor vehicle laws at railroad crossings.

Operation Lifesaver is an international, non-profit education and awareness program dedicated to ending tragic collisions, fatalities and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings and on railroads’ rights-of-way. To accomplish its mission, Operation Lifesaver promotes education, engineering and enforcement. Operation Lifesaver makes free safety presentations to any group, from child to senior citizen, to encourage safe decisions around railroad tracks and railroad rights-of-way.

CSXT spends record levels with minority suppliers

CSX Transportation, Inc., significantly increased its spending on products and services with minority providers in 2010, setting a new record.

The company spent nearly $105 million with firms owned by minorities and women. The products and services range from signals to technology.

“Encouraging business with minority and women-owned suppliers diversifies and strengthens our supplier base, and creates good jobs for our economy,” said Fran Chinnici, vice president of purchasing. “Good business fundamentals include diversity in all aspects of what we do. We recognize the value of expanding our base of qualified suppliers in a competitive marketplace.”

Despite some consolidation among minority suppliers of specialized rail products, CSXT increased its spending with minority suppliers under the Minority Supplier Purchasing Program. That increase was the result of continually updating its supplier database and reaching out to minority firms to encourage participation in competitive bidding.

CSXT is working with many of its major suppliers to encourage their use of sub-contracted firms owned by minorities and women.

MTA awards contract to become more energy efficient

Pepco Energy Services, Inc., a subsidiary of Pepco Holdings, Inc., and a leader in energy savings performance contracting, has been awarded a $6.2 million, 15-year energy savings performance contract by the Maryland Transit Administration.

Pepco Energy is installing energy conservation measures to help reduce the MTA’s energy consumption. These measures include lighting retrofits, occupancy sensors and daylight harvesting.

"The Maryland Transit Administration constantly looks for ways to maximize energy efficiency in all of our operations," said Ralign T. Wells, MTA CEO.  "Governor Martin O’Malley has encouraged all state agencies to go green and reduce government expenses, and the MTA is leading by example," said Wells.

The MTA also received funding from the local utility rebate program and the Maryland Energy Administration Project Sunburst Grant Program to help finance the project.

The comprehensive energy conservation measures will impact more than 1 million square feet, which includes MTA property and building space at various Local Bus, Metro Subway and Light Rail and MARC Facilities.  

"Pepco Energy is excited to work with the Maryland Transit Administration in revamping its energy infrastructure to improve its energy efficiency and increase user comfort," said John Huffman, CEO of Pepco Energy.

"The Maryland Transit Administration will save more than $560,000 every year, or $9.4 million over the contract term," said Vern Hartsock, MTA deputy director of engineering. "The project will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 2,800 metric tons annually and will decrease energy costs by approximately 13 percent."

Construction began in January 2011 and is due to be complete in August 2011.

ARINC wins contract to provide central control system for Newark Light Rail

 

ARINC Incorporated has been awarded a contract to provide a new central control system for N.J. Transit’s Newark Light Rail operations.

ARINC will design and install an integrated Light Rail central control system, based on the company’s Advanced Information Management (AIM®) Rail Control software platform. The fully integrated AIM system will provide N.J. Transit with a highly reliable and scalable solution for its centralized rail operations. 

“ARINC is extremely pleased to be awarded this important contract by the New Jersey Transit Corporation,” stated Dave Morrissey, ARINC vice president, surface transportation. “Our AIM Rail Control technology is already in service for N.J. Transit on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, RiverLINE, and Commuter Rail operations. We are proud to be serving rail transit passengers across the great state of New Jersey with our advanced, reliable and field-proven rail control platform.”
 

TUV wins subcontracting position with NYC Transit

TUV Rheinland Rail Sciences has won a subcontracting position on a 78-month contract for the performance of professional engineering services relating to Independent Safety Assessor (ISA) tasks for the Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) signal system modernization of  New York City Transit’s (NYCT) Flushing Line. Battelle is the lead contractor of an international ISA team that includes TUV Rheinland Rail Sciences.

TUV Rheinland has been a subcontractor to Battelle previously on the ISA assignment for NYCT’s Canarsie line, which was the first NYCT line to be equipped with CBTC.

The ISA team will provide an independent evaluation of the CBTC supplier’s evidence of compliance with system safety requirements throughout all phases of the Flushing Line’s system modernization. The independent reviews will verify that all safety related requirements have been met in accordance with Federal Railroad Administration Rule 49, Part 236 Subpart H and NYCT Specifications.

Through TUV Rheinland Rail Sciences, the ISA team benefits from TUV Rheinland over 40 years experience in the assessment and certification of safety-critical systems.

BNSF plans $3.5B capital commitment

BNSF will spend a planned $3.5 billion on its 2011 capital commitment program. The largest component of the capital plan is spending $2 billion on BNSF’s core network and related assets. BNSF also plans to spend about $450 million to acquire 227 locomotives and approximately $350 million on freight car and other equipment acquisitions. The program also includes about $300 million for federally mandated positive train control (PTC) and $300 million for terminal, line and intermodal expansion and efficiency projects. BNSF’s expansion and efficiency projects will be primarily focused on the mid-continent and coal routes to improve velocity and throughput capacity.

"BNSF expects to invest approximately $3.5 billion in 2011 to ensure our infrastructure remains strong and to improve the efficiency of our operations," said Matthew K. Rose, BNSF chairman and chief executive officer. "As we demonstrated with our capital commitments during one of the deepest recessions in U.S. history, we remain committed to making the necessary investments to maintain and grow the value of our franchise’s capacity and to provide the nation’s supply chain with more efficient freight transportation."

NS to provide switching services for Port of Indiana

For the first time since the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor opened in 1970, the Lake Michigan port will have an onsite, dedicated rail-switching service. Norfolk Southern has been selected to begin providing switching services for customers of Indiana’s oldest port beginning in February.
 


“We’re excited to partner with Norfolk Southern to improve rail service at our port,” said Rich Cooper, CEO for the Ports of Indiana. “This partnership creates several opportunities for our customers to grow business, including implementing unit trains where appropriate, improving switching services inside the port and working closely with other carriers when opportunities present themselves. Having a world-class Class 1 carrier with a major rail yard, equipment and crews located immediately adjacent to us will create significant advantages for our port customers.”


 
In 2010, the Ports of Indiana submitted a request for proposals from a variety of rail carriers in an effort to improve rail service for current port customers and increase business opportunities involving rail shipments through the port. After an extensive review of several proposals from around the country, the Ports of Indiana selected NS to be the dedicated rail-switching service provider for the port.
 


“We’ve been providing rail service at the Port of Indiana for years, and this was a great opportunity for us to expand our business to meet the needs of port customers,” said Steve Evans, assistant vice president for ports and international business at NS. “This agreement not only improves daily rail service to our port customers, but it will also increase operational efficiencies at both Norfolk Southern and the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad, making it be a win-win for all parties involved.”

The new arrangement still provides direct connectivity to the Indiana Harbor Belt and other rail carriers. 
 


“Our current rail users provided significant feedback on how we could further improve service at the port,” said Peter Laman, port director for the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor. “After reviewing a number of high quality proposals, we believed Norfolk Southern could provide immediate solutions to a number of those issues and they made it clear to us they were interested in helping us identify opportunities that could add new rail volume at the port.” 
 


As one of the largest steel ports in the country, the Port of Indiana annually contributes $3.5 billion in economic activity and 25,941 total jobs to the regional economy.

Two Nordco units become Nordco Rail Services and Inspection Technologies

Nordco Inc. has merged its Nordco Rail Services and Dapco Industries subsidiaries into a single business unit called Nordco Rail Services and Inspection Technologies. The move makes it possible to better serve customers by combining the skills, knowledge and experience of the two companies into a single entity.

Dapco, located in Ridgefield, Conn., has been a developer of ultrasonic, non-destructive wheel and rail testing solutions for railroads and other industries. Nordco Rail Services, of Lee’s Summit, Miss., offers an array of ultrasonic testing services to the railroad industry. The newly formed Nordco Rail Services and Inspection Technologies will maintain facilities in both Ridgefield and Lee’s Summit.

According to Nordco Rail Services and Inspection Technologies President Pat Graham,
the move supports Nordco’s overall strategy to align itself with the needs of customers, and to offer an extensive, integrated array of products and services to the railroad maintenance-of-way industry.

Graham noted that company will build on a shared history of developing new and innovative ultrasonic rail-flaw detection solutions, while continuing to focus on the service side of the business.

“Under the new structure, our main focus at Nordco Rail Services and Inspection
Technologies will be the development and deployment of industry leading rail flaw detection and predictive rail management solutions,” said Graham. “We will be concentrating our efforts on the critical task of partnering with the North American Railroads so that we can continue to develop innovations that are specific to both their current and future needs.”

FRA gives $50,000 grant to address PTSD in train crews

The Federal Railroad Administration has awarded a $50,000 grant to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) to design a program that will mitigate the onset and development of post traumatic stress disorder and acute distress disorder in train crews and other railroad personnel.

PTSD/ASD are frequently suffered by train crews after being involved in collisions at highway-rail grade crossings or trespass incidents involving pedestrians, the two leading causes of fatalities in the railroad industry. NFFF will bring recognized experts in research and practice together with representatives of railway labor organizations and railroad management to examine promising and effective practices in other industries to develop a baseline intervention plan suitable for use by rail carriers, their unions and others.

CAW and CPR reach tentative contract settlement

The Canadian Auto Workers, representing mechanical services employees, and Canadian Pacific Railway reached a tentative contract settlement.

The Memorandum of Settlement will be sent to the union membership for ratification, which is expected to conclude within three weeks.

Details of the tentative agreement will be released following ratification by union members.

Caltrain board elects officers, welcomes new board member

The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which owns and operates Caltrain, elected officers and welcomed a new board member at its meeting February 3.

In a unanimous vote, San Francisco Supervisor Sean Elsbernd was elected to serve a second term as chair to provide continuity in dealing with Caltrain’s $30 million budget deficit. San Carlos Mayor Omar Ahmad was elected vice chair. Chair Elsbernd represents the city and county of San Francisco on the JPB. Vice Chair Ahmad, represents the San Mateo County Transit District on the JPB.

The board also swore in San Mateo County Supervisor Adrienne Tissier, replacing former Supervisor Mark Church. Tissier represents the San Mateo County Transit District on the JPB, which she has been a member of since 2005. She also serves as chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

The JPB has nine members, with representatives from each of the three counties through which the rail service operates – San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara.

Senate Commerce and Banking (Transit) Committee members named

Senate democrats and republicans have finalized appointments to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Senate Banking Committee.

The Senate Banking Committee is responsible for legislation affecting mass transit. Committee chairman is Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.).

Most transportation legislation moving through the Senate affecting air, bus and rail safety and economic regulation is under the initial jurisdiction of the Commerce Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.).

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee members

Democrats:
Jay Rockefeller (W. Va.), chairman

Mark Begich (Alaska)

Barbara Boxer (Calif.)

Maria Cantwell (Wash.)

Daniel Inoye (Hawaii)
John Kerry (Mass.)

Amy Klobucher (Minn.)

Frank Lautenberg (N.J.)

Claire McCaskill (Mo.)

Bill Nelson (Fla.)
Mark Pryor (Ark.)

Tom Udall (N.M.)

Mark Warner (Va.)

Republicans:
Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas), ranking

Kelly Ayotte (N.H.)

Roy Blunt (Mo.)

Jim DeMint (S.C.)

John Ensign (Nev.)
Johnny Isakson (Ga.)

Marko Rubio (Fla.)

Olympia Snowe (Maine)

John Thune (S.D.)

Patrick Toomey (Pa.)

Roger Wicker (Miss.)

Senate Banking (Transit) Committee members

Democrats:
Tim Johnson (S.D.), chairman

Daniel Akaka (Hawaii)

Michael Bennet (Colo.)

Sherrod Brown (Ohio)

Kay Hagan (N.C.)
Herb Kohl (Wisc.)

Robert Menendez (N.J.)

Jeff Merkley (Ore.)

Jack Reed (R.I.)

Charles Schumer (N.Y.)
Jon Tester (Mont.)

Mark Warner (Va.)

Republicans:
Richard Shelby (Ala.), ranking

Mike Crapo (Idaho)

Bob Corker (Tenn.)

Jim DeMint (S.C.)

Mike Johanns (Neb.)
Mark Kirk (Ill.)

Jerry Moran (Kans.)

Patrick Toomey (Pa.)

David Vitter (La.)

Roger Wicker (Miss.)

New $13.5B Trans-Hudson tunnel project unveiled

Amtrak intends to spend $50 million to begin preliminary engineering and design on two new rail tunnels from New Jersey to New York City. The "Gateway Tunnel" project was revealed by U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ), President and CEO of Amtrak, Joseph Boardman, and Amtrak board member Anthony Coscia at Penn Station in Newark. The new tunnels would significantly increase commuter train capacity by allowing NJ Transit to add an additional 13 trains per peak hour into New York City and it would increase the number of Amtrak trains into New York City by eight per hour.

MTA New Haven Line goes to reduced schedule

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority will introduce a reduced winter schedule affecting the Metro-North New Haven Line rush-hour, peak-direction trains starting Monday, February 7. This schedule reduces service by approximately 10 percent percent during peak hours. In nearly all cases, customers will be able to board a train within five minutes of their normal departure time, although in some cases trains will make more stops than normal. During this time, weekday off-peak service will not be affected.

On weekends, a Sunday schedule will be in effect for both days.

These schedule changes, expected to last through March 4, are required because the railroad has had a severe and ongoing shortage of cars available for use on the New Haven Line. The problems with the fleet result from the age of the cars – almost 70 percent of the electric fleet is over 40 years old – and the impact of the unprecedented winter weather on them.

Significant car shortages due to record-breaking amounts of snow and extreme cold have forced Metro-North to operate trains with fewer cars than normal, and to cancel trains, causing severe crowding and train delays. The new schedule will increase the dependability of the trains that are running.

"The service we have been providing has been far less than what our customers have come to expect from us and we strive to provide for them," said Metro-North President Howard Permut. "It is time for us to take these additional steps to improve our service reliability and minimize further inconvenience."

On a daily basis, there are close to 150 electric cars out of service on the New Haven Line. Metro-North employees are working around-the-clock to get damaged equipment back into service. However, with each new weather event, more weather-damaged cars arrive in the shops in need of repair. The cars, which pre-date the creation of Metro-North by about a decade, were designed in a manner that made key components extremely vulnerable to snow. These components include:

-Traction motors, which must be repaired or replaced – a job that routinely takes six or more hours to complete.

-Brakes, which freeze and get stuck from the extreme cold.

-Doors, which won’t close properly because the snow and ice that gets inside the door pockets prevents them from opening or closing on command.

Shop space is limited, further complicating repair efforts. Metro-North employees do not let this limitation stop them, working outside the shops, crawling under cars in the snow and extreme cold to repair components. Every day, repaired equipment goes back into service, and every day, more weather-damaged cars arrive in need of repair.

CCLRT funding agreement sent to Congress

The Central Corridor Light Rail Transit Project in Minnesota is poised to create at least 3,400 jobs now that the federal government has forwarded the Full Funding Grant Agreement to Congress. A 60-day courtesy review will occur prior to execution, when an FFGA will commit the federal government to half of the $957 million project cost. The project already has spent $145 million for design, property and construction. 



“Federal Transit Administration execution expected in April would allow the realization of 30 years of planning to unite St. Paul and Minneapolis by light rail,” Metropolitan Council Chair Susan Haigh said.

It would come 10 years after the FFGA on the first line, the Hiawatha LRT line, was executed. Central Corridor’s ridership is projected to be even higher, with 41,000 average weekday boardings expected by 2030. 



The largest public works project in state history will require at least 800 construction and management jobs a year through 2013. There will be many other jobs created, such as precast and ready-mix concrete jobs, shop labor, etc. More than 600 job seekers already have registered their construction qualifications with www.LRTWorks.org, a website created last year by the Metropolitan Council and funded by the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative. Another 150 jobs will be created when the operations hub opens in a rehabbed building in Lowertown St. Paul. 



With support of both past and present federal and state administrations for the Central Corridor FFGA, the Met Council awarded the major construction contracts last year and began work after receiving sufficient advance funding commitments from local funding partners, creating 571 jobs. 
The 3,400 jobs would be for engineering, construction, management and operations personnel.

Caltrain sets public hearings

The Caltrain Board of Directors has set two public hearings to receive comments on possible service and fare changes, station closures as well as to declare a fiscal emergency.

Caltrain Executive Director Michael Scanlon called the board’s action “the first step in the process” and said, “Hopefully, we will be able to come up with additional funding sources before we are forced to implement drastic service changes.”

Operation of the current 86-train schedule would result in a $30 million deficit. With projected available funds, Caltrain would be forced to operate 48 trains only during weekday peak-commute hours. In addition, service would be suspended at up to seven of the following stations: Bayshore, South San Francisco, San Bruno, Burlingame, Hayward Park, Belmont, San Antonio, Lawrence, Santa Clara and College Park.

All other service would be eliminated, including weekday service outside the commute peak, service south of the San Jose Diridon station and weekend service.

Service for special events, including baseball games and Bay to Breakers, also would be suspended.

A 25-cent increase to the base fare also will be considered.

Caltrain’s fiscal year begins July 1 and changes to service would take effect July 2.

The public hearings will be held at the March 3, Caltrain Board meeting.

Additionally, four community meetings will be held throughout the Caltrain service area to give the public additional opportunity to review proposals, ask questions and provide comment.

Feb. 14 – 7 p.m. San Jose City Hall
Feb. 16 – 6 p.m. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
Feb. 17 – 6 p.m. Gilroy Senior Center
Feb. 17 – 6 p.m. San Mateo County Transit District

NS facilitated $2.5 billion in industrial investment along rail lines in 2010

Norfolk Southern participated in the location of 67 new industries and the expansion of 28 existing industries along its rail lines in 2010.

New plants and expansions represented an investment of $2.5 billion by NS customers and are expected to create 2,000 jobs in the railroad’s territory, eventually generating more than 132,000 carloads of new rail traffic annually.

Norfolk Southern assisted state and local government and economic development officials throughout 16 states in helping customers identify ideal locations for new and expanded facilities.

"The energy sector again anchored our results during 2010," said Newell Baker, assistant vice president of industrial development. "Norfolk Southern assisted in the location or expansion of 32 energy-related facilities in 12 states across our service area. Biofuels production and distribution accounted for the lion’s share of energy projects, with nine new and expanded facilities that began to receive NS rail service in 2010. In addition, we are seeing the first fruits of traffic from Marcellus Shale gas exploration projects, and we expect this to be a strong sub sector for us in the coming years."

The balance of other projects secured during 2010 was distributed among several of the broad product areas NS serves.

NS works with state and local economic development authorities on projects involving site location and development of infrastructure to connect customers to its rail system and provides free and confidential plant location services, including industrial park planning, site layout, track design and logistics assistance.

CN, MPA and others reach agreements to improve supply chain efficiencies for container traffic

CN, the Montreal Port Authority and the two companies that operate the port’s three key container terminals have completed two service agreements that will drive a strong focus on supply chain efficiencies.

The two agreements – one signed by CN, the port authority and Montreal Gateway Terminals Partnership, which operates the CAST and RACINE terminals and another signed by CN, the port authority and Termont Montreal — complement a framework agreement that CN and the MPA reached in September 2010. Under last fall’s agreement, CN and the port decided to develop a best-practices vision for the gateway’s supply chain, improve productivity and leverage these gains to increase their share of global container traffic.

The CN-MPA-terminal operator agreements establish key performance indicators to improve the fluidity of the gateway. These include specific metrics for container dwell times at terminals, railcar availability, rail on-time performance and vessel performance.

Claude Mongeau, CN president, said: “CN is pleased to have reached these important service agreements with the key players in the Port of Montreal container business. We all have a mutual interest in supporting our North American import and export customers and the ocean shipping lines. Clear, daily performance metrics will drive continuous improvement in performance and help expand the Port of Montreal’s business.”

“Our innovative agreement with CN and the MPA will help us deliver a better service to the ocean carriers and their customers,” said Kevin Doherty, chief executive officer of MGT. “The establishment of a service-level agreement recognizes the interdependency of our businesses. This co-dependency makes it imperative that we continue working collaboratively as we develop our services to our mutual clients.”

Mica announces major field hearings and public forums


Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-FL) has announced the locations for a series of national field hearings and public forums on pending major surface transportation legislation.
 


The nationwide meetings with state and local officials and transportation stakeholders will help inform the Committee’s drafting of a long-term reauthorization of the nation’s highway, transit and highway safety programs. The legislation will help improve transportation infrastructure and promote job creation in the nation’s hard-hit construction industry.
 


The Committee will seek input on how to consolidate and improve the performance of programs, cut government red tape and streamline the project delivery process, increase private sector investment in our infrastructure, identify creative financing alternatives and other ideas for writing the legislation. The previous multi-year law (SAFETEA- LU) expired in September 2009.
 


“The best ideas to improve and streamline government programs often come from outside of Washington, and before we draft any legislation these meetings will provide the Committee with valuable insight and information,” Mica said.  
 


Chairman Mica, Members of the Committee and other lawmakers will participate in the hearings and meetings, which will begin on February 14, 2011 in West Virginia, home state of the Committee’s Ranking Democrat Member Nick Rahall.