Transpo Part of Emissions Reduction Plan

The transportation sector is part of a Biden administration plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.

The U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization outlines the emission reduction strategy. It was developed by the U.S. departments of Energy, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Biden administration is seeking to create a “100 percent clean electrical grid” by 2035, USDOT said in a news release.

The transportation sector blueprint builds upon components of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Senate Committee Recommends STB Nominee, 5 Amtrak Board Nominees for Confirmation

The Senate Commerce Committee has recommended confirmation for one Biden administration appointee to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board and five nominees to the Amtrak Board of directors.

However, Railway Age magazine reported it is uncertain if the nominees will receive a floor vote due to limited floor time and the tradition of pairing Democratic nominees with Republican nominees for the purpose of confirmation.

All six of the nominees are Democrats, including incumbent STB member Robert M. Primus, who was nominated for a second term.

Nominated for the Amtrak board were Anthony R. Coscia, David M. Capozzi, Christopher Koos, the Rev. Samuel E. Lathem and Robin L. Wiessmann.

Railway Age said none of the six nominees appears to be in danger of being rejected if the Senate is able to vote on their confirmation.

President Joseph R. Biden is expected to renominate all six if they do not receive a vote this month.

Of the five Amtrak board nominees, Coscia, is the current board chairman, a post he has held since 2013. Three of the other nominees would replace members whose terms have expired but federal law allows them to continue serving until they or a successor is confirmed by the Senate.

The fifth Amtrak board nominee would fill a long-vacant position.

There are two Republican hold over members of the Amtrak board and another vacancy that must be filled by a Republican nominee.

As for the STB position, the term of nominee Primus expires at the end of this year but federal law enables him to remain in the position for up to year.

Machinist Union Members Ratify Contract

A seventh railroad labor union has ratified a contract with management.

The International Association of Machinists (District 19) said on Saturday that 52 percent of its members ratified the contract agreement.

It becomes the first union whose members ratified the contract after previously voting to turn down an earlier contract agreement.

Thus far members of two unions – the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, and the Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen – have turned down the contract.

Both of those unions continue to negotiate with the National Carriers Conference Committee, which represents railroad management.

Three other unions have yet to complete the ratification process, including unions representing locomotive engineers and conductors.

A work stoppage could occur as early as Nov. 19. The maintenance of way union has said it would not strike before that date.

The next union to announce ratification results will be the International Association of Boilermakers and Blacksmiths on Nov. 14.

“We are confident that this is the best deal for our members,” the IAM rail division said in a statement announcing the results of the ratification process.

“District 19 leadership worked day and night to communicate the agreement’s benefits and what would happen if it was rejected.”

In the meantime, numerous trade associations representing railroad shippers have urged Congress to step in and legislate a settlement before a work stoppage can occur.

Railway Age reported that Senators Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) and Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) are expected to sponsor legislation heading off a work stoppage.

They plan to make that effort shortly after the Nov. 8 elections. Earlier, Burr and Wicker introduced a resolution to impose the recommendations issued in August by a presidential emergency board.

That resolution was cited by IAM leadership as a example of what could happen if union members rejected the contract reached with the NCCC.

The PEB recommendations did not include some additional benefits pertaining to time off and sick days that the contract contains.

The presidents of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, and the SMART Transportation Division are expected to make similar arguments during a town hall meeting to be held Nov. 9, Railway Age reported.

Both presidents, Dennis Pierce and Jeremy Ferguson respectively, had initially refrained from heartily endorsing ratification of the contract, but of late have begun to urge their members to approve it.

The Railway Age report said rail union leaders and labor-friendly members of Congress are increasingly fearful that President Joseph Biden, who has often called himself the most labor friendly president of all time, will not be so labor friendly should a work stoppage occur and it begins to damage the nation’s economy.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said on Friday in an interview with CNN that he expects Congress to block a work stoppage later this month.

Walsh, who was instrumental in brokering a tentative contract agreement in September, said he prefers that the two sides work out their differences at the bargaining table.

But if that doesn’t happen, “Congress will have to take action to avert a strike in our country,” Walsh said.

Other unions that have ratified the contract include the American Train Dispatchers Association, Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, National Conference of Firemen and Oilers, SMART Mechanical Division, and Transportation Communications Union.

Shippers Ask Biden to Intervene to Prevent Rail Strike

Railroad shippers are asking the Biden administration to again intervene to thwart a national railroad work stoppage.

Several trade groups collaborated to send President Joseph Biden a letter asking him to work with railroad labor unions and railroad management to win ratification of a tentative contract.

Thus far that contract has been rejected by healthy margins by two unions, ratified by six unions and four unions are still voting.

The Biden administration in September intervened with union leaders and the National Carriers Conference Committee to reach a tentative agreement that headed off a potential work stoppage then.

The letter sent by trade groups representing manufacturers, farmers, food and beverage producers, and retailers cited the adverse effects a work stoppage would have on the nation’s economy.

“It is paramount that these contracts now be ratified, as a rail shutdown would have a significant impact on the U.S. economy and lead to further inflationary pressure,” the letter said.

“Because the White House played such a central role in the process, we believe it can be helpful in continuing to move the process forward in a positive direction. Otherwise, Congress will be called upon to act.”

A railroad work stoppage would not occur before December. The United States last saw a work stoppage in 1992.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier this week that the administration has been in contact with the two sides.

During a press briefing, she would not say if Biden has been involved in those talks.

She described as “misguided” any view that Congress would quickly settle any work stoppage as it has in past disputes.

“We stand ready, as we did earlier this year, to support the parties in their efforts,” Jean-Pierre said. “We continue to urge both sides to work in good faith and avoid even the threat of a shutdown.”

Committee Reviews Amtrak Board Nominees

The Biden administration has nominated Republican Joel Matthew Szabat to a seat on the Amtrak board of directors.

Szabat, who resides in Maryland, served as Undersecretary of Transportation for Policy in the Trump administration.

Biden has appointed five Democrats to the Amtrak board, with four of them residing at the south end of the Northeast Corridor.

Only Chris Koos, the mayor of Normal, Illinois, resides west of the Potomac.

Three more Republican nominees will need to be appointed to the Amtrak board and by law all of them must be from outside the Northeast.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act mandates that “four individuals shall reside in or near regions of the United States that are geographically distributed outside of the Northeast Corridor.”

The five Democratic nominees for the Amtrak board were nominated early last May.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing last month on the nominations.

Two members of the committee, Jon Tester (D-Montana) and Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) expressed frustration during the hearing over the lack of geographic diversity among the nominees to the Amtrak board with none of them residing in a western state.

Tester noted that none of the nominees had been to Montana.

“I don’t plan to stop you, but you guys have a lot of work to understand what is going on,” Tester said in reference to how he would vote on the nominations.

Biden Names PEB Members

Three members of a presidential emergency board have been named by President Joseph Biden.
they are Ira Jaffe, as chair, and members David Twomey and Barbara Deinhardt,

The board will investigate over the next 30 days the impasse over a new labor contract between major railroads and their unions and make recommendations for resolving the stalemate.

The railroads and unions can accept or reject the recommendations.

If the latter happens, there will be another 30-day period before the 13 unions can strike or management can lock out its employees. That could occur as early as Sept 18.

If either a strike or lockout occurs, Congress could step in and order an end to the strike or the lockout. Congress could also impose terms of a new contract.

Jaffee is a lecturer in law at The George Washington University who has served as a neutral arbitrator in labor disputes since 1981. He has been named to various PEBs by presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Twomey is a law professor at Boston College and the author of textbooks on labor, employment and business law. He has served on seven previous PEBs.

Deinhardt is an independent arbitrator who has chaired the New York State Employment Relations Board and State Workers’ Compensation Board. She served as a member of PEB No. 248 and was appointed to three successive terms on the Foreign Service Grievance Board and one PEB.

The PEB appointed by Biden last week in an executive order will review the wage, benefits and work rules that are in dispute.

CSX is participating in the national contract talks only on fringe benefits and is negotiating separately on wages and work rules with two of its unions, BLET and SMART-TD. Canadian Pacific is negotiating separately with all of its unions.

Shippers Urge Creation of PEB in Contract Talks

In a letter sent to President Joseph Biden, a group of rail shippers has asked for the appointment of a Presidential Emergency Board to step into the contract talks between the nation’s largest railroads and the unions that represent their workers.

The contract talks have drug on for more than two years and have reached a stalemate.

The shippers fear the situation will result in a strike later this year that the shippers said would further exacerbate the supply chain congestion of the past year.

A presidential emergency board would not have authority under federal law to impose a contract settlement, but Congress could step in and halt a strike or lock out if it gets to that.

A presidential board would investigate and make recommendations for a settlement.

The shipper coalition includes groups representing agriculture producers, manufacturers, refiners and energy producers.

Their letter said that in past contract disputes, the PEB’s recommendations have led to the parties agreeing to a new contract based on those recommendations.

Among the groups signing the letter were the CEOs of the American Chemistry Council, American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, American Petroleum Institute, National Association of Chemical Distributors, National Grain and Feed Association, and The Fertilizer Institute.

Biden Amtrak Nominees Might Not Get Vote

Although the nominations announced by the Biden administration to the Amtrak board of directors last week have drawn mixed reviews, it may all be a moot point.

Writing in the newsletter of the American Association of Private Rail Car Owners, Ross Capon, the organization’s Washington correspondent, indicated that the nominations may not receive a Senate vote.

Capon once served as executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers – now known as the Rail Passengers Association – and cited the view of The Eno Foundation’s Jeff Davis.

 “If the last few years are any indication, the only way the nominations will move to the Senate floor is if paired with future Republican nominees,” Davis wrote.

Davis said the Senate is unlikely to confirm an all-Democratic slate just as it refused to confirm the all-Republican slate presented by the Trump Administration until mid-2020. 

Even after Trump nominated two Democrats, the Senate still failed to act on the nominations because of objections raised by senators representing states served by Amtrak’s Chicago-Los Angeles Southwest Chief.

Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) placed a hold on the nominations of Democrat Sarah Feinberg and Republican Todd Rokita.

Moran said he wanted to hear more from Feinberg on her views pertaining to Amtrak’s long-distance trains and that Rokita had failed to answer any of his questions on the matter.

Moran said he wanted to hear that all of the board nominees were supportive of Amtrak’s long-distance trains.

Until last year, the 10-member Amtrak board was mandated by federal law to include “balanced representation of the major geographic regions served by Amtrak.”

That changed with approval of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was approved by Congress last fall.

It contained language requiring that two Amtrak board members must reside along the Northeast Corridor and four must be from outside that region.

That is to include two members from states served by state-supported service and two members from states served by long-distance trains. A single individual cannot fill both a state and long-distance slot.

The Amtrak board currently has two vacancies and the remaining members are all serving on expired terms.

The only Biden nominee from outside the Northeast is Christopher Koos, the mayor of Normal, Illinois, who was nominated for the board by the Trump administration but not confirmed by the Senate.

Among the critics of the Biden nominees was Bob Johnston, the passenger rail reporter for Trains magazine.

In a piece posted on the magazine’s website this week, Johnston argued that the Biden nominations largely fail to comply with IIJA language as to Amtrak governing board membership.

Johnston wrote that having four of the five nominees from the Northeast Corridor region is in contradiction of the law’s goal of strengthening the national network.

Capon made similar comments. “Some rail passenger advocates, remembering the near-death experience of long-distance trains in 2018 under [Amtrak] President Richard Anderson, and concerned about limited capacity (and in some cases frequency) of long-distance trains today, are unhappy with the nominations, including their geographic concentration on the south end of the Northeast Corridor.”

One of the Biden nominees is Anthony Coscia, who has served on the Amtrak board since 2010 and been its chair since 2013. Capon said the re-nomination of Coscia can be viewed as an endorsement of current Amtrak leadership. 

Aside from the four Biden nominations, three more Amtrak board members are expected to be put forth by Senate Republicans.

By law the secretary of transportation or his/her representative sits on the Amtrak board. The Amtrak CEO is a non-voting member.

That leaves eight positions to be appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate.

No more than five of the eight presidential nominations can be from the same party. At least one board member must have a disability (as defined in section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102)).

The IIJA requires that the disabilities member must have a “demonstrated history of, or experience with, accessibility, mobility, and inclusive transportation in passenger rail or commuter rail.”

The Biden nominees received praise from RPA, which had in the week before they were announced sought to make an issue out of the lack of nominees to the Amtrak board.

RPA head Jim Mathews issued a statement applauding the White House for taking the group’s concerns seriously.

“We look forward to working closely with these nominees to understand their vision for Amtrak’s future,” Mathews said.

However, RPA issued another statement this week calling for Biden to appoint Amtrak board members who represent a broad geographic region.

The statement said Biden “missed an opportunity” to nominate board members from outside the Mid-Atlantic region.

 SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson said in a statement the Biden Amtrak board slate “continues to prioritize the concerns of labor as he [Biden] and the DOT pursue an unprecedented and historic transformation of the nation’s passenger-rail network.”

Johnston, though, was not as approving and probably speaks for many rail passenger advocates in saying that none of Biden’s Amtrak board nominees have “hands-on business credentials dealing with inventory pricing, sales management, or hospitality” and that none of them have experience in the passenger railroad industry.

He has a point. The IIJA mandates that Amtrak board members have general business and financial experience, experience or qualifications in transportation, freight and passenger rail transportation, travel, hospitality, cruise line, or passenger air transportation businesses, or representatives of employees or users of passenger rail transportation or a State government.

Johnston’s article can be read at https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/bidens-amtrak-board-nominations-lack-qualifications-demanded-by-congress-analysis/

Biden Nominates 5 to Amtrak Board

The Biden administration has nominated five people to serve on Amtrak’s board of directors.

The nominations are subject to approval by the U.S. Senate. All of the current terms on the passenger carrier’s board have expired.

Among the nominees is current board chairman Anthony Coscia and former board nominee Christopher Koos.

Koos is the mayor of Normal, Illinois, which is served by Amtrak’s Texas Eagle and Lincoln Service trains. He was nominated in 2020 but the appointment was never acted upon by the Senate.

Coscia has served on the board since 2010 and became chairman in 2013.

Other nominees include David Capozzi, former executive director of the U.S. Access Board and former national advocacy director for the Paralyzed Veterans of America; Samuel Lathem, retired Delaware State AFL-CIO president and a former autoworker active in a number of civic organizations; and Robin Wiessmann, executive director and chief executive of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.

By law Amtrak’s governing board is allocated 10 positions. Also serving on the board are U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner. Senate Republicans can select the other three nominees.

The board is required to include at least two members each from Northeast Corridor, and areas with state-supported routes, and long-distance routes.

Of the five Biden nominees, only Koos resides outside the Northeast. The remainder live in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Amtrak Drops Face Mask Requirement

Amtrak has dropped its facial mask requirement for passengers and employees.

The passenger carrier acted after a federal judge in Florida set aside the mask mandate that had applied to all modes of public transportation.

The Biden administration said following the ruling by Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle that it would not enforce the mask mandate and was still considering whether to appeal the judge’s decision.

An Amtrak official said passengers and employees can still choose to wear a facial mask.

The mask mandate dates to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020 and later became a federal rule that has been extended several times.

USA Today reported that many airlines, including United, Southwest, Delta and American, also have dropped the facial mask rule.

The federal facial mask mandate had been set to expire on Monday but the Centers for Disease Control wanted it extended through May 3 to provide more time to study the BA2 omicron variant of COVID-19.

The Florida judge ruled that extending the mask mandate exceeded the CDC’s authority and the federal agency failed to justify the order or follow proper rule making procedures.