House passes $284 billion highway bill

House passes $284 billion highway bill    The U.S. House of Representatives Thursday approved a six-year, $284 billion highway reauthorization bill by a vote of 417-9. Most of the money will be divided among states to fund road and transit construction projects to relieve congestion.
   The amount is up from the $218 billion figure in the previous multiyear spending blueprint, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, but less than many legislators originally wanted.
   The bill included money for an intermodal distribution pilot grant program to support freight transportation at inland ports and freight facilities.
   Other freight-related provisions include:
   * A requirement that Canadian or Mexican commercial motor vehicle drivers undergo background reviews similar to those for U.S. operators before transporting hazardous materials in the United States.
   * A requirement that motor carriers, brokers and freight forwarders to charge a fuel surcharge when the regional priced diesel fuel, as measured by the Department of Energy, rises above the benchmark price per gallon.
   * $2.9 billion for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
   The bill also allows states to implement tolls on interstate highways, a provision opposed by the American Trucking Associations as harmful to small truckers operating on thin margins. ATA said it favored giving states the option to implement tolls on new interstate roads as a way to expand highway capacity.
   A Senate committee is scheduled to take up its version of the transportation bill next week, but a Senate vote could be weeks away.