News and reports from the Department of Transportation.

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) and Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee Chairman Scott Perry (R-PA) wrote to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell asking for an accounting of the more than $110 billion from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) that has been used in response to the COVID-19 emergency declarations.

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) today announced the vice chairs for the Committee’s six subcommittees.

In his opening statement at today’s full committee hearing titled “Bringing Transparency and Accountability to Pharmacy Benefit Managers,” Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) raised concerns about new powers being given to the Federal Trade Commission in light of the abrupt resignation announcement by Commissioner Christine Wilson.

U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and John Thune (R-S.D.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, today released the following joint statement ahead of the March 9th expiration of the Federal Communications Commission’s spectrum auction authority:

In his opening statement at today’s full committee hearing on “the Federal Aviation Administration’s NOTAM System Failure and its Impacts on a Resilient National Airspace,” Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) criticized U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s failure to deliver any meaningful reforms to the FAA and discussed the need for upgrades to the FAA and its air traffic organization in light of the unprecedented NOTAM failure that stranded thousands of travelers.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Chair of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, delivered the following opening remarks at today’s hearing with Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen on last month’s FAA NOTAM system failure and ensuring the safety and security of our nation’s airspace. Cantwell also pointed to the lack of diversity in aviation, calling for continued work to encourage more women to enter the aviation industry.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, (D-Wash.), Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today directed the Acting FAA Administrator to return within a week with an immediate plan for building a reliable, separate back up system to ensure true redundancy for the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, (D-Wash.), Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, released the below statement ahead of the Wednesday, February 15, hearing with Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen regarding the causes and impacts of the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system outage on January 11, 2023, which prompted Nolan to issue the first nation-wide ground stop since 9/11:

In his opening statement at today’s full committee hearing to consider the nomination of Gigi Sohn to be a Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) detailed Ms. Sohn’s lengthy record of extremism, poor ethics, bad judgment, and disdain for Congress.

She will help deliver for the American people and she has a keen eye on something that all members of this committee care passionately about and that is affordable, accessible broadband.”

Federal minimum standards for federally funded electric vehicle charging infrastructure projects released by the Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation will, in part, apply to the installation, operation or maintenance of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The US Transportation Department published a four page proposed rule on Feb. 16, according to the U.S. Government Publishing Office.

News Release: WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed a $175,000 civil penalty against Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) for failure to submit launch collision analysis trajectory data directly to the FAA prior to the Aug. 19, 2022, launch of the Starlink Group 4-27 mission.

The US Transportation Department published a four page rule on Feb. 16, according to the U.S. Government Publishing Office.

Set-Aside for National Academy of Sciences for NCHRP and Core Program Services Awards grant opened on Feb. 17.