The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“RELIABLE HOME HEATING ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H5602-H5604 on June 23, 2014.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
RELIABLE HOME HEATING ACT
Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(S. 2086) to address current emergency shortages of propane and other home heating fuels and to provide greater flexibility and information for Governors to address such emergencies in the future.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 2086
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Reliable Home Heating Act''.
SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO EXTEND EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS FOR
PURPOSES OF TEMPORARILY EXEMPTING MOTOR
CARRIERS PROVIDING EMERGENCY RELIEF FROM
CERTAIN SAFETY REGULATIONS.
(a) Defined Term.--In this Act, the term ``residential heating fuel'' includes--
(1) heating oil;
(2) natural gas; and
(3) propane.
(b) Authorization.--If the Governor of a State declares a state of emergency caused by a shortage of residential heating fuel and, at the conclusion of the initial 30-day emergency period (or a second 30-day emergency period authorized under this subsection), the Governor determines that the emergency shortage has not ended, any extension of such state of emergency by the Governor, up to 2 additional 30-day periods, shall be recognized by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration as a period during which parts 390 through 399 of chapter III of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, shall not apply to any motor carrier or driver operating a commercial motor vehicle to provide residential heating fuel in the geographic area so designated as under a state of emergency.
(c) Rulemaking.--The Secretary of Transportation shall amend section 390.23(a)(1)(ii) of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to conform to the provision set forth in subsection (b).
(d) Savings Provision.--Nothing in this section may be construed to modify the authority granted to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Field Administrator under section 390.23(a) of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to offer temporary exemptions from parts 390 through 399 of such title.
SEC. 3. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION NOTIFICATION
REQUIREMENT.
The Administrator of the Energy Information Administration, using data compiled from the Administration's Weekly Petroleum Status Reports, shall notify the Governor of each State in a Petroleum Administration for Defense District if the inventory of residential heating fuel within such district has been below the most recent 5-year average for more than 3 consecutive weeks.
SEC. 4. REVIEW.
Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall conduct a study of, and transmit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, a report on the impacts of safety from the extensions issued by Governors according to this Act. In conducting the study, the Secretary shall review, at a minimum--
(1) the safety implications of extending exemptions; and
(2) a review of the exemption process to ensure clarity and efficiency during emergencies.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri) and the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia
(Ms. Norton) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.
General Leave
Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill before us.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Wisconsin?
There was no objection.
Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of S. 2086, the Reliable Home Heating Act, which helps States better prepare and respond to regional supply disruptions or shortages of propane and other home heating fuels.
The winter of 2013 and 2014 included extreme weather events that led to increased demand for propane, which is used for heating in approximately 12 million U.S. homes, and for other home heating fuels. The extreme weather conditions threatened the lives and livelihood of those with homes, farms, and businesses that depend on heat from propane and other home heating fuels.
S. 2086 gives the Governor of a State the authority to extend regulatory exemptions during a state of emergency for two additional 30-day periods, for a total of 90 days, without action from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The bill requires the Energy Information Administration to provide early warnings to Governors if the inventory of residential heating fuel falls below the most recent 5-year average for more than 3 consecutive weeks. The bill also requires the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a study on the safety impacts of extending the regulatory exemptions.
On March 21, 2014, the President signed H.R. 4076, the HHEATT Act of 2014 introduced by Chairman Bill Shuster. It provided immediate relief to States impacted by the extreme weather from some Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations until May 31 of this year.
S. 2086 provides States the tools needed to address shortages of propane and other home heating fuels during future extreme weather events. The bipartisan bill was introduced by Senator Thune and Senator Klobuchar and is supported by the National Propane Gas Association, the New England Fuel Institute, the Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association, the Nebraska Petroleum Marketers Association, and the Petroleum Marketers Association of America.
I urge all my colleagues to support S. 2086, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, as described by my good friend and colleague, the chairman of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, S. 2086 automatically suspends Federal Motor Carrier Safety rules for up to 90 days after a Governor of an affected State declares a state of emergency due to a shortage of residential heating fuel.
Mr. Speaker, it is true that last winter there were parts of the United States which experienced extraordinarily cold temperatures and extreme winter weather. I hate to predict this, but until we do something about climate change, we are going to see these vast contrasts of the kind we have never experienced before. At that time, of course, if people are experiencing unusually cold weather, there is going to be a demand for propane and other home heating fuels.
I also, of course, fully support maximum flexibility to ensure timely delivery of fuel to heat homes across the country, and certainly in a time of crisis. In fact, the House acted swiftly in March during that crisis to pass Chairman Shuster's HHEATT Act, H.R. 4076, but of course today most of the country is in the middle of a heat wave.
Most of the States have their eyes looking elsewhere. They are watching the Congress to see when we will shore up the highway trust fund. They are running out of money. Already they have slowed up their investments. And of course, in a matter of just a few weeks, we will be running on empty on the highway trust fund.
But I was not asked to come to the floor today to ensure that construction projects around the country employing hundreds of thousands of Americans will continue to be reimbursed so that workers can stay on the job and communities can upgrade their infrastructure. I was asked to come to the floor today to pass an exemption for home heating fuel, even though it is close to 90 degrees outside in much of the country.
Last winter, during the actual time of emergency, FMCSA acted promptly to issue exemptions to allow truck drivers delivering home heating fuels to drive for additional hours to get supplies to customers as quickly as possible. Then they acted promptly to extend the exemptions after the initial 30-day period.
Therefore, I must say I do not see any evidence of why this legislation is needed or warranted. Further, by automatically waiving motor carrier rules for up to 90 days, the legislation removes any safety consideration from the exemption decision.
Mr. Speaker, our surface transportation system has pressing needs, as I speak, that require congressional action in the immediate term--
yesterday, perhaps. Instead, we keep coming to the floor to chip away at truck safety rules?
I will not oppose the legislation under consideration, but I do believe calling up this legislation today is unnecessary and unproductive while we are staring at a deadline--and I must say, I think it is more aptly called an emergency every day--for replenishing the highway trust fund.
With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Duffy), my well-respected colleague and the voice of northern Wisconsin.
Mr. DUFFY. I appreciate the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri) yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I don't want to engage in a debate on global warming, especially after the winter we had in Wisconsin last winter. The bottom line is last winter it was incredibly cold in Wisconsin, and we saw home heating fuel prices for some of my constituents go up by four times, and that was if they were able to get home heating fuels.
I don't think this is the end of it because there has been a war on energy, and that war on energy makes it more difficult for my constituents to access energy. I think we have to leave those debates aside right now and look at, in the current structure, can we have some reform that actually helps people across the country when these crises amount.
What this does is doesn't make us look to the Department of Transportation--which, by the way, last winter they were quick to act. We don't have to look for Congress to have some quick legislation to minimize the trucking hours of service so we can get fuel into places like northern Wisconsin.
What we are going to do is we are going to empower Governors. Let Governors notice when there is a crisis and let them move quickly so we can have one piece of the burden alleviated--the hours of service requirement--so our trucks can go to the places where we have home heating fuel and bring it to northern Wisconsin, we can bring in more supply.
This was such a crisis, we have people in Wisconsin who have a hard time paying their energy bills when we have normal prices. But when prices go up by four times, or when it is 40 below and they can't get home heating fuel, this is a crisis. Any day we have to wait for the Department of Transportation or for Congress to act is a day that we have prices continuing to go up or we don't have access to our consumers, to our constituents, to our people.
So I think this is a commonsense approach that leaves the global warming debate aside, the war on energy aside, and looks to our Governors, gives them authority to make decisions in this one small piece, to allow the hours of service waived in these emergencies so we can get fuel to places where they have a shortage.
I think this makes sense. There will be plenty of time to debate the greater energy issues that we have in the country, and I think that is a debate that we have to have, but that is not the place here. The debate on global warming, we can have that, too, especially after the winter we had in Wisconsin last winter.
This makes sense. Let's empower Governors. Let's make sure we protect those Americans who live in the northern region of the country that rely on home heating fuel to heat their homes. Let's make sure we are going to allow them access, by way of their Governor, and the Governor's quick action.
So I appreciate the House bringing up this action from Senator Thune, and I would urge its adoption.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I don't know about global warming, but virtually every scientist with any expertise agrees that climate change is occurring, not just in the colder parts of the country, but all over the world. The only debate now is whether it is too late and whether we can manage it, not whether it is occurring.
If the gentleman thinks it was cold in Wisconsin last winter, let us keep delaying doing anything on climate change and let's see if he will be in a position to do anything for his constituents.
I remind the Speaker that every time there has been a need, the Department of Transportation has not only acted, it has acted promptly. That is what an administrative agency is for. That is why we have administrative agencies. You can't keep running to the floor where you need two Houses in order to deal with a crisis.
Nevertheless, we do not oppose this legislation, but we do think it is our duty to remind the House that there is an emergency pending and that, if we go home certainly for August recess without attending to it, the bottom will fall out of the highway trust fund.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this bill.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, S. 2086.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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