Tag Archives: Department of Transportation

Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and John Thune, R-S.D., are urging the Federal Aviation Administration to publish a proposed rule on remote identification of drones to prevent the entry of unauthorized drones in critical areas. Markey and Thune sent a letter to the Department of Transportation calling for action on the rule that would permit authorities and the public to remotely track unmanned aircraft systems and their operators during flight, Markey’s office said in a statement released Monday.

President Trump intends to nominate Stephen Dickson, a former senior vice president for flight operations at Delta Air Lines, as administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration for five years and chairman of the Department of Transportation's air traffic services committee.

The Department of Transportation established a deliberative body that seeks to address regulatory and jurisdictional concerns. The Non-Traditional and Emerging Transportation Technology Council was established to provide potential sponsors an avenue to discuss plans and mitigate interference in the development of transportation technology, the DOT said Tuesday.

Jeff Rosen, the Department of Transportation's deputy secretary, has been nominated for the post of deputy attorney general, Politico reported Tuesday. President Trump nominated Rosen who will succeed Rod Rosenstein in March. The DOT official holds decades of experience in the department, the Office of Management and Budget and the private sector.

Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Mark Warner, D-Va., introduced a bill to increase statutory cap on Private Activity Bonds to $20.8B to help state and local governments enter new public-private partnerships for surface transportation projects. The lawmakers unveiled the Building United States Infrastructure and Leveraging Development Act on Wednesday intending to boost the original statutory cap from the current $15B budget. 

The Department of Transportation is investing over $60M for 32 university transportation centers to address transportation-related issues. UTCs, each representing a university, conduct research on issues in the national, regional and local levels of transportation, USDOT said Tuesday.

The Department of Transportation has earmarked $1.5B in grants for 91 infrastructure projects in 49 states and the District of Columbia, the DOT said Tuesday.

The Department of Transportation’s inspector general released a new report outlining the department's management challenges in fiscal year 2019. 

 

The Department of Transportation’s inspector general has announced that it will conduct an audit of the Federal Aviation Administration’s role in authorizing operations of small unmanned aircraft systems in  U.S. airspace.

Four senators have asked the chief financial officers of 13 agencies to address their “use it or lose it” spending at the end of the fiscal year. The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs said Wednesday Sen. Ron Johnson, Claire McCaskill, Rand Paul and Gary Peters expressed concerns that agencies may possibly spend more money at the end of fiscal year 2018 compared to previous years.