Congressional Research Service Reports - 908 Matching Results
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- Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the sustainment and modernization of the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet. The Coast Guard's proposed FY2017 budget requests $150 million in acquisition funding for a new polar icebreaker that the Coast Guard wants to begin building in FY2020. The issue for Congress is whether to approve, reject, or modify the Administration's FY2017 acquisition funding request for a new polar icebreaker, and, more generally, whether to approve, reject, or modify the Coast Guard's overall plan for sustaining and modernizing the polar icebreaking fleet.
- Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Ohio replacement program (ORP), a program to design and build a new class of 12 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy's current force of 14 Ohio-class SSBNs.
- DOT's Federal Pipeline Safety Program: Background and Key Issues for Congress
- This report reviews the history of federal programs for pipeline safety, significant safety issues, and recent developments focusing on key issues for Congress.
- Earthquake Risk and U.S. Highway Infrastructure: Frequently Asked Questions
- This report addresses a number of frequently asked questions about earthquake risk and highway system components, especially bridges. Earthquakes and related events, such as soil liquefaction, landslides, tsunamis, flooding, and fires, pose risks to highway infrastructure. Concerns about the U.S. highway system's seismic vulnerability stem from interest in protecting public safety, facilitating response and recovery efforts, and minimizing economic loss and social disruption.
- Transportation Security: Issues for the 114th Congress
- This report examines aviation, transit and passenger rail security, as well as port and maritime security. The difficulty and cost of protecting the transportation sector from attack raises a core question for policymakers, i.e., how much effort and resources to put toward protecting potential targets versus pursuing and fighting terrorists.
- Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Coast Guard's programs for procuring 8 National Security Cutters (NSCs), 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs), and 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs). Congress's decisions on these three programs could substantially affect Coast Guard capabilities and funding requirements, and the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base.
- Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the sustainment and modernization of the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet.
- Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Ohio replacement program (ORP), a program to design and build a new class of 12 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy's current force of 14 Ohio-class SSBNs.
- Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas and Crude Oil: Federal and State Regulatory Authority
- This report discusses the relationship between federal and state authority over siting and safety of crude oil and natural gas transmission and gathering pipelines and related facilities.
- Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the sustainment and modernization of the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet. Congress's decisions on this issue could affect Coast Guard funding requirements, the Coast Guard's ability to perform its polar missions, and the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base.
- Transportation Spending Under an Earmark Ban
- This report explains what earmarks are and discusses their use in surface transportation finance. It then discusses how federal transportation funding is distributed with a ban in place and how Members of Congress might influence the distribution.
- Cars, Trucks, and Climate: EPA Regulation of Greenhouse Gases from Mobile Sources
- This report focuses on EPA's completed and potential actions to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from mobile sources, relying on the authorities in Title II of the Clean Air Act (CAA). We begin with a brief discussion of the petitions and court action that led to EPA's regulatory decisions.
- Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Ohio replacement program (ORP), a program to design and build a new class of 12 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy's current force of 14 Ohio-class SSBNs.
- The Army's Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV): Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information on the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV), which is the Army's proposed replacement to the Vietnam-era M-113 personnel carriers.
- Volkswagen, Defeat Devices, and the Clean Air Act: Frequently Asked Questions
- This report provides answers to a series of frequently asked questions focusing on a description of modern diesel technologies, their market and emissions profiles, and some potential reasons that could underlie the use of defeat devices. It summarizes the specific allegations filed against VW under the Clean Air Act, the current status of federal and state investigations, and the potential civil and criminal penalties. Further, the report introduces several outstanding issues currently under debate regarding the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) resources and activities, and issues surrounding VW's defeat device.
- Federal Freight Policy: In Brief
- This report discusses the federal role in freight system planning. The U.S. freight system is a complex network including four principal modes of transportation: The National Truck Network, railroads, barge and ship lines, and air carriers.
- Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Coast Guard's programs for procuring 8 National Security Cutters (NSCs), 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs), and 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs). The issue for Congress is whether to approve, reject, or modify the Coast Guard's funding requests and acquisition strategies for the NSC, OPC, and FRC programs.
- Unmanned Aircraft Operations in Domestic Airspace: U.S. Policy Perspectives and the Regulatory Landscape
- This report discusses the uses and potential risks of Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), which are often referred to as "drones." In the future, it is anticipated that some UAS will share airspace, and potentially share facilities like airports and helipads, with manned aircraft. Technological innovations, as well as standardized procedures operators must follow, will be needed for full integration.
- Iran-U.S. Air Service Not Imminent
- This report discusses the prospect of air travel between Iran and the U.S., which last operated during 1979, when the U.S. government imposed an embargo on flights following the Iran hostage crisis. Since then, travel and air cargo shipments between the two countries have been routed through third countries, and their extent has been limited by U.S. sanctions.
- Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the sustainment and modernization of the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet. Coast Guard polar icebreakers perform a variety of missions supporting U.S. interests in polar regions. The issue for Congress is whether to approve, reject, or modify the Administration's plans for sustaining and modernizing the polar icebreaking fleet.
- Federal Public Transportation Program: In Brief
- This report provides an introduction to the public transportation program administered by the Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA). This program was authorized in FY2016 through FY2020 by the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (P.L. 114-94). The focus of the federal program is still on the capital side, but the program has evolved to support operational expenses in some circumstances, as well as safety oversight, planning, and research.
- Transportation Security: Issues for the 114th Congress
- This report examines aviation, transit and passenger rail security, as well as port and maritime security. The difficulty and cost of protecting the transportation sector from attack raises a core question for policymakers: how much effort and resources to put toward protecting potential targets versus pursuing and fighting terrorists.
- Effects of Buy America on Transportation Infrastructure and U.S. Manufacturing: Policy Options
- This report begins by explaining Buy America restrictions in more detail; how Buy America comports with international trade agreements that generally forbid procurement restrictions favoring domestic products; and how a relatively new Buy America-like provision may require imports of materials on federally funded transportation projects to be carried on U.S. -flag ships.
- Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Ohio replacement program (ORP), a program to design and build a new class of 12 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy's current force of 14 Ohio-class SSBNs.
- The State Department's Final Decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline
- This report briefly discusses the State Department's denial of TransCanada's request for a Presidential Permit for proposed pipeline facilities.
- Federalism Issues in Surface Transportation Policy: A Historical Perspective
- This report provides a historical perspective on contemporary federalism issues in surface transportation policy, from the beginning of the nation through the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). It also discusses legislative activity during the 114th Congress to reauthorize highway and mass transit programs.
- Cargo Preferences for U.S.-Flag Shipping
- This report explains the motivation behind cargo preference law, discusses issues concerning the cost-effectiveness of the program, and reviews attempts to apply cargo preference to the nation's oil trade. The report also identifies several disparate bills reflecting wide disagreement on the future direction of cargo preference policy.
- House Transportation Bill Would Hold Spending Below Senate Bill
- This report discusses the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 (STRRA), which provides only those spending increases the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has determined are needed to cover projected inflation in the cost of the existing surface transportation program.
- The Army's Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV): Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information on the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) and it discusses the Army's proposed replacement to the Vietnam-era M-113 personnel carriers, which are still in service in a variety of support capacities in Armored Brigade Combat Teams (ABCTs).
- Emergency Relief for Disaster-Damaged Roads and Transit Systems: In Brief
- This report describes Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) assistance for the repair and reconstruction of highways and bridges damaged by disasters (such as Hurricane Sandy in 2012) or catastrophic failures (such as the collapse of the Skagit River Bridge in Washington State in 2013).
- Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the sustainment and modernization of the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet, which performs a variety of missions supporting U.S. interests in polar regions.
- Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Ohio replacement program (ORP), a program to design and build a new class of 12 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy's current force of 14 Ohio-class SSBNs.
- DOT's Federal Pipeline Safety Program: Background and Key Issues for Congress
- This report reviews the history of federal programs for pipeline safety, significant safety issues, and recent developments focusing on key issues for Congress.
- Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Coast Guard's programs for procuring 8 National Security Cutters (NSCs), 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs), and 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs).
- Surface Transportation Program Reauthorization Issues for Congress
- No Description Available.
- The Vessel Incidental Discharge Act: Background and Issues
- This report discusses the combination of regulations and standards for controlling vessel discharges, which is at issue today and is addressed in legislation in the 114th Congress, the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act.
- Essential Air Service (EAS)
- This report discusses Congress' establishment of the Essential Air Service (EAS), a program to ensure that small communities that were served by certificated air carriers before the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 would continue to receive scheduled passenger service, with subsidies if necessary. Deregulation gave airlines almost total freedom to determine which domestic markets to serve and what airfares to charge, which raised the concern that communities with relatively low passenger levels would lose service as carriers shifted their operations to serve larger and often more profitable markets.
- Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the sustainment and modernization of the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet. Coast Guard polar icebreakers perform a variety of missions supporting U.S. interests in polar regions. The operational U.S. polar icebreaking fleet currently consists of one heavy polar icebreaker, Polar Star, and one medium polar icebreaker, Healy.
- Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Coast Guard's programs for procuring 8 National Security Cutters (NSCs), 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs), and 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs), intended as replacements for 90 aging Coast Guard cutters and patrol craft. The issue for Congress is whether to approve, reject, or modify the Coast Guard's funding requests and acquisition strategies for these programs.
- Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on sustaining and modernizing the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet, which performs a variety of missions supporting U.S. interests in polar regions.
- Airline Passenger Rights: The Federal Role in Aviation Consumer Protection
- This report examines aviation consumer protections following the 1978 elimination of most governmental control regarding airline business practices. It explains the roles of Congress and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in protecting airline consumers, and discusses some major passenger rights issues and related laws and regulations.
- DRIVE Act Would Increase Highway Funding Faster than Projected Inflation
- This report briefly discusses the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act (DRIVE Act; S. 1647). The DRIVE Act would authorize $278 billion for a six-year federal highway program.
- Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report focuses on the Ohio replacement program as a Navy shipbuilding program. The report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Ohio replacement program (ORP), a program to design and build a new class of 12 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy's current force of 14 Ohio-class SSBNs.
- Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Coast Guard's programs for procuring 8 National Security Cutters (NSCs), 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs), and 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs).
- Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the sustainment and modernization of the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet, which performs a variety of missions supporting U.S. interests in polar regions.
- Department of Transportation (DOT): FY2016 Appropriations
- This report is categorized into four categories: (I) Introduction, (II) Understanding the DOTA Appropriations Act, (III) DOT Funding Trend, (IV) DOT FY2016 Appropriations.
- Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Coast Guard's programs for procuring 8 National Security Cutters (NSCs), 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs), and 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs). The NSC, OPC, and FRC programs have a combined estimated acquisition cost of about $21.1 billion, and the Coast Guard's proposed FY2016 budget requests a total of $449.9 million in acquisition funding for the three programs.
- Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the sustaining and modernization of the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet, which performs a variety of missions supporting U.S. interests in polar regions.
- Transportation Conformity Under the Clean Air Act
- This report explains the Clean Air Act requirement that federal departments and agencies demonstrate that their activities--including projects that they fund--"conform" to state plans for achieving air quality standards. The report explains the statutory requirements, reviews the recent history of their implementation, and examines how conformity requirements might affect areas designated "nonattainment" for a revised ozone air quality standard.
- Transportation Security: Issues for the 114th Congress
- This report discusses aviation security, transit and passenger security, port and maritime security.