Congressional Research Service Reports - 64 Matching Results

Search Results

Results: 1 - 24 next
open access

Can Marine Highways Deliver?

Description: Policymakers have been discussing the potential for shifting some freight traffic from roads to river and coastal waterways as a means of mitigating highway congestion. While waterways carry substantial amounts of bulk commodities (e.g., grain and coal), seldom are they used to transport containerized cargo (typically finished goods and manufactured parts) between points within the contiguous United States. This report examines the viability of such a shift, from legislative and economic standp… more
Date: January 14, 2011
Creator: Frittelli, John
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Transportation Security: Issues for the 111th Congress

Description: This report discusses how best to construct and finance a system of deterrence, protection, and response that effectively reduces the possibility and consequences of another terrorist attack without unduly interfering with travel, commerce, and civil liberties.
Date: January 28, 2009
Creator: Peterman, David R.; Elias, Bart & Frittelli, John
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Transportation Spending Under an Earmark Ban

Description: 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.
Date: January 4, 2017
Creator: Kirk, Robert S.; Mallett, William J. & Peterman, David R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Federalism Issues in Surface Transportation Policy: Past and Present

Description: This report provides a historical perspective on contemporary federalism issues in surface transportation policy that are likely to be addressed by Congress during the 111th Congress, including possible devolution of programmatic responsibility to states and proposals to change state maintenance-of-effort requirements and state cost matching requirements.
Date: January 5, 2010
Creator: Dilger, Robert J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Federalism Issues in Surface Transportation Policy: Past and Present

Description: This report provides an historical perspective on contemporary federalism issues in surface transportation policy that are likely to be addressed by Congress during the 112th Congress, including possible devolution of programmatic responsibility to states and proposals to change state maintenance-of-effort requirements and state cost matching requirements.
Date: January 5, 2011
Creator: Dilger, Robert Jay
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Grain Transport: Modal Trends and Infrastructure Implications

Description: This report examines the grain-handling system and the infrastructure that supports it. The first part of the report briefly identifies transportation funding issues before Congress that are particularly relevant to grain shippers. The report then describes how grain is delivered to market, including long-term trends taking place and the underlying reasons for those trends. The final part identifies some of the implications these trends have for targeting future investment in the grain-handling… more
Date: January 5, 2005
Creator: Frittelli, John F.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Waiver Authority Under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)

Description: This report provides a brief overview of the renewable fuel standard (RFS) program and discusses the process and criteria for EPA to approve a waiver petition. Transportation fuels are required by federal law to contain a minimum amount of renewable fuel each year. The RFS, established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct, P.L. 109-58) and amended by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA, P.L. 110-140), requires that 15.2 billion gallons of renewable fuels be blended into ga… more
Date: January 21, 2014
Creator: Yacobucci, Brent D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Airport Improvement Program (AIP): Reauthorization Issues for Congress

Description: This report discusses the Airport Improvement Program and its complement, the passenger facility charge (PFC), within the broader context of airport capital development finance. After a brief history of federal support for airport construction and improvement, the report describes AIP funding, its source of revenues, funding distribution, and the types of projects the program funds.
Date: January 27, 2010
Creator: Kirk, Robert S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: 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). These 91 planned cutters are intended as replacements for 90 aging Coast Guard cutters and patrol craft. The Coast Guard began procuring NSCs and FRCs a few years ago, and the first few NSCs and FRCs are now in service.
Date: January 9, 2015
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization: An Overview of Legislative Action in the 111th Congress

Description: This report tracks the status of ongoing legislative action and debate related to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization. It is organized into six major program areas: aviation system finance; airport financing; FAA management and organizational issues; system capacity and safety; environmental issues; and airline industry issues. In several cases, provisions that appear in various unrelated sections of proposed legislation have been rearranged in this report in an effort to grou… more
Date: January 7, 2010
Creator: Elias, Bart
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Keystone XL Pipeline: Overview and Recent Developments

Description: This report describes the Keystone XL Pipeline Project and the process that the State Department must complete to decide whether it will approve or deny TransCanada's permit application. The report also discusses key energy security, economic, and environmental issues relevant to the State Department's national interest determination. Some of these issues include perspectives among various stakeholders both in favor of and opposed to the construction of the pipeline. Finally, the report discus… more
Date: January 5, 2015
Creator: Parfomak, Paul W.; Luther, Linda; Lattanzio, Richard K.; Ramseur, Jonathan L.; Vann, Adam; Pirog, Robert et al.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

EPA's Vessel General Permits: Background and Issues

Description: This report covers two proposed permit drafts by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding Vessel General Permits (VGPs): one for large vessels to replace the 2008 VGP (draft VGP), and one for smaller vessels that currently are covered by a congressionally-enacted temporary moratorium (draft sVGP).
Date: January 29, 2015
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: 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.
Date: January 27, 2016
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Highway Bridges: Conditions and the Federal/State Role

Description: This report examines the federal and state roles in the maintenance, inspection, reconstruction, and replacement of the nation's highway bridge infrastructure, as well as the emergency response and reconstruction role of the Department of Transportation.
Date: January 31, 2008
Creator: Kirk, Robert S. & Mallett, William J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

F-35 Alternate Engine Program: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report discusses the past four years of administration proposals to terminate the program to develop the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 engine as an alternative to the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine that currently powers the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). These proposals have been continually rejected by Congress. The Obama Administration's FY2011 budget submission against proposes to terminate the program. This report explores both sides of the termination argument.
Date: January 10, 2012
Creator: Gertler, Jeremiah
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline: Legal Issues

Description: This report reviews those legal issues. First, it suggests that legislation related to cross-border facility permitting is unlikely to raise significant constitutional questions, despite the fact that such permits have traditionally been handled by the executive branch alone pursuant to its constitutional "foreign affairs" authority. Next, it observes generally that state oversight of pipeline siting decisions does not appear to violate existing federal law or the Constitution. Finally, the rep… more
Date: January 23, 2012
Creator: Vann, Adam; Alexander, Kristina; Burrows, Vanessa K. & Thomas, Kenneth R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Expenditures

Description: In 1986, the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) was enacted to fund U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE or the Corps) activities related to the routine operation and maintenance (O&M) of harbors, namely the dredging of harbor channels to their authorized depths and widths. Economic and equity issues related to HMT expenditures and collections are the main focus of this report. Before analyzing these issues, the report reviews the legislative history of the tax and legal challenges to it, discusses t… more
Date: January 10, 2011
Creator: Frittelli, John
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Back to Top of Screen