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Flying Cars and Drones Pose Policy Challenges for Managing and Regulating Low-Altitude Airspace

Description: This report discusses the possibility that flying cars may soon become a reality. Development and marketing efforts are bringing to the fore new policy and regulatory challenges regarding the control of low-altitude airspace, safety, noise, privacy, and landowner rights. They also are raising new questions about the appropriate roles of federal, state, and local authorities in regulating and managing these operations.
Date: July 23, 2018
Creator: Elias, Bart
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Keeping America's Pipelines Safe and Secure: Key Issues for Congress

Description: This report covers ways in which the 112th Congress can introduce relevant legislation to safeguard pipelines that transport natural gas, oil, and other hazardous liquids across the United States. While an efficient and fundamentally safe means of transport, many pipelines carry materials with the potential to cause public injury and environmental damage; the networks are also widespread and vulnerable to accidents and terrorist attack.
Date: July 11, 2011
Creator: Parfomak, Paul W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Federal Role in Rail Transit Safety

Description: On June 22, 2009, two transit trains in Washington, DC, collided, resulting in nine deaths and dozens of injuries. It was the worst crash in the history of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's rail transit system. This crash has raised questions about the safety of rail transit and the government's role in ensuring that safety. Nationwide, rail transit is considered one of the safest modes of transportation. This report discusses the State Safety Oversight Program, which went in… more
Date: July 6, 2009
Creator: Peterman, David Randall & Mallett, William J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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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 (DOT). The report first describes what is known about the condition of the nation's bridges and whether the problem of structural deficiency is improving or worsening. It then briefly describes the programmatic and budgetary context, including f… more
Date: July 15, 2008
Creator: Kirk, Robert S. & Mallett, William J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Air Cargo Security

Description: The air cargo system is vulnerable to several security threats, including: potential plots to place explosives aboard aircraft; illegal shipments of hazardous materials; criminal activities such as smuggling and theft; and potential hijackings and sabotage by persons with access to aircraft. This report discusses legislative efforts currently underway to improve air cargo system security.
Date: July 30, 2007
Creator: Elias, Bart
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Positive Train Control (PTC): Overview and Policy Issues

Description: This report gives and overview of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and discusses policy issues related to it. Congress passed the Act following several high-profile train accidents; it mandates positive train control (PTC) on many passenger and freight railroads by December 31, 2015.
Date: July 30, 2012
Creator: Peters, Jeffrey C. & Frittelli, John
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Pipeline Safety: Overdue Statutory Mandates

Description: This report discusses the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA) failure to fulfill key mandates of the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-90) and the PIPES Act of 2016 (P.L. 114-183).
Date: July 27, 2018
Creator: Parfomak, Paul W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report looks at the cost to fund the Coast Guard's program of record's (POR) call for procuring eight National Security Cutters (NSCs), 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs), and 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) as replacements for 90 aging Coast Guard cutters and patrol craft. It also addresses issues for maintenance, future acquisition, and definitions of the types of cutters.
Date: July 31, 2012
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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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: July 11, 2008
Creator: Kirk, Robert S. & Mallett, William J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Public-Private Partnerships in Highway and Transit Infrastructure Provision

Description: This report begins with a brief discussion of the surface transportation system and its financing needs as background to the debate on public-private partnerships (PPPs). That is followed by sections describing the different types of PPPs, with details of a few prominent examples, and the development of federal legislation with respect to PPPs. The report then discusses the main issues of contention with the construction and longterm leasing of highways by the private sector, particularly as th… more
Date: July 9, 2008
Creator: Mallett, William J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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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 Coast Guard's proposed FY2019 budget requests a total of $705 million in acquisition funding for the NSC, OPC, and FRC programs.
Date: July 6, 2018
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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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), 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.
Date: July 28, 2015
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report looks at the cost of funding the Coast Guard's program of record's (POR) call for procuring eight National Security Cutters (NSCs), 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs), and 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) as replacements for 90 aging Coast Guard cutters and patrol craft. It also addresses issues for maintenance, future acquisition, and definitions of the types of cutters.
Date: July 20, 2012
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD): FY2008 Appropriations

Description: This report is a guide to one of the regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the Subcommittees on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations. It summarizes the current legislative status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related legislative activity.
Date: July 23, 2007
Creator: Peterman, David R. & Frittelli, John
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Airline Passenger Rights: The Federal Role in Aviation Consumer Protection

Description: 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.
Date: July 21, 2015
Creator: Tang, Rachel Y.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Army's Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV): Background and Issues for Congress

Description: 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).
Date: July 30, 2014
Creator: Feickert, Andrew
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Army's Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV): Background and Issues for Congress

Description: 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).
Date: July 16, 2014
Creator: Feickert, Andrew
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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"Duck Boat" Accident Highlights Gap in Regulation

Description: This report discusses recent accidents involving amphibious passenger vehicles (APVs), commonly known as "duck boats." The report highlights a gap in the regulation of APVs and provides recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to improve safety.
Date: July 20, 2018
Creator: Canis, Bill
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Inland Waterways: Recent Proposals and Issues For Congress

Description: This brief discusses the major issues for Congress which include whether to increase inland waterway funding in the future (and by what amount); the appropriate type of revenue stream (e.g., fuel taxes or lockage fees) for the user-required portion of these projects; division of the cost-share responsibilities between the federal government and commercial users (e.g., 50/50 or some other division); and whether to initiate process-based recommendations that some argue will improve the delivery a… more
Date: July 14, 2011
Creator: Stern, Charles V.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The General Motors-Toyota Joint Venture and Its Competitive Implications

Description: This report reviews the economics of joint ventures by focusing on their implication for market competition. It also reviews the legislative history of mergers and joint ventures with special emphasis on aspects of the law that are directed at reducing market concentration.
Date: July 13, 1983
Creator: Bass, Gwenell L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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