[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 135 (Thursday, September 26, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H11330-H11334]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1645
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD AMENDMENTS OF 1996
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in
the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 3159) to amend title 49, United
States Code, to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 1997, 1998,
and 1999 for the National Transportation Safety Board, and for other
purposes.
The Clerk read as follows:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
TITLE I--NTSB AMENDMENTS
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``National Transportation
Safety Board Amendments of 1996''.
SEC. 102. FOREIGN INVESTIGATIONS.
Section 1114 of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``(b) and (c)'' in subsection (a) and
inserting ``(b), (c), and (e)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(e) Foreign Investigations.--
``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, neither the Board, nor any agency receiving information
from the Board, shall disclose records or information
relating to its participation in foreign aircraft accident
investigations; except that--
``(A) the Board shall release records pertaining to such an
investigation when the country conducting the investigation
issues its final report or 2 years following the date of the
accident, whichever occurs first; and
``(B) the Board may disclose records and information when
authorized to do so by the country conducting the
investigation.
``(2) Safety recommendations.--Nothing in this subsection
shall restrict the Board at any time from referring to
foreign accident investigation information in making safety
recommendations.''.
SEC. 103. PROTECTION OF VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.
Section 1114(b) of title 49, United States Code, is amended
by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Protection of Voluntary Submission of Information.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, neither the
Board, nor any agency receiving information from the Board,
shall disclose voluntarily provided safety-related
information if that information is not related to the
exercise of the Board's accident or incident investigation
authority under this chapter and if the Board finds that the
disclosure of the information would inhibit the voluntary
provision of that type of information.''.
SEC. 104. TRAINING.
Section 1115 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(d) Training of Board Employees and Others.--The Board
may conduct training of its employees in those subjects
necessary for the proper performance of accident
investigation. The Board may also authorize attendance at
courses given under this subsection by other government
personnel, personnel of foreign governments, and personnel
from industry or otherwise who have a requirement for
accident investigation training. The Board may require non-
Board personnel to reimburse some or all of the training
costs, and amounts so reimbursed shall be credited to the
appropriation of the `National Transportation Safety Board,
Salaries and Expenses' as offsetting collections.''.
SEC. 105. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 1118(a) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) by striking ``and''; and
(2) by inserting before the period at the end of the first
sentence the following: ``, $42,400,00 for fiscal year 1997,
$44,400,000 for fiscal year 1998, and $46,600,000 for fiscal
year 1999.''.
TITLE II--INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION
SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``Intermodal Safe Container
Transportation Amendments Act of 1996''.
SEC. 202. AMENDMENT OF TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE.
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this
title an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an
amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the
reference shall be considered to be made to a section or
other provision of title 49 of the United States Code.
SEC. 203. DEFINITIONS.
Section 5901 (relating to definitions) is amended--
(1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
``(1) except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the
definitions in sections 10102 and 13102 of this title
apply.'';
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs
(7) and (8), respectively; and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
``(6) `gross cargo weight' means the weight of the cargo,
packaging materials (including ice), pallets, and dunnage.''.
SEC. 204. NOTIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION.
(a) Prior Notification.--Subsection (a) of section 5902
(relating to prior notification) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Before a person tenders to a first
carrier for intermodal transportation a'' and inserting ``If
the first carrier to which any'';
(2) by striking ``10,000 pounds (including packing material
and pallets), the person shall give the carrier a written''
and inserting ``29,000 pounds is tendered for intermodal
transportation is a motor carrier, the person tendering the
container or trailer shall give the motor carrier a'';
(3) by striking ``trailer.'' and inserting ``trailer before
the tendering of the container or trailer.'';
(4) by striking ``electronically.'' and inserting
``electronically or by telephone.''; and
(5) by adding at the end thereof the following: ``This
subsection applies to any person within the United States who
tenders a container or trailer subject to this chapter for
intermodal transportation if the first carrier is a motor
carrier.''.
(b) Certification.--Subsection (b) of section 5902
(relating to certification) is amended to read as follows:
``(b) Certification.--
``(1) In general.--A person who tenders a loaded container
or trailer with an actual gross cargo weight of more than
29,000 pounds to a first carrier for intermodal
transportation shall provide a certification of the contents
of the container or trailer in writing, or electronically,
before or when the container or trailer is so tendered.
``(2) Contents of certification.--The certification
required by paragraph (1) shall include--
``(A) the actual gross cargo weight;
``(B) a reasonable description of the contents of the
container or trailer;
``(C) the identity of the certifying party;
``(D) the container or trailer number; and
``(E) the date of certification or transfer of data to
another document, as provided for in paragraph (3).
``(3) Transfer of certification data.--A carrier who
receives a certification may transfer the information
contained in the certification to another document or to
electric format for forwarding to a subsequent carrier. The
person transferring the information shall state on the
forwarded document the date on which the data was transferred
and the identity of the party who performed the transfer.
``(4) Shipping documents.--For purposes of this chapter, a
shipping document, prepared by the person who tenders a
container or trailer to a first carrier, that contains the
information required by paragraph (2) meets the requirements
of paragraph (1).
``(5) Use of `Freight All Kinds' Term.--The term `Freight
All Kinds' or `FAK' may not be used for the purpose of
certification under section 5902(b) after December 31, 2000,
as a commodity description for a trailer or container if the
weight of any commodity in the trailer or container equals or
exceeds 20 percent of the total weight of the contents of the
trailer or container. This subsection does not prohibit the
use of the term after that date for rating purposes.
[[Page H11331]]
``(6) Separate document marking.--If a separate document is
used to meet the requirements of paragraph (1), it shall be
conspicuously marked `INTERMODAL CERTIFICATION'.
``(7) Applicability.--This subsection applies to any
person, domestic or foreign, who first tenders a container or
trailer subject to this chapter for intermodal transportation
within the United States.''.
(c) Forwarding Certifications.--Subsection (c) of section
5902 (relating to forwarding certifications to subsequent
carriers) is amended--
(1) by striking ``transportation.'' and inserting
``transportation before or when the loaded intermodal
container or trailer is tendered to the subsequent carrier.
If no certification is received by the subsequent carrier
before or when the container or trailer is tendered to it,
the subsequent carrier may presume that no certification is
required.''; and
(2) by adding at the end thereof the following: ``If a
person inaccurately transfers the information on the
certification, or fails to forward the certification to a
subsequent carrier, then that person is liable to any person
who incurs any bond, fine, penalty, cost (including storage),
or interest for any such fine, penalty, cost (including
storage), or interest incurred as a result of the inaccurate
transfer of information or failure to forward the
certification. A subsequent carrier who incurs a bond, fine,
penalty, or cost (including storage), or interest as a result
of the inaccurate transfer of the information, or the failure
to forward the certification, shall have a lien against the
contents of the container or trailer under section 5905 in
the amount of the bond, fine, penalty, or cost (including
storage), or interest and all court costs and legal fees
incurred by the carrier as a result of such inaccurate
transfer or failure.''.
(d) Liability.--Section 5902 is amended by redesignating
subsection (d) as subsection (e), and by inserting after
subsection (c) the following:
``(d) Liability to Owner or Beneficial Owner.--If--
``(1) a person inaccurately transfers information on a
certification required by subsection (b)(1), or fails to
forward a certification to the subsequent carrier;
``(2) as a result of the inaccurate transfer of such
information or a failure to forward a certification, the
subsequent carrier incurs a bond, fine, penalty, or cost
(including storage), or interest; and
``(3) that subsequent carrier exercises its rights to a
lien under section 5905,
then that person is liable to the owner or beneficial owner,
or to any other person paying the amount of the lien to the
subsequent carrier, for the amount of the lien and all costs
related to the imposition of the lien, including court costs
and legal fees incurred in connection with it.''.
(e) Nonapplication.--Subsection (e) of section 5902, as
redesignated, is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as paragraphs
(2) and (3), respectively; and
(2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as redesignated, the
following:
``(1) The notification and certification requirements of
subsections (a) and (b) of this section do not apply to any
intermodal container or trailer containing consolidated
shipments loaded by a motor carrier if that motor carrier--
``(A) performs the highway portion of the intermodal
movement; or
``(B) assumes the responsibility for any weight-related
fine or penalty incurred by any other motor carrier that
performs a part of the highway transportation.''.
SEC. 205. PROHIBITIONS.
Section 5903 (relating to prohibitions) is amended--
(1) by inserting after ``person'' a comma and the
following: ``To whom section 5902(b) applies,'';
(2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
``(b) Transporting Prior to Receiving Certification.--
``(1) Presumption.--If no certification is received by a
motor carrier before or when a loaded intermodal container or
trailer is tendered to it, the motor carrier may presume that
the gross cargo weight of the container or trailer is less
than 29,001 pounds.
``(2) Copy of certification not required to accompany
container or trailer.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
this chapter to the contrary, a copy of the certification
required by section 5902(b) is not required to accompany the
intermodal container or trailer.'';
(3) by striking ``10,000 pounds (including packing
materials and pallets)'' in subsection (c)(1) and inserting
``29,000 pounds''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Notice to Leased Operators.--
``(1) In general.--If a motor carrier knows that the gross
cargo weight of an intermodal container or trailer subject to
the certification requirements of section 5902(b) would
result in a violation of applicable State gross vehicle
weight laws, then--
``(A) the motor carrier shall give notice to the operator
of a vehicle which is leased by the vehicle operator to a
motor carrier that transports an intermodal container or
trailer of the gross cargo weight of the container or trailer
as certified to the motor carrier under section 5902(b);
``(B) the notice shall be provided to the operator prior to
the operator being tendered the container or trailer;
``(C) the notice required by this subsection shall be in
writing, but may be transmitted electronically; and
``(D) the motor carrier shall bear the burden of proof to
establish that it tendered the required notice to the
operator.
``(2) Reimbursement.--If the operator of a leased vehicle
transporting a container or trailer subject to this chapter
is fined because of a violation of a State's gross vehicle
weight laws or regulations and the lessee motor carrier
cannot establish that it tendered to the operator the notice
required by paragraph (1) of this subsection, then the
operator shall be entitled to reimbursement from the motor
carrier in the amount of any fine and court costs resulting
from the failure of the motor carrier to tender the notice to
the operator.''.
SEC. 206. LIENS.
Section 5905 (relating to liens) is amended--
(1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
``(a) General.--If a person involved in the intermodal
transportation of a loaded container or trailer for which a
certification is required by section 5902(b) of this title is
required, because of a violation of a State's gross vehicle
weight laws or regulations, to post a bond or pay a fine,
penalty, cost (including storage), or interest resulting
from--
``(1) erroneous information provided by the certifying
party in the certification to the first carrier in violation
of section 5903(a) of this title;
``(2) the failure of the party required to provide the
certification to the first carrier to provide it;
``(3) the failure of a person required under section
5902(c) to forward the certification to forward it; or
``(4) an error occurring in the transfer of information on
the certification to another document under section
5902(b)(3) or (c), then the person posting the bond, or
paying the fine, penalty, costs (including storage), or
interest has a lien against the contents equal to the amount
of the bond, fine, penalty, cost (including storage), or
interest incurred, until the person receives a payment of
that amount from the owner or beneficial owner of the
contents, or from the person responsible for making or
forwarding the certification, or transferring the information
from the certification to another document.'';
(2) by inserting a comma and ``or the owner or beneficial
owner of the contents,'' after ``first carrier'' in
subsection 9(b)(1); and
(3) by striking ``cost, or interest.'' in subsection (b)(1)
and inserting ``cost (including storage), or interest. The
lien shall remain in effect until the lien holder has
received payment for all costs and expenses described in
subsection (a) of this section.''.
SEC. 207. PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.
Section 5906 (relating to perishable agricultural
commodities) is amended by striking ``Sections 5904(a)(2) an
5905 of this title do'' and inserting ``Section 5905 of this
title does''.
SEC. 208. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) In General.--Section 5907 (relating to regulations and
effective date) is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 5907. Effective date
``This chapter shall take effect 180 days after the date of
enactment of the Intermodal Safe Container Transportation
Amendments Act of 1996.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter
59 is amended by striking the item relating to section 5907
and inserting the following:
``5907. Effective date''.
SEC. 209. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.
(a) In General.--Chapter 59 is amended by adding at the end
thereof the following:
``Sec. 5908. Relationship to other laws
``Nothing in this chapter affects--
``(1) chapter 51 (relating to transportation of hazardous
material) or the regulations promulgated under that chapter;
or
``(2) any State highway weight or size law or regulation
applicable to tractor-trailer combinations.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for such
chapter is amended by adding at the end thereof the
following:
``5908. Relationship to other laws''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster] and the gentleman from Illinois [Mr.
Lipinski] each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster].
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the House passed legisaltion (H.R. 3159) to reauthorize
the National Transprotation Safety Board last July 22, by a vote of
400-0.
The Senate passed similar legislation last week. The only difference
in the Senate bill, as it relates to NTSB, is that the Senate deleted a
House provision extending the term of the NTSB chairman. This change is
acceptable to us.
In addition, the Senate added the text of H.R. 4040, the intermodel
containers bill, which passed the House by voice vote.
This bill has no controversy and I urge its adoption.
additional points on ntsb
The NTSB is a relatively small agency but the work it does, the
accident reports it issues, and the recommendations it makes have
contributed to the improvements in safety that we have seen.
However, the recent tragedies involving Valuejet and TWA demonstrate
[[Page H11332]]
once again what an important role the NTSB plays.
The bill would allow NTSB to offer its training classes to non-NTSB
employees and collect a reasonable reimbursement fee.
In addition, the bill authorizes NTSB to keep confidential some
safety-related information that it would like the airlines to
voluntarily provide.
It is important to note that the information that would be kept
confidential is information that is not revealed by the airlines now so
withholding it is not denying the public anything they now hear about.
If the Board did not ensure its confidentiality, the airlines would not
give it to the NTSB so the public would lose the benefit of the safety
knowledge this information would provide to the Board.
additional points on intermodal containers
The bill makes several critical changes to the 1992 Intermodal Safe
Container Act to permit that act to be effectively implemented by ocean
shipping lines, railroads, and trucking companies.
This legislation will ensure that intermodal container transportation
does not cause violations of our highways' weight laws and also that
commerce is not unduly burdened.
It is critical that this bill pass swiftly because the regulations
implementing the 1992 bill will go into effect January 1.
This legislation is completely bipartisan and is strongly supported
by a comprehensive intermodal coalition of ocean shipping lines,
railroads, trucking companies, and shippers, as well as DOT.
I want to thank Tom Petri, Susan Molinari, and Howard Coble for their
cooperation in swiftly drafting this intermodal bill.
I also want to thank my Democratic colleagues Jim Oberstar and Nick
Rahall as well as Bob Wise and Bob Clement for their cooperation and
support in putting together and agreeing to quickly move this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I join the chairman in expressing my strong support for
H.R. 3159, the National Transportation Safety Board Amendments of 1996.
This legislation reauthorizes the NTSB for 3 years, and makes a number
of changes requested by the NTSB to allow the Board to continue its
excellent work.
The NTSB is probably the most respected Government entity in the
United States. In recent months, we have witnessed two devastating
aircraft crashes that have focused the Nation's attention on the NTSB's
work. In the most difficult of circumstances, the NTSB works with
local, State and Federal entities as well as with the families of
accident victims. And the Board is not just involved in aviation--the
NTSB leads investigations of accidents in every mode of transportation.
As we discuss this reauthorization on the floor today, it is important
for us to recognize the public service performed by the Board. They are
a critical element of our national transportation system.
Mr. Speaker, as requested by the NTSB, H.R. 3159 enables the Board to
fully participate in foreign investigations by providing protection
from Freedom of Information Act requests for a 2-year period. Our
intention is not to keep information from the public. Rather, the
measure simply enhances the NTSB's access to information that will lead
to improvements in aviation safety.
The bill also encourages data sharing programs among the FAA, NTSB,
and the aviation community by prohibiting the Board from disclosing
voluntarily provided safety information. By sharing information before
an accident occurs, we can save lives. The legislation establishes a
framework which will enable this to occur.
Mr. Speaker, the legislation we are considering today contains higher
funding levels than those contained in the introduced bill. This
slightly higher authorization in the outyears, along the lines of an
amendment offered by Mr. Oberstar during committee markup, will enable
the NTSB to increase its work force by some 20 employees. In recent
months, with the ValuJet crash in the Florida Everglades and the TWA
crash last week off Long Island, it has become even clearer to me that
the NTSB needs every resource it can get. I want to thank the ranking
member of the committee, Mr. Oberstar, for his leadership on this
issue, and both Chairman Shuster and Chairman Duncan for their
willingness to work with us. The higher funding level makes this a
better bill for the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the legislation, and reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Duncan], the distinguished chairman of
the subcommittee.
Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, let me first thank the gentleman from
Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster], the chairman of the full Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure, for yielding, and for his strong
leadership in the area of transportation safety, and on this specific
legislation as well.
Likewise, I want to also thank the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr.
Oberstar], the ranking member of the full committee, and the ranking
member of the subcommittee, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Lipinski],
all of whom we have worked with so closely and so well together this
year on this legislation and on so many, many other things.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3159, as amended by the
Senate. This legislation would authorize appropriations for fiscal
years 1997, 1998, and 1999 for the National Transportation Safety
Board, $42.4 million for the first year, $44.4 million for the second
year, and $46.6 million for the third year.
The work of this agency is so very important, and the importance of
that work has been emphasized most recently in the very tragic
accidents that we have had, unfortunately, in this country. This
legislation is virtually identical to the House bill reported favorably
by the full Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and passed
unanimously by this House.
The Aviation Subcommittee, which I have the privilege of chairing,
held a joint hearing earlier this year regarding the requests and needs
of the NTSB. I think we produced a very conservative bill, a good bill,
that also allows some expansion of the NTSB activities in regard to
working with the families of victims of some of these aviation
accidents.
Mr. Speaker, I also would like to say that I want to commend Chairman
Jim Hall of the NTSB for the outstanding work that he has done. I
believe the work of the NTSB, its accident reports, its
recommendations, have been one of the main reasons why the
transportation safety trend in this Nation is improving so favorably.
H.R. 3159 includes many of the statutory changes requested by the
NTSB which will help them in their efforts to conduct transportation-
related investigations and promoting transportation safety. I think it
is a good bill and one that deserves the support of all Members.
Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Oberstar], the ranking member of the full
committee.
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me
time.
I want to express my great appreciation for the leadership Mr.
Lipinski has demonstrated on our side on the Aviation Subcommittee on
this and other aviation issues, and express again my appreciation for
the cooperation that we have had in the bipartisan fashion from
Chairman Shuster and Chairman Duncan on particularly this issue.
For the National Transportation Safety Board, safety is not a
partisan issue. It never has been within our committee, it never has
been treated that way, and this legislation moves forward in that
spirit.
There is probably no entity in the Federal Government that has
contributed so importantly to safety in all modes of transportation as
the NTSB. Year after year, their recommendations, following upon
investigation of accidents, of tragedies, and on many other occasions
their studies, based upon reviewing the history of transportation
incidents, have resulted in improvements in highway truck travel,
marine safety, rail safety, and aviation safety, pipeline safety. We
owe this very small Federal Government agency
[[Page H11333]]
a huge debt of gratitude. Its work is best appreciated every day when
millions of takeoffs and landings occur across this country without
incident.
The bill before us is almost identical to the House-passed bill
reauthorizing the National Transportation Safety Board. It also
includes the Intermodel Safe Container Transportation Amendments Act of
1996, which we passed last week.
The bill includes a number of provisions requested by the NTSB and
included in the House-passed bill to help NTSB in its accident
investigation work or to encourage transportation entities to share
important safety information with the NTSB without suffering a
competitive disadvantage. These are important initiatives. They will
help the safety board address potential safety problems before lives
are lost.
I have consistently maintained that the accident investigations
conducted and the safety recommendations offered by the NTSB have made
the lives of all Americans safer in every mode of travel.
In addition, it is not well understood that the NTSB is often asked
to participate, and often times to take the lead, in investigation of
accidents overseas, particularly in aviation. The NTSB, for example,
right now is participating in the investigation of the aircraft
accident that occurred off the coast of the Dominican Republic.
The NTSB does all of this work with an extraordinarily small staff,
for the workload they undertake, of only 350 people. This particular
year, the demands have been very heavy upon the NTSB as their
investigators were literally required to be in two places at once.
I recently talked to one of the NTSB investigators who had not been
home to his family in over 2 months, going from the ValueJet crash to
the TWA crash and literally spending his entire time on travel.
The investments that we make in the NTSB are an investment in the
future safety of every mode of travel. We cannot quantify the value of
this agency's work with any degree of accuracy. Many people would say,
well, if they had done this work, maybe the accidents would have been
avoided anyway. I don't think so. I know better. I believe that,
because I have seen the recommendations, and I know our committee has
acted on the recommendations of the NTSB, and the FAA has accepted over
85 percent of the recommendations made by the NTSB in aviation safety,
and that the result has been to improve safety for the air-traveling
public.
We have worked together in the committee to improve the funding level
for NTSB, not to increase the size of bureaucracy, but to modestly
increase the size of the work force from 350 to 370 employees and to
maintain that level of employment throughout the duration of this
authorization. This increase will allow the board to add specialists in
rail, highway, avionics, and human factors.
The people employed by the NTSB, I must emphasize, are highly
trained, skilled specialists in metallurgy, for example, in avionics,
in electronics, in all these technical fields that require very
meticulous investigative skills to detect the smallest deviation from
normal, to get to the cause of a complex accident such as the ValuJet
that went down in the Florida Everglades or the TWA 747 that went down
in the waters off Long Island.
We have come to expect also that the NTSB will treat the families of
victims of crashes in a very sympathetic and sensitive and informative
manner. This is another dimension of the work of the NTSB, not
envisioned when it was created in 1967 when the Congress separated the
NTSB out of the Department of Transportation and created it as an
independent safety board, but this has come to be an important role of
the NTSB.
We know, and families have come to expect, that they will be treated
with the dignity and the understanding and the sympathy and sensitivity
that they deserve in those very tragic and heartfelt moments after the
loss of a loved one.
The bill also deals with legislation that we passed last week to
correct the widely recognized shortcomings of the 1992 Intermodal Safe
Container Transportation Act. With broad support from a consensus of
transportation interests, the 1992 law was intended to encourage
compliance with U.S. highway weight limits by ensuring that the party
who first tenders cargo for intermodal shipment would be responsible
for verifying the weight of that container and providing appropriate
documentation.
{time} 1700
However, as so often happens, the 1992 law did not go into effect.
DOT could not write regulations to make it work. So the parties went
back to the drawing board and, through negotiations and give and take
on all sides, reached an agreement on how to achieve the goals of the
1992 act without disrupting the flow of cargo.
The bill raises the weight threshold from 10,000 to 29,000 pounds,
and that dramatically reduces the number of affected containers but
still ensure that shippers will identify containers likely to cause
highway weight violations.
These amendments also clarify that description of a container's
contents must be more specific than ``freight all kinds'', a term of
art in the trade, when 20 percent or more of the weight is from one
commodity.
This is a very important initiative. It is legislation that we have
passed that now deserves to be enacted and signed into law by the
President, and I urge passage of this legislation.
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Minnesota [Mr. Oberstar].
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, as my chairman noted the retirement of a
very dear friend and colleague of our committee staff, we have a
retirement on our side of Dara Gideos, who is retiring from the
committee but not retiring from work. She is going on to a new
assignment with a very important association where she will have a new
responsibility as an executive assistant.
She has been a role model on our committee staff for dedication to
duty, unrelenting hard work, long hours, weekends during crunch time.
She has demonstrated exceptional organizational skills, actually
organizing the materials in the Subcommittee on Aviation staff room so
that we can find what we need when we need it.
She is a willing volunteer who has gone beyond her assigned duties to
see the jobs that need to be done and plunged in to do them no matter
what the issue or the hour. She has brought zest and sparkle to her
job, to our committee staff, and she has a special talent of giving a
lift to everyone who works with her.
We will miss Dara very, very much but we wish her well in her new
career.
Mr. Speaker, I submit for the Record a congratulatory letter from
myself to Dara.
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of
Representatives,
Washington, DC, September 26, 1996.
Ms. Dara Gideos,
Falls Church, VA.
Dear Dara: Congratulations on a truly exciting, as well as
earned and richly deserved, opportunity to serve as Executive
Assistant to the President of the General Aviation
Manufacturers Association. They are fortunate to have you and
you will reflect great credit on GAMA, as you have done on
our Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and
specifically the Aviation Subcommittee. You have been superb:
a role model for dedication to duty, unrelenting hard work,
particularly those long hours, evenings and weekends during
``crunch'' time and for your exceptional organizational
skills.
What has especially impressed me and your colleagues is the
initiative you have taken to reach beyond your assigned
responsibilities, to learn Surface, as well as Aviation,
issues in depth so that you could handle a wide range of
inquiries directed to the Committee each day. On your own
inspiration, you became the Committee's self-taught graphics
specialist and produced exceptional materials for the various
needs of the professional staff.
You have always been so willing to volunteer beyond your
assigned duties, and to see what jobs needed to be done and
plunge in to help to do them no matter what the issue or hour
of the day.
Aboave all, we will miss your sparkle, the zest you brought
to the Committee and that special talent of giving a lift to
everyone who came to know you.
On many occasions I have quoted: ``Success is getting what
you want, happiness is wanting what you get''--you have
earned both. I join all your many friends on the Committee in
wishing you every success and happiness in your future
endeavors.
[[Page H11334]]
Warmest personal regards.
Sincerely,
James L. Oberstar, M.C.,
Ranking Democratic Member.
Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume,
and I certainly want to join in wishing Dara well. She not only has
performed in a superb way, but I also understand that she was one of
the best players on our committee's softball team, so we are certainly
going to miss that as well.
Mr. Speaker, with that, I urge our colleagues to support this
bipartisan legislation.
Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, the Senate amendments to H.R. 3159,
legislation which would reauthorize the National Transportation Safety
Board, contain provisions that are similar to a bill, H.R. 4040, passed
by this body last week aimed at promoting greater compliance with our
highway truck weight laws.
As we prepare to send this legislation to the President, I want to
take this opportunity to note that the amendments to the Intermodal
Safe Container Act of 1992 is the product of a consensus reached
between the shipping, motor carrier and railroad industries. In this
regard, I want to commend these entities for their good faith
negotiations and willingness to compromise on what is today a product
that is truly in the public interest.
Mr. Speaker, in 1992 we passed legislation to encourage compliance
with U.S. highway weight limits by requiring that an entity which ships
containerized cargo verify the weight of the containers. These
containers often are transported in an intermodal fashion, from ship to
truck, or ship to railroad to truck, with final delivery made by trucks
subject to our highway weight laws. The truckers must depend on the
accuracy of the weight certification in determining their compliance
with highway weight limits. Yet, if those certifications are
inaccurate, and the trucker is found to be overweight, it is the
trucker who must pay the fine even though he or she had no involvement
in the packing of the container.
Since 1992, DOT has attempted to issue regulations implementing the
1992 act. While a final rule has been devised, DOT has delayed its
implementation due to shortcomings it cannot administratively address
due to the language of the 1992 law.
The pending bill seeks to address these deficiencies by first, while
continuing to require the shipper to certify the weight of the
containers, the certification could be incorporated into shipping
papers and may be in electronic form. If the certification is not made,
or is incorrect, the shipper is liable for any violations which may
occur of our highway weight laws.
And second, the weight threshold for container certification under
this bill is set at 29,001 pounds. This limit, it is my understanding
from both DOT and industry, is a more appropriate threshold than what
is in current law.
These are the major aspects of the legislation. I believe they will
enhance compliance with our highway weight laws, and urge the adoption
of this measure.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support
of H.R. 3159, the National Transportation Safety Board [NTSB]
Authorization Act, and in support of the Senate amendments.
This bill provides a total of $133.5 million over 3 years for the
activities of the NTSB. This funding level will allow the NTSB to hire
an additional 20 employees to investigate transportation accidents.
Given the recent crashes of a ValueJet flight in Florida and a TWA
flight off the coast of Long Island, reauthorization of the National
Transportation Safety Board and specifically, the hiring of 20
additional inspectors, are both timely and necessary.
This measure also prohibits the NTSB from releasing certain
information on transportation accidents that occur overseas; exempts
the NTSB from Freedom of Information Act requests for certain
voluntarily provided safety information; allows the NTSB to charge fees
for employees of other agencies to attend NTSB accident investigation
classes; and clarifies implementation of the Intermodal Safe Container
Transportation Act.
I urge my colleagues to adopt the Senate amendments and pass the NTSB
authorization and make our highway and skyways safer and more secure.
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gutknecht). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster] that
the House suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the
bill, H.R. 3159.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate amendment was
concurrent in.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________