[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 29, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1845]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF PILOT PROJECT FOR TOOLS NEEDED FOR FUNDING CHALLENGES

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                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 29, 2010

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce legislation 
authorizing a pilot project to develop the tools needed by private 
industry, the IRS, and the Department of Transportation to meet our 
infrastructure funding challenges for the next century.
  Nothing is more essential to restoring the economy, revitalizing our 
communities, and protecting our environment than the effort to rebuild 
and renew America. The U.S. faces steep infrastructure challenges. Our 
infrastructure inventory is in poor repair and much of it is outdated--
not just decades, but often centuries old. Our effort to rebuild and 
renew that infrastructure is stalled because of a funding impasse. The 
Highway Trust Fund nearly exhausted its funding several times recently 
and it is clear that our existing funding mechanisms are insufficient 
to meet our current, much less future, needs. Congress must consider 
new revenue sources to meet our infrastructure challenges and must work 
with transportation users to find the most efficient means of raising 
this revenue.
  Most of America's transportation investment ability is premised on 
the gas tax. This source is becoming obsolete as vehicles are 
increasingly efficient, making increased demands on our infrastructure 
while contributing fewer resources. The current revenue system 
generates only two-thirds of the revenue needed to maintain current 
levels of investment.
  While Congress waits, others are seeking innovative solutions to this 
challenging problem: the Oregon Department of Transportation conducted 
successful tests of mileage-based revenue systems that seamlessly 
protected privacy while applying a user fee; two blue ribbon panels 
called for further exploration of such a system; and I have introduced 
prior legislation that would fund tests of such systems in each state. 
Under the Transportation Finance Innovation Demonstration Act, the 
concrete pumping industry has stepped forward to create a pilot project 
exploring how a mileage system would work in practice.
  In an unintended consequence of the JOBS Act of 2004, concrete 
pumping trucks pay gasoline tax on 100 percent of their fuel 
consumption, even though 50 percent of their fuel is consumed at 
construction sites in stationary operation. Concrete pumping trucks 
already collect much of the necessary information about distance 
traveled and fuel consumption necessary for the function of a mileage-
based fee. With a few minor hardware and software additions, concrete 
pumps nationwide could collect and transmit data to the IRS in a highly 
accurate and secure manner.
  The legislation directs the Department of the Treasury to work with 
the Department of Transportation to establish a demonstration project 
providing a refund of gasoline taxes to concrete pumping trucks and the 
imposition of an off-setting mileage fee reflecting the distance the 
concrete pumping truck traveled on U.S. roadways.

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