[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 4, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H2103-H2106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HOME HEATING EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE THROUGH TRANSPORTATION ACT OF 2014

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4076) to address shortages and interruptions in the 
availability of propane and other home heating fuels in the United 
States, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4076

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Home Heating Emergency 
     Assistance Through Transportation Act of 2014'' or the 
     ``HHEATT Act of 2014''.

     SEC. 2. PROPANE AND HOME HEATING FUEL EMERGENCY 
                   TRANSPORTATION.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, a covered emergency exemption issued by the Federal 
     Motor Carrier Safety Administration shall remain in effect 
     until May 31, 2014, unless the Secretary of Transportation, 
     after consultation with the Governors of affected States, 
     determines that the emergency for which the exemption was 
     provided ends before that date.
       (b) Covered Emergency Exemption Defined.--In this section, 
     the term ``covered emergency exemption'' means an exemption 
     issued under section 390.23 of title 49, Code of Federal 
     Regulations, or extended under section 390.25 of such title 
     that--
       (1) was issued or extended during the period beginning on 
     February 5, 2014, and ending on the date of enactment of this 
     Act; and
       (2) provided regulatory relief for commercial motor vehicle 
     operations providing direct assistance supporting the 
     delivery of propane and home heating fuels.
       (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in subsection (a) may be 
     construed to prohibit the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
     Administration from issuing or extending a covered emergency 
     exemption beyond May 31, 2014, under other Federal law.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous materials on H.R. 4076.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  I was proud to introduce H.R. 4076, the Home Heating Emergency 
Assistance Through Transportation Act of 2014. This bipartisan 
legislation will provide relief for millions of Americans suffering 
from the current propane and home heating fuel emergency.
  An exceptionally cold winter has increased demand for propane, which 
is used for heating approximately 12 million homes in the United 
States, and for other home-heating fuels. In my district, more than 
9,000 households rely on propane for home heating; and across the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, there are more than 200,000 households 
that do the same.
  So according to the National Propane Gas Association, supplies are 
expected to remain tight through the end of the winter because the 
infrastructure to deliver propane to high-demand areas is insufficient.
  On February 5, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued 
a temporary emergency declaration to allow tank truck operators 
delivering propane and other home heating fuels to drive longer hours 
in order to speed up deliveries to the affected States. However, these 
emergency declarations can only last 30 days at a time, creating great 
uncertainty and limited relief.
  Extreme weather conditions are not expected to subside any time soon, 
threatening the lives and livelihoods of those with homes, farms, and 
businesses that depend on heat from propane and other home heating 
fuels. Just yesterday, we saw another severe winter storm.
  H.R. 4076 provides a guaranteed extension of the Federal Motor 
Carrier Safety Administration's emergency declaration until May 31, 
2014. This certainty is required to address the transportation 
distribution issues to give much needed relief to the affected States.
  Should the crisis subside prior to May 31, 2014, the Secretary of 
Transportation, in consultation with the Governors of the affected 
States, can determine that the guaranteed extension is no longer 
needed.
  I would like to thank the National Propane Gas Association and the 
New England Fuel Institute for supporting this legislation. I will be 
entering their letters of support into the Record.
  This bill has strong bipartisan support, and I urge all my colleagues 
to support H.R. 4076.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

                                                         NPGA,

                                                February 25, 2014.
     Hon. Bill Shuster,
     Chairman, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, House 
         of Representatives, Rayburn House Office Building, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Shuster, On behalf of The National Propane 
     Gas Association (NPGA), I write to share our strong support 
     for your legislation, H.R. 4076, the Home Heating Emergency 
     Assistance Through Transportation (HHEATT) Act of 2014.
       NPGA is the national trade association of the propane 
     industry, having a membership of about 3,000 companies, with 
     39 state and regional associations representing members in 
     all 50 states. The single largest group of NPGA members is 
     retail marketers of propane gas who deliver the fuel to the 
     end user for space heating, water heating and agricultural 
     crop drying, among other applications. NPGA membership also 
     includes propane producers, transporters and wholesalers, as 
     well as manufacturers and distributors of associated 
     equipment and containers. While NPGA's membership covers a 
     broad cross-section of categories, more than 90 percent are 
     designated as small businesses.
       As you know, this winter Americans have faced severe supply 
     disruptions in many areas of the country. A convergence of 
     conditions--late wet grain harvest, closed pipeline 
     infrastructure, limited railcars due to alternate service 
     demands--have caused difficulties in delivering propane to 
     consumers during one of the most extreme winters on record.
       While the overall supply of propane in the United States is 
     sufficient to meet demand, the propane industry is facing 
     challenges with distribution and transportation. According to 
     the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. has more 
     than 42 million barrels of propane presently in stock, 
     located predominantly in Mont Belvieu, Texas, where the 
     largest propane storage facility in the world is located. 
     Overcoming the distribution challenges has been most greatly 
     alleviated by temporary emergency declarations issued by the 
     Federal Motor Carrier Administration which provide relief 
     from certain federal motor carrier safety regulations for the 
     Midwest, Eastern, Southern, and portions of the Western 
     Service Centers. Unfortunately, these emergency declarations 
     can only last 30 days at a time which creates uncertainty for 
     our propane suppliers and distributors.
       Chairman Shuster, we thank you for your leadership on this 
     bill, and trust Congress will take swift action to pass this 
     important regulatory relief. Thank you.
           Sincerely,

                                               Richard Roldan,

                              President & Chief Executive Officer,
                                 National Propane Gas Association.

[[Page H2104]]

     
                                  ____
                                                          NEFI

                                                February 28, 2014.
     Hon. Bill Shuster,
     Chairman, Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, House 
         of Representatives, Rayburn House Office Building, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Shuster: We commend you for the introduction 
     of the Home Heating Emergency Assistance through 
     Transportation or ``HHEATT'' Act (H.R. 4076) and are writing 
     to endorse this important legislation.
       The New England Fuel Institute (NEFI) is the nation's 
     largest independent trade association representing the retail 
     home heating oil industry. Our membership includes more than 
     1,000 mostly small business home heating oil and 
     Bioheat' dealers and related services companies. 
     Many NEFI members also deliver propane and other home heating 
     fuels and retain nearly around-the-clock drivers and service 
     technicians ready to make emergency fuel deliveries or 
     service home heating systems in the event of an outage.
       The severely inclement weather we have experienced this 
     winter has resulted in high residential consumption rates for 
     heating oil. As a result, heating oil dealers are 
     increasingly challenged to resupply customer tanks without 
     interruption and have been in need of waivers from certain 
     regulations such as federal hours-of-service requirements. 
     Emergency declarations issued by the Federal Motor Carrier 
     Safety Administration (FMCSA) help to provide this relief so 
     that heating fuel distributors can move product to where it 
     is needed and expedite deliveries to homes and businesses.
       Unfortunately, these declarations are limited to 30 days. 
     This can create uncertainty during extended emergencies such 
     as the long stretch of extreme cold and snowy weather we are 
     currently experiencing. The HHEATT Act would provide added 
     relief and certainty by guaranteeing an extension of 
     emergency declarations through May 31, 2014. The U.S. 
     Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with state 
     Governors, may terminate the guaranteed extension before May 
     31st only if current emergencies subside.
       This bill would provide much needed relief to our member 
     companies and their consumers. We hope for its immediate 
     passage and enactment. Again, thank you for your hard work in 
     this regard.
           Sincerely,
                                                Michael C. Trunzo,
                                                  President & CEO.

  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 4076, a commonsense bill. I would also like 
to thank the chairman for always striking the proper balance between 
safety and the smooth operation of commerce, and the gentleman 
explained it very clearly.
  For many of us, especially in rural areas of the Midwest, propane is 
the fuel of choice for heating their homes, and to get an idea of what 
happened here, regular folks on a regular budget would spend about $600 
to fill up their tank during the winter.
  They got a refill, got a bill, and saw that it was over $1,900 in 
some cases. The shock to them was one thing; but then the situation, as 
the gentleman so clearly stated, was exacerbated by the inability to 
deliver when we needed it.
  And propane, while there are many factors at work here, is not like 
other commodities in terms of--it is not a nice-to-have thing. It is a 
necessity.
  So the chairman's bill, this bipartisan piece of legislation 
addresses one of the issues here, making sure we have the trucks on the 
road to deliver the propane, making sure the supply is enough to start 
making sure these things are filled until the end of winter, and doing 
so in a safe manner.
  I want to applaud the folks over at the FMCA that did do what they 
needed to do in issuing some of the waivers, but the gentleman is 
exactly right. A 30-day waiver is not long enough. Winter is still deep 
in the Midwest, and we don't need to have the waiver expire on March 
15, go through it again, and have the uncertainty.
  So this piece of legislation simply does as the gentleman stated. It 
allows an exemption without sacrificing safety to allow for the 
movement of propane into the markets where it is most needed, 
specifically the rural Midwest.
  These trucks are coming from Texas. It keeps the people on the roads. 
It keeps the trucks running. It keeps the propane tanks full, as those 
things start to happen and the market starts to stabilize a little bit, 
and the prices will come down.
  I do think the gentleman hit on a bigger point here. The 
infrastructure for the delivery of propane is something we need to look 
at. This is a short-term emergency measure that will address the 
problem this winter. We need to look further down the road on some of 
the long-term solutions on this.
  So I encourage my colleagues to support this commonsense piece of 
legislation, support it for all the right reasons, and then join 
together as we move forward to look at some long-term solutions.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. SHUSTER. First, I want to thank the gentleman from Minnesota for 
his kind remarks. I appreciate it greatly and look forward to continue 
working together with you on many other legislative endeavors.
  With that, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from West Virginia 
(Mrs. Capito).
  Mrs. CAPITO. I thank the chairman of the House Transportation and 
Infrastructure Committee for his solid work on this, his bipartisan 
work, as the gentleman from Minnesota mentioned.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Home Heating Emergency 
Assistance Through Transportation Act, H.R. 4076, which is a short-
term, commonsense measure.
  This long winter has really hit a lot of families in their wallets 
and on their budgets, and a shortage of propane has made the cost of 
home heating even worse for many West Virginians and residents in our 
surrounding States.
  More than 31,000 West Virginia households rely on propane for their 
heating. More than two-thirds of the propane sold in West Virginia is 
for residential use, meaning that high prices have a direct impact on 
our family budgets.
  Local suppliers have been forced to short-fill their customers' tanks 
in order to spread the limited supply of propane among customers in 
need. Today's legislation will allow these suppliers to operate more 
efficiently through this spring, allowing them to make more frequent 
deliveries, and ensure that their customers have an adequate and 
affordable supply of propane to get them through the rest of the 
winter.
  This bill is the first of five separate pieces of energy legislation 
the House will consider this week, all having one common thread, to 
make sure American families have access to affordable and reliable 
supplies of electricity and heating fuel.
  I urge my colleagues to support the HHEATT Act and the other energy 
bills on the floor this week.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHUSTER. I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. 
Mullin), an important new member of the committee and someone who 
really knows about infrastructure firsthand because he actually builds 
it out there in Oklahoma.
  Mr. MULLIN. I thank the chairman for this opportunity to speak on 
this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today out of concern for thousands of Americans 
struggling to heat their homes this winter. The bitter cold has caused 
an unwelcome rise in heating costs that has resulted in smaller 
paychecks and financial strain for individuals and organizations across 
Oklahoma's Second District.
  Money is not going as far, especially among low-income families that 
already find themselves under tight budgets.
  Areas that are in dire need of propane to heat their homes are left 
out in the cold--literally--due to a lack of adequate infrastructure. 
It is critical that we pass today's HHEATT Act to ensure the issues 
with heating fuel transportation and distribution are resolved and that 
relief is finally available.
  Fuel costs aren't just numbers on a page. They are factors that 
critically impact our neighbors, our families, and our friends. The 
fact is we have a responsibility to maintain our Nation's public 
safety.
  I urge my colleagues to remember your fellow Americans today and help 
pass this commonsense solution that will provide certainty and will 
quickly address a critical need.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I will continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. SHUSTER. I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Kelly).
  Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. I thank the chairman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this act. It is really 
just common sense, is it not? And I think it

[[Page H2105]]

best exemplifies how America handles crises. They adjust. They make an 
adjustment.
  This certainly could be called a heated debate because we are trying 
to make sure that our constituents have that ability, to heat their 
homes during one of the longest winters. We don't use the term ``polar 
vortex'' back in Pennsylvania. We just call it winter.
  It has been a long, long winter, and we are looking at the adjustment 
that would take place. It is just about transportation. It is about 
allowing these people that deliver this energy, this propane to these 
homes.
  In Pennsylvania, we have over 180,000 people who rely on the delivery 
of this product to keep their homes heated. That is not a difficult 
thing to understand. I think for this body to be able to just on the 
run--on the fly, as it were--make sure that our constituents have the 
ability to heat their homes, this is so fundamentally basic, and it is 
just common sense.
  So I thank the chairman for bringing this bill forward. It makes 
sense to everybody back where I live, as they bundle up and continue to 
worry about when spring is finally going to get here.
  We are able to release that now, change the transportation laws a 
bit, just so they can get there, and we are saying let's do it until 
May 31. Let's not do it the way we are doing it now.
  Chances are, by May 31, that crisis will be gone, but the ability to 
get propane to their homes is very critical right now.
  So I thank the chairman and ranking member for what they are doing. 
We are doing things that make sense for the American people, and every 
single American citizen benefits from this.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, once again, I thank the chairman for a smart 
piece of legislation. It is simple. It strikes that proper balance 
between safety on our roads and a smooth flow of commerce.
  This is a matter of life and death. It has been a bitter cold winter, 
as you have heard. 21 people in Minnesota have died as a direct result 
of the weather. We have 250,000 people who get their heat from propane. 
Many of them are in rural areas.
  I have been in homes across southern Minnesota. These are folks doing 
everything right, paying the bills, working hard. If they can afford to 
get the propane, that is one thing. They simply can't get the propane, 
in some cases.
  So this is one first step. Alleviate the crisis. Do it in a safe 
manner. Get it out there. Start to balance things out. Then move 
forward because, as we said, again, keeping stability in the heating 
oil markets is absolutely critical, and we can get this right.
  So with that, I congratulate the chairman. I thank him for bringing 
this, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I again thank the gentleman from Minnesota 
for his work on this.
  I also thank the original cosponsor on this bill, Mr. Ryan from Ohio, 
who may be stuck in the snow out there, or maybe it has slowed down his 
progress to get to Washington; but the gentleman hails from eastern 
Ohio, right on the Pennsylvania border.
  I know that this is going to impact his district, and I was glad that 
he and I were able to work together on this commonsense piece of 
legislation that is going to help hundreds of thousands of people--if 
not millions of people--all up and down these corridors who have had a 
very, very difficult winter.
  I know that, looking at The Weather Channel or one of the weather 
stations out in Minnesota, they may need propane until the end of May 
because of the kind of winter they have had up there. There have been 
very, very, very cold, extreme weather conditions.
  Again, H.R. 4076 provides the ability of the Transportation 
Department to extend this and help with this crisis and, as we have all 
said here today, strong bipartisan support; so I would urge all my 
colleagues today to vote on H.R. 4076.
  I now yield 2 minutes to another gentleman from northwestern Ohio 
(Mr. Latta).
  Mr. LATTA. I thank the chairman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a very important issue not only to northwest 
Ohio, but to the entire Midwest, so I rise today in support of H.R. 
4076, the Home Heating Emergency Assistance Through Transportation Act. 
This legislation will ensure the trucks carrying emergency supplies of 
propane can be delivered to communities most in need as fast as 
possible.
  My constituents have been at the forefront of the shortage, as many 
rely on propane to heat their homes and maintain important farming 
operations. In the face of extreme winter weather, with prolonged 
periods of negative degree temperatures, access to heat is not a 
product of comfort, but is a requirement for survival.
  Further frustrating is the resulting high prices that are putting 
pressure on already strained family budgets. While many supply 
companies are urging customers to take voluntary conservation measures, 
many families living in my district don't have the option of reducing 
home heat.
  Last Friday when I did get home, I found this letter in my mailbox 
from a constituent I have known for my entire life. The letter was 
written by the wife explaining the situation. Her husband, who is 
almost 96 years old, needs to have their home warmer this winter since 
he is on a blood thinner.
  During the last couple of weeks, they have kept their thermostat at 
69 degrees. He has been fully dressed with a hat, gloves, bathrobe, and 
blankets while at their home. She explains in the letter that they have 
not had many pleasant days, but they have made it through it.
  Another constituent is a young mother with children at home and one 
on the way. She cannot keep their home colder, even though it would 
help save on their next energy bill.
  Finally, a small business owner who delivers propane to customers in 
northwest Ohio has been working day and night to find enough propane to 
ensure his customers can heat their homes.

                              {time}  1430

  In cases where he simply cannot provide enough propane, he has 
distributed plug-in electric heaters. These actions will keep them warm 
but will not help when they receive their next energy bill.
  These are just a few examples of what is happening throughout the 
Midwest. The propane shortage has created a very serious crisis that is 
impacting the most vulnerable members of our society. H.R. 4076 is a 
step towards providing short-term relief to the communities, families, 
and small business owners most in need.
  I thank the chairman for his leadership on this legislation, and I 
support the legislation.
  Mr. SHUSTER. I thank the gentleman from Ohio and encourage all 
Members to support H.R. 4076, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4076, the 
HHEATT Act, that would allow propane to expeditiously move across our 
country and be delivered to the hundreds of thousands of people who 
rely on this resource to heat their homes.
  It is estimated that 250,000 people in my home state of Wisconsin 
rely on propane to heat their homes. Today, the temperature in my 
hometown of Fond du Lac is 11 degrees, with a high of 20 and a low of 6 
degrees. The wind chill brings these temperatures down to the single 
digits and below zero. This is the way it's been for much of the winter 
during this exceptionally cold winter.
  Don't get me wrong, I'm from Wisconsin, we're used to the cold.
  But when you get home from work and you are unable to afford or even 
obtain the propane needed to heat your home, we have a serious problem. 
There are many factors that have contributed to the propane shortage 
we're now facing, and I am not here to list them all.
  My home state of Wisconsin and the utility companies that serve us 
have been going to great lengths to assist those who are running low on 
propane and seek out additional supplies as far south as Texas to get 
them to the people that need them.
  The U.S. Department of Transportation has temporarily suspended 
hours-of-service regulations for truck drivers carrying propane so 
supplies can make it where they need to go in an expedited manner. But 
these suspensions han been renewed in 30 day increments.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill simply continues the emergency suspension of 
federal hours-of-service requirements for truck drivers carrying 
propane through the end of May. It allows the transportation of propane 
to continue uninterrupted by federal rules that could literally be the 
difference between someone sleeping in a house with heat or without it. 
We are making progress in resolving this shortage, but this legislation 
would provide certainty for thousands in my district through the rest 
of the

[[Page H2106]]

cold season that they will be able to receive this valuable resource to 
heat their home.
  I thank my colleague and Transportation Committee Chairman Bill 
Shuster for introducing this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to 
support its passage.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4076.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________