Below is this week’s congressional update by BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team. We’ll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session....more
Welcome to The On-Ramp, the newsletter from Venable's Autonomous and Connected Mobility team. The On-Ramp explores legal and policy developments in the world of autonomous vehicles ("AVs"), smart infrastructure, and emerging...more
On November 15, 2021 (the “Effective Date”), President Biden signed into law the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (the “Act”) to invest in our nation’s infrastructure and competitiveness. The federal government...more
The Motor Carrier Safety provisions in the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) will impose new obligations on employers and require new studies that, in turn, could lead to additional legislation...more
As a result of the contagious ocean carrier saga, recently the subject of a Presidential Executive Order dealing with anti-competitive developments in ocean shipping, the contagion has now fixated on rail ramps where...more
“Now, the next part is very important…” As scrutiny of domestic preference requirements increases in the wake of the Biden Administration’s Executive Order on Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of...more
In Washington: The House and Senate early Thursday morning affirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. The joint session to count electoral votes was delayed hours by a violent insurrection at the Capitol after President...more
The U.S. House of Representatives is considering a long-overdue increase in commercial truck insurance requirements, bringing the minimum liability limit up from $750,000 to nearly $5 million....more
Trump Signs Orders to Speed Up Oil and Gas Pipeline Construction - "President Trump signed two executive orders that he says will speed up construction of pipelines and other projects to enhance the production and...more
On April 10, 2019, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order seeking to address permitting and policy obstacles preventing the export of coal and other energy resources through West Coast ports. New port facilities and...more
During the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao announced the initiation of two long-awaited rulemakings related to the operation of small unmanned...more
It’s official: California’s infamous meal period and rest break laws no longer apply to truck drivers regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s hours-of-service requirements. Following a petition from the American...more
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards normally prohibit a person from selling any motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment that does not comply with federal motor laws, including EPA emissions standards and FMVSS safety...more
As the United States prepares to harness the innovation of autonomous technology in transportation, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is asking the public to identify regulatory barriers that can be removed to allow...more
The Department of Transportation (DOT) fulfilled its promise at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last week to have quickly published in the Federal Register four items seeking public comment on regulatory barriers to...more
On October 25, President Trump issued a memorandum directing Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao to launch an initiative to safely test and validate advanced operations for drones in partnership with state and local...more
Earlier this month in collaboration with the Arizona Regional Economic Development Foundation, Arizona UAS Magazine produced and organized Arizona’s second annual Arizona UAS Summit & Expo at the Sheraton Mesa Hotel at...more
On November 13, 2017, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) published a final rule making significant changes to 49 Code of Federal Regulations Part 40, which affects employers administering drug tests in the...more
Driverless cars are no longer a far-off pipe dream. Look for Hyundai and Toyota to showcase their driverless models at the upcoming 2018 and 2020 Olympics (in South Korea and Japan, respectively). Many predict that within 10...more
• The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have already launched a three-year Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program announced in the Presidential Memorandum released...more
The U.S. Department of Transportation ("DOT") announced this week that it is seeking public comment "on existing rules and other agency actions that are good candidates for repeal, replacement, suspension, or modification" as...more
On September 12, 2017, the Department of Transportation (DOT) released new Voluntary Guidance for Automated Driving Systems (ADS) in a document titled “A Vision for Safety 2.0” (the “Guidance”). The document, which comes as...more
Moments after President Donald Trump was sworn into office, he reiterated in his Inaugural address the promise that “[w]e will build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our...more