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House panel ignores freight transportation health Issues, encourages more funding for ports, highways, and rail, and less “red tape”

The long awaited report from the the U.S. House of Representatives Panel on 21st Century Freight Transportation, Improving the Nation’s Freight Transportation System, was released yesterday.


First impressions?


  • In 104 pages, there is not one mention of diesel exhaust, air pollution, environmental justice, or particulate matter.


  • The panel encourages lawmakers to provide more funding for ports, highways, and rail and discusses environmental reviews as if they are a time-wasting encumberance.


  • The panel makes the recommendation to “Cut red tape and encourage the Secretary of Transportation to streamline project delivery across all modes of transportation.”


  • Legislation will surely follow.  


Questions – Can public health advocates make a difference by educating our legislators and their staff. If so,how much time do we have?


The full report can be downloaded here.


For a  legislative analysis,see the report by The Hill.

Also, see Infrastructure: Where Bipartisanship Works, in Roll Call

Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the positions of the Moving Forward Network or its members. All errors are the responsibility of the author.