ANKENY, Iowa — While some agricultural organizations are lauding the Senate’s final $109 billion surface transportation bill, passed March 14, others claim the bill suffered from partisan politics that affected the bill’s potential impact on agricultural transportation issues. The two-year bill, known as the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), was passed by a 74-22 margin.

“It’s a great day when the Senate, in an overwhelming bipartisan way, votes to save 1.8 million jobs and create up to 1 million more jobs,” stated Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who developed the bill along with Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.). “I call on the House of Representatives to take our bill, pass it on and send it to the president’s desk so that we can give a needed boost to our economic recovery and our aging infrastructure.”

Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Iowa-based Soy Transportation Coalition (STC), warned that important issues remain unresolved with the final bill, including providing increased revenue for improvements to the U.S. transportation system.

“The key friction point on this entire debate – how to provide increased revenue for our transportation system – remains unresolved,” Steenhoek noted, commenting for Farm World. “Currently, infrastructure projects are primarily financed by an 18.4 cent tax per gallon of gasoline purchased and a 24.4 cent tax per gallon of diesel fuel. This arrangement has proven to be unsustainable in adequately funding our nation’s surface transportation needs.

“As a result, new funding mechanisms for the next surface transportation bill are being explored and debated, but anything approaching an agreement is not on the horizon. As a result, the funding gap between what our infrastructure needs and how much the Highway Trust Fund can provide continues to widen.”

MAP-21 replaces the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Act that expired in 2009. Normally a six-year plan, the newly-minted Senate transportation bill was trimmed to two years due to the delay in authorizing the new legislation. Steenhoek called the development unfortunate, but preferable to having no new transportation bill in place.

“First of all, while it’s unfortunate that the best Congress has been able to do is a two-year, $109 billion bill – the Senate version – this proposal is preferable to continuing to live under temporary short term extensions of the previous law,” he said. “When it comes to transportation infrastructure, predictability of funding is just as important as the amount of funding. While it would be more beneficial to have a six-year transportation measure, the Senate’s two-year bill does provide more certainty to state departments of transportation to commence and continue the transportation projects our country needs.”

Steenhoek also expressed disappointment that an increase in allowable semi weights for U.S. interstates was rejected from the final version of the Senate’s transportation bill.

“It’s unfortunate that the proposal to increase semi weight limits – provided that a semi has a 6th axle – was not included in the Senate bill. According to (STC) research, a six-axle, 97,000-pound configuration has as a same or shorter stopping distance than a five-axle, 80,000-pound configuration,” Steenhoek reported. “Also, the impact on road wear and tear is the same. Therefore, expanding semi weight limits is a way to increase capacity of our surface transportation system in a period when Congress proves unable to adequately finance road construction and maintenance.”

Not all involved in agriculture were displeased with the final Senate transportation bill, including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assoc. NCBA’s associate director of legislative affairs, Kent Bacus, pointed to two amendments to the bill that are of particular importance to farm and ranch families: those brought by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) – which exempts drivers of farm vehicles from CDL (trucking) license requirements – and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) which waives hours of service restrictions for drivers during harvest season.

“Farmers and ranchers are not professional truck drivers and shouldn’t be treated as such. Hauling livestock to market two times a year is hardly the same as hauling goods across the country on a daily basis,” Bacus remarked, adding that the amendments will permit farmers and ranchers to transport goods during harvest seasons when necessary, rather than being limited by federal requirements.

The hours-of-service exemption issue addressed by Klobuchar’s amendment came to light during  2009, when the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued an interpretation of the exemption that led to restrictions on certain farm supply deliveries.

The passage of the amendment to MAP-21 reflects a clarification of the applicability of exemptions for farm products.

The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) and The Fertilizer Institute were among other ag-related groups to express gratitude for the Klobuchar amendment, which “clarifies transportation regulations critical to the agriculture industry’s ability to distribute farm supplies in a timely manner,” according to a joint news release.

“The Senate’s passage of this legislation helps ensure that agricultural retailers are able to supply farmers with the products they need in an efficient manner during critical times of the year,” said Daren Coppock, ARA president and chief executive officer.

The House has failed to act on their own version of a transportation bill, though had previously considered a five-year, $260 billion transportation funding measure.

Earlier in March, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) indicated the House may elect to consider the Senate’s transportation bill rather than moving ahead with their own.

“The House will now likely consider the Senate bill since they have been unable to develop their own version that could garner sufficient support by the Republican and Democratic caucuses,” said Steenhoek. “The President has signaled that he would sign the Senate version if it reaches his desk. Bottom line – we hope the Senate version is adopted, but it is only a fraction of what our country needs.”