Legislative update — House Transportation Committee releases highway proposal with hazardous materials title Last week, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman John Mica, R-Fla., released a six-year proposal to reauthorize federal surface transportation programs including the Hazardous Materials Safety Program. The chairman’s summary states, "The proposal advances safety, efficiency, and accountability in the transportation of hazardous materials and promotes the nation's economic health through certainty and uniformity in the regulation of those materials." The proposal would address several of the issues that have developed over the past two years with the Department of Transportation Special Permit program and other areas. Mica has expressed his intention to move the bill through the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee by the end of the month. Several groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have raised concerns about the $230 billion funding level over six years for surface transportation programs, saying that this figure is too low to meet the nation’s infrastructure needs. For more information on the proposal, click here.