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Speaker Boehner Hints at 6-Month Extension Negotiations between the House and Senate over their separate versions of a transportation authorization bill accelerated somewhat this week when Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), together with Ranking Committee Republican Jim Inhofe (Okla.), personally delivered an offer of compromise language on provisions to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.). The “offer” was received by the House as a positive gesture. Chairman Mica said the House conferees would begin making "sequential counteroffers" today.

Today, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation approved the FY 2013 transportation spending bill, which included funding for the federal-aid highway program at $39.1 billion – the same level as FY 2012. The Senate approved its version of the appropriations bill last month, which provided the same level of funding as the House.

Rep. Paul Broun (R- Ga.) has threatened to bring a motion to the House floor as early as tonight, which would instruct House conferees to insist on limiting total "funding out of the Highway Trust Fund" in FY 2012 and 2013 to the revenue from gas tax receipts that the Congressional Budget Office currently projects will be deposited in the Trust Fund. Under the motion, total funding in 2012 and 2013 would be about twenty-five percent below current levels.

House and Senate staff continue to meet to negotiate various provisions in the transportation reauthorization legislation. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who is serving as the chair of the conference committee, set June 7, 2012 as the target date for having a compromise measure completed.

As ��ż��� reported last week, the House and Senate began official negotiations to reconcile their differences on a bill that will reauthorize federal highway and transit programs.  Members of the conference committee have not met formally as a group since their meeting last week but conferees and their staff has been working behind the scenes.

On May 8, the House and Senate conferees held their first public hearing.  The hearing consisted almost solely of opening statements from the 47 members of Congress serving on the conference committee.  The committee is being chaired by Environment and Public Works Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and they are charged with working out the differences between H.R. 4348, a 90-day extension of the current surface transportation authorization that includes environmental streamlining provisions, approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, and other provisions with the Senate’s two-year $109 billion comprehensive bill, MAP-21.

As part of it’s Every Day Counts initiative, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is encouraging state DOTs to try Construction Manager - General Contractor (CMGC) as part of their Accelerated Project Delivery Methods (APMD) initiative. As part of its educational effort, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is hosting the Construction Manager/General Contractor (CMGC) Peer Exchange on May 23-24, 2012 at the Seaport Hotel in Boston.

House and Senate leaders have appointed their conferees, setting the stage for the start of negotiations on a surface transportation reauthorization proposal when Congress returns from recess next week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) appointed 14 senators – eight Democrats and six Republicans – and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Oh.) appointed 33 representatives – 20 Republicans and 13 Democrats. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairperson Barbara Boxer (D-Cal.), who will serve as the conference committee Chair, has scheduled the first official meeting of the conference for Tuesday, May 8.

On March 29, 2012, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking comments on how to prevent injuries and deaths from vehicles and mobile equipment backing into workers in construction and reinforcing concrete activities in construction.

Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to meet with the Senate to negotiate a bill funding federal highway and transit programs. House Members approved a motion to go to conference with the Senate (who moved to go to Conference on Tuesday) on the transportation reauthorization bill by unanimous consent, setting up what could be several weeks of discussions with the Senate.