With help from Oriana Pawlyk

Quick Fix

— DOT wants to fight with airlines over pricing transparency for ancillary fees.

— Canada threatens the U.S. with trade retaliation if the credit for union-made EVs becomes law.

— No more astronaut wings for space tourists.

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Around the Agencies

DO YOU WANT FRIES WITH THAT? The Department of Transportation is planning to propose a rule that would require ancillary airline fees to be made clear when a ticket is purchased, Oriana reports.

DECADELONG FIGHT: DOT first tried to impose greater transparency for airline fees back in 2011, but the effort was abandoned by the Trump administration in 2017. The airlines, unsurprisingly, do not support price transparency rules. The DOT notice of proposed rulemaking is expected in June 2022, according to a summary published in the fall 2021 Unified Agenda, which came out Friday.

LAWMAKERS HAVE THEIR OWN PLAN: A group of Democrats in Congress on Thursday reintroduced the “Forbidding Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous (FAIR) Fees Act, H .R. 5195 (116), legislation that was first proposed by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in 2016. The FAIR Fees Act, if it becomes law, would also direct DOT to review existing airline fees.

The slate of regulatory changes in store: In addition to transparency around airline service fees, OIRA spotlighted transitioning toward zero-emission technologies in the introduction to that regulatory plan. “The EPA plans to strengthen greenhouse gas emission standards for light- and heavy-duty vehicles, with an eye towards encouraging automakers to transition to zero-emission technologies,” OIRA wrote. To start: FHWA is planning a February 2022 NPRM to establish a method for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions related to driving, which it says would help governments make “more informed choices” about emissions.

Train crews: DOT is sending a rule on minimum staffing for train crews back to Democratic territory, after the Trump administration set the minimum crew size to one person. The Biden team is planning a February 2022 NPRM “that would address the issue of minimum requirements for the size of different train crew staffs, depending on the type of operation.”

Defects: DOT is reviving a rulemaking, dormant since 2016, that would require automakers to notify vehicle owners of defects and noncompliance issues via electronic means, in addition to by mail, as mandated by the 2012 surface transportation law, MAP-21. A supplemental NPRM is expected out in February 2022.

Automated trucks: An FMCSA rulemaking on the safe integration of trucks with automated driving systems onto the nation’s roadways has been revived, with proposed changes to regulations around safety and innovation. An NPRM is now scheduled for June.

Withdrawn: NHTSA announced plans to withdraw a rulemaking, launched in 2018, to establish a pilot program for collaborative research on motor vehicles with high or full driving automation, but said the proposals discussed in the ANPRM could feed into a separate rulemaking.

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On the Hill

DEBT DEAL LIKELY, BBB’s FUTURE UNCERTAIN: Congress returns to Washington for its final (scheduled) week of votes for the year. Democrats in both chambers are expected to pass a bill that hikes the debt limit without much GOP support, after Senate leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell hashed out a deal that temporarily suspended the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to consider major legislation.

MANCHIN WATCH: There’s still some procedural work to do in the Senate before President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill, H.R. 5376 (117), can receive a vote, but the biggest hurdle remains Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.). Manchin vocally opposes certain portions of the bill, including certain climate provisions and a tax credit for union-made American electric vehicles, and Friday’s inflation news won’t sit well with him. Manchin and Biden are scheduled to speak this week as Schumer tries to finish a bill before Christmas.

"I think the case he will make is that this is exactly the time to pass this bill and move it forward so that we can lower costs for the American people on all of those topics, including insulin, and areas that really force American families to pinch pennies,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday.

AIRLINES COMING: The major transportation hearing of note this week is with airline industry leaders before the Senate Commerce Committee. Oriana has more details on the hearing, which is scheduled for Wednesday.

Automobiles

MAKING ENEMIES: The union-made EV tax credit currently included in the BBB bill continues to pick up international opposition, this time from the Canadians.

Zi-Ann Lum reports that Canada’s deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, and International Trade Minister Mary Ng sent a letter to eight senators on Friday, formally threatening retaliatory tariffs targeting the auto sector “and several other sectors of the U.S. economy” if the EV provision remains intact.

“If there is no satisfactory resolution to this matter, Canada will defend its national interests, as we did when we were faced with unjustified tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum,” read the letter, referencing a 2018 trade dispute that Freeland was on the front lines of at the time.

The European Union, Mexico and Manchin have said they oppose the $4,500 tax credit for union-made electric vehicles, on top of existing incentives. The credit would primarily benefit Detroit-based U.S. automakers whose employees are unionized.

COULD CALIFORNIA REIN IN TESLA FSD? Public alarm over Tesla’s beta-testing of its “full self-driving” software is ramping up, after months of a steady drip of YouTube videos showing dangerous situations the cars got into until humans intervened, and California public officials are considering taking action. The state DMV, which regulates how highly automated vehicles can be tested and deployed on California roadways, has up until now not required Tesla to comply with those requirements, like disengagement reporting and other transparency and safety measures. But state legislators are beginning to call upon them to do so, the Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend.

Call to action: The chair of the state Senate Transportation Committee, Democrat Lena Gonzalez, sent a letter to DMV Director Steve Gordon expressing concern about the dangers posed by roadway beta-testing of the “full self-driving” feature. In the letter, she asked for the DMV’s assessment of the FSD beta trials, including any concerns about a danger to the public, and asked, “If the DMV finds the beta program unsafe, how does the DMV plan to address any potential concerns?”

California is a leader nationally on issues related to vehicle automation regulation, and the country will be watching to see what kind of action it takes, if any, to rein in Tesla and force the bad boy of the auto world to play by the same rules as everyone else.

Aviation

WINGS BE GONE The FAA is ending the Commercial Space Astronaut Wings Program, which awarded gold pins called “Commercial Space Astronaut Wings” to anyone who flew more than 50 statute miles above the surface of the Earth.

But now that space tourism looks set to explode, the FAA is no longer giving "astronaut" credit to passengers who train for a few days ahead of a space flight and don't perform vital tasks on board. Although the gold pins will stop being issued to anyone who takes a space flight starting in 2022, those who fly above 50 miles on an FAA-licensed rocket will get credit in an online database.

“The U.S. commercial human spaceflight industry has come a long way from conducting test flights to launching paying customers into space,” FAA Associate Administrator Wayne Monteith said. “The Astronaut Wings program, created in 2004, served its original purpose to bring additional attention to this exciting endeavor. Now it’s time to offer recognition to a larger group of adventurers daring to go to space.”

Rail

GREEN LIGHT: The Surface Transportation Board on Friday affirmed its prior, preliminary conclusion that CSX’s proposed acquisition of Pan Am Systems Inc.,and its shortline subsidiaries does not require an environmental and historic review. The board will hold a virtual public hearing on the proposed merger on Jan. 13 at 9:30 a.m. ET.

The Autobahn

— "Justices will hear Southwest supervisor arbitration fight." Law360.

— “Delayed for years, Tri-Rail’s Miami station has a new problem: The trains won’t fit.” Miami Herald.

— “Without access to charging stations, Black and Hispanic communities may be left behind in the era of electric vehicles." The Washington Post.

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