Urban transportation The bill contains no provisions with respect to the mass transit program of HUD. It is expected that the Secretary of HUD and the Secretary of Transportation will jointly study urban transit problems including urban aspects of highway development—and make proposals for the appropriate division of functions between the two agencies. Relations with regulatory agencies The Department provides a focal point for the development of proposed transportation policies and for analysis of Federal investment in all modes of transportation. While existing relationships are not changed, the bill amends the Federal Aviation Act to provide that the CAB in considering the subsidy program shall take into consideration standards and criteria furnished by the Secretary of the Department with respect to the character and quality of transportation required by the commerce of the United States. (Sec. 8(a).) Organization All functions, powers, and duties of the transferred agencies, as well as those newly created, are vested in the Secretary. The Coast Guard is transferred as a legal entity; all other agencies will lapse and no longer have a legal status. However, the Secretary is enjoined to consider the need for operational continuity (Sec. 4(b)). Consequently, the FAA, Maritime Administration, and Bureau of Public Roads will be reconstituted by departmental order immediately upon creation of the Department. The Department will have four Assistant Secretaries. They will not be in the line, but will be used primarily by the Secretary for crosscutting department wide problems such as long-range planning and policy development, international transportation affairs, technology and research, etc. Size The Department will have a budget of $5.9 billion, and 94,317 personnel (33,556 military and 60,761 civilian). It will rank fifth in size (in dollars) and fourth in personnel (civilian and military). Safety functions The new Department will carry out safety activities for all modes of transportation. In order to determine the cause of accidents, a new National Transportation Safety Board will be established within the Department. (Sec. 5.) The Board will Determine the cause of accidents. Act as an appeal board on airman and mariner certificates issued by FAA and Coast Guard. Accidents will be investigated by the appropriate element of the Department and the investigation results reviewed by the NTSB. To insure independence and objectivity in carrying out these functions, the Board will consist of five Presidentially appointed members, with Senate confirmation. Purpose of the Department The Department will coordinate Government activities in a vital and significant sector of the economy. The Department will provide lead ership in developing for all modes of transportation coherent and balanced programs for research and development, safety, and Federal investment. In the investment area, for example, any proposal for a Federal investment in transportation facilities or equipment will have to be in accord with standards and criteria established by the Department. (Sec. 7.) The Department will also provide basic transportation data and economic analysis for use by agencies in making such investment proposals. In the case of multipurpose water resource projects, requirements are set forth for appropriate consultation with the Water Resources Council and for compatibility of the various criteria for economic evaluation to be used. Previous Proposals for a Department Proposals for a Bureau or a Department of Transportation have been made since 1874. The most important of those in recent years include: (1949) First Hoover Commission Task Force Report. (Full Commission recommended a Department of Commerce and Transportation.) (1961) President Eisenhower in his outgoing budget message. (1961) U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce staff report the so-called Doyle report. In each of the past several sessions of Congress bills to create a Department have been introduced by Senator Case and Representative Younger. 7. AGENCIES INCLUDED AND EXCLUDED IN THE PROPOSED Background DEPARTMENT Departmental status for the principal transportation agencies and functions of the Government will provide the framework for the development of fast, safe, efficient, and convenient transportation services for the public. While these activities represent the preponderance of Government money and personnel concerned with the transportation field, they do not include the activities of all of the 35 principal Federal agencies with transportation responsibilities. Agencies included Federal transportation promotional programs will be represented in the new Department by the Bureau of Public Roads and the Federal Maritime Administration. Also included are the Office of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation and its Office of Emergency Transportation of the Commerce Department. Transportation safety functions will be carried out by elements transferred from the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Interstate Commerce Commission (including car service). Also transferred are the Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Agency. Specialized units will include the Alaska Railroad (Interior), Great Lakes Pilotage Administration (Commerce) and the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. (remaining independent, but under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of Transportation rather than the Secretary of Commerce.) Those functions of the Corps of Engineers dealing with anchorages, bridges, and tolls will also be included in the new Department. Achievement of the principal purposes of the Department-development and implementation of national transportation policies and coordination of Federal transportation programs-is dependent on the inclusion of these 12 agencies or functions. Their activities are more closely related to the major purpose of the new Department than they are to their present organizational bases. Agencies excluded The same cannot be said of the agencies excluded. Of the 26 agencies (or parts thereof) with transportation responsibilities remaining outside of the Department, most are more closely related to supporting the principal purpose of their present parent agency than to developing the Nation's transportation system. For instance, those agencies related most immediately to the national security include: Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Installations and Logistics); Army Transportation Agency; Military Sea Transport Service; Military Airlift Command. All of these are principally involved in moving military personnel and supplies. Those agencies pursuing civilian programs with transportation elements which complement their basic objectives have also been excluded: Forest Service (roads and trails); National Park Service (roads, parkways); Bureau of Transportation and International Services, Post Bureau of Customs (depository for shipping papers, travelers); General Services Administration (vehicle fleets, shipping rates, equipment standards); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (aeronautical research). Agencies involved in multipurpose programs have also been excluded. For agencies such as the Corps of Engineers (civil functions), the TVA, the Appalachian Regional Planning Commission, and the Office of Emergency Planning, transportation is only one among many interrelated elements which they consider in the course of their activity. The Corps, for example, is concerned with multipurpose projects that involve reclamation, recreation, irrigation, as well as navigation. A number of agencies are concerned with aspects of the transportation industry but their connection to other industries, institutions, or to the public in general mitigated against their inclusion in a department devoted solely to transportation. These include: Environmental Science Services Administration, Department of Commerce (principally the Weather Bureau and the Coast and Geodetic Survey). U.S. Travel Service, Department of Commerce (promoting tourism). Public Health Service (traffic safety research); National Mediation Board (railroad labor problems). The regulatory agencies dealing with transportation have historic quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative economic functions which require a degree of independence from other executive branch organizations. Thus, economic regulation performed by the Federal Maritime Commission (ocean shipping), the Federal Power Commission (pipelines), the Civil Aeronautics Board (airlines), and the Interstate Commerce Commission (motor carriers, railroads, water carriers, freight forwardes, pipelines, etc.) will continue to be done by these agencies. Safety functions of the CAB and ICC and the car functions of the latter, as noted above, however, will be transferred to the new Department. There are two agencies which, but for more pressing considerations, might have been logically included in the new Department: the Panama Canal Company and the National Capital Transportation Agency. Both are agencies in transition whose future status will depend on negotiations currently being conducted. Their inclusion in the Department of Transportation at this time would serve only to confuse these negotiations. Finally, the Office of Transportation, Department of Housing and Urban Development deals with urban mass transit problems. The relationship of urban interests and transportation interests will be the subject of intensive discussions between the two Secretaries. It is expected that some transfers of functions will be proposed after these discussions are held. Conclusion It should be noted that agencies, even though they remain outside of the Department, will be expected to adhere to standards and criteria established by the Secretary of Transportation for the investment of Federal funds in transportation facilities and equipment. The exceptions to this rule are limited to defense transportation features, interoceanic canals, and to purchases for agency use. Finally, like all major departments, future additions or deletions of functions will be considered when appropriate to more efficient and effective government. 8. GENERAL TRANSFERS OF AUTHORITY TO DEPARTMENT HEADS Various reorganization plans and statutes have transferred generally to the heads of executive departments the functions vested in other officers, agencies, and employees of their departments. Those acts, which also generally authorized the delegation of the functions transferred, are listed below together with the exceptions to the general transfers of functions contained therein. In all cases, with the exception of the Department of Defense and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, all functions, except as noted, are vested in the Secretary who is authorized to delegate these functions within the department. State. The Secretary may promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out his functions and those of the Department and he may delegate the authority to perform those functions (5 U.S.C. 151c); he may also prescribe duties for Assistant Secretaries and other employees of the Department and make changes and transfers therein (5) U.S.C. 154). The Secretary is authorized to administer, coordinate and direct the Foreign Service and the personnel of the Department, and the authorities vested in various officers with respect to the Foreign Service and Department personnel were transferred to the Secretary by the act of May 26, 1949 (22 U.S.C. 811a.) Treasury-Reorganization Plan No. 26 of 1950 effected a general transfer of authorities to the Secretary. The plan, which was effective July 31, 1950, excepted from the transfer functions vested in hearing examiners by the Administrative Procedure Act and functions vested in the Comptroller of the Currency; the plan was also subject to the provision of the act of January 28, 1915, requiring the Coast Guard to operate as part of the Navy in time of war or when the President so directs. Justice.-Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1950 effected a general transfer of authorities to the Attorney General. The plan, which was effective May 14, 1950, excepted from the transfer functions vested in hearing examiners by the Administrative Procedure Act, functions vested in Federal Prison Industries, Inc., the board of directors and officers of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., and the board of parole. Post Office.-Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1949 effected a general transfer of authorities to the Postmaster General. There were no exceptions to the plan which was effective August 20, 1949. Interior.-Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1950 effected a general transfer of authorities to the Secretary. The plan, which was effective May 24, 1950, excepted from the transfer functions vested in hearing examiners by the Administrative Procedure Act and functions vested in the Virgin Islands Corp., its board of directors and officers. Agriculture.-Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1953 effected a general transfer of authorities to the Secretary. The plan, which was effective March 25, 1953, excepted from the transfer functions vested in hearing examiners by the Administrative Procedure Act, functions vested in the Department's corporations and the boards of directors and officers of those corporations, functions of the Advisory Board of the Commodity Credit Corporation and functions vested in the Farm Credit Administration, its agencies, officers and entities. Commerce.-Reorganization Plan No. 5 of 1950 effected a general transfer of functions to the Secretary. The plan, which was effective May 24, 1950, excepted from the transfer functions vested in hearing examiners by the Administrative Procedure Act and functions vested in the Civil Aeronautics Board, the Inland Waterways Corporation and the Advisory Board of the Inland Waterways Corporation. Labor.-Reorganization Plan No. 6 of 1950 effected a general transfer of functions to the Secretary. The plan, which was effective May 24, 1950, excepted from the transfer the functions of hearing examiners under the Administrative Procedure Act. Health, Education, and Welfare.-No general transfer of functions has been effected. Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1953, which created the Department, made the Department subject to administration under the supervision and direction of the Secretary. The plan, which was effective April 11, 1953, vests in the Secretary the functions of the Federal Security Administrator, authorizes him to pre |