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The Latest Headlines:

• House Passes Terrorism Insurance Renewal
• Air Transport Assn. Supports TSA Plan
• European Union Lowering Drivers’ Work-Hour Limits
• Union Pacific Picks Firm to Protect Infrastructure

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House Passes Terrorism Insurance Renewal

The government would continue to guarantee insurance coverage for losses from terrorist attacks but private companies would have to pick up more of the costs, under legislation passed last Wednesday by the House, news services reported.

The measure, approved 371-49, would extend for two years the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, which Congress passed in 2002 to help revive the economy after 9/11, USA Today reported.

The Senate passed a similar bill last month, and the two chambers must now work out differences before concluding their work for the year. The existing act expires on Dec. 31.

Both the House and Senate bills, at the urging of the Bush administration, took steps to shift more of the financial burden to the private sector with the goal of eventually eliminating government participation, USA Today said. Transport Topics

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Air Transport Assn. Supports TSA Plan

Air Transport Association President James May told a Senate panel Monday that the airline industry supports the Transportation Security Administration’s new, risk-based analysis to respond to potential terrorist threats.

“The significance of the TSA action lies not so much in the specific screening and prohibited-list changes announced, but in the fact that they result from a deliberate and careful risk analysis," May told Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

He said TSA has done precisely what the 9/11 Commission, members of Congress and airline industry have urged TSA to do: make rational judgments about security measures based on the best threat intelligence available, the state of security measures to address vulnerabilities and potential consequences, and to make cost-effective use of valuable limited resources. Transport Topics

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European Union Lowering Drivers’ Work-Hour Limits

The United States and Canada are not the only ones altering driver hours-of-service rules, as the European Union is set to increase rest times for truck drivers, Bloomberg reported.

The EU will increase to nine hours from eight the minimum uninterrupted daily rest period for truck drivers and guarantee them at least 45 consecutive hours off every two weeks under the law approved by negotiators from the union’s 25 national governments and the European Parliament, Bloomberg said.

The European Commission, the EU's regulatory arm, proposed the legislation.

The EU also plans to reduce the maximum number of driving hours for truck drivers to 56 a week, from 74. Drivers' working hours will still have to average no more than 48 a week over four months, a limit that's already part of EU legislation, Bloomberg reported. Transport Topics

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Union Pacific Picks Firm to Protect Infrastructure

Union Pacific Corp., which operates the larges U.S. freight railroad, has chosen Duos Technologies to provide security technology to protect its infrastructure.

Under the agreement, Duos will design, manufacture and install surveillance and monitoring systems at sensitive points along the UP grid.

Duos said it has completed numerous homeland security buffer-zone surveillance projects for U.S. rail lines. Transport Topics

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