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A series of proposed amendments to California’s emissions-reduction regulations for heavy trucks would save the trucking industry more than $3 billion, in part by delaying some compliance requirements, according to a new report by the state’s environmental regulatory staff.

California environmental regulators plan to plug a pair of loopholes in the state’s drayage regulation that allow some operators to game the system, port officials and state regulators said.

The electoral wave that handed control of the House of Representatives to the Republicans also roiled the body’s transportation committee, ousting the panel’s current chairman and putting Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) in position to lead the key committee.

The Federal Reserve voted to keep a key U.S. interest rate at a record low and said it would buy $600 billion in government bonds over the next eight months in an effort to shore up the economy.

Truck tolls will rise on six of the seven major bridges and tunnels operated within New York City by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, beginning Dec. 30.

A group of private investors and developers has submitted a proposal to the Virginia Department of Transportation to expand and operate the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and the section of Interstate 64 that runs between Hampton and Virginia Beach.

California environmental regulators were expected late last week to make public their final slate of proposed amendments designed to help motor carriers ease the financial pain of complying with the state’s tough heavy-duty truck greenhouse gas emissions reduction and retrofitting regulations.

A slate of proposed amendments to California’s tough heavy truck diesel emissions reduction regulation would save the trucking industry more than $3 billion in retrofits and engine replacements and delay some compliance requirements by a year or more, according to a report by the state’s environmental regulatory staff.

When transport industry leaders gather Nov. 14-16 for the annual TransComp/Intermodal Expo in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., they will be probing for solutions to wide-ranging regulatory, commercial and policy issues, including the Compliance, Safety and Accountability program of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and infrastructure funding.