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Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee blocked a vote on confirming Gina McCarthy to head the Environmental Protection Agency by boycotting a scheduled meeting Thursday to consider the nomination, Bloomberg News reported.

WASHINGTON — Two members of Congress proposed a measure that would stop any state’s attempt to increase truck size and weight restrictions on the more than 220,000 miles of the National Highway System.

The number of people killed on U.S. highways rose in 2012 following six years of consecutive declines, the longest streak in the nation’s history, Bloomberg News reported.

The U.S. trade deficit shrank by 11% in March as imports fell by the most in four years, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Sixty-two percent of American drivers believe the federal government should invest more money in roads but only 27% of those who feel that way favor increasing the 18.4-cent gasoline tax, according to a public opinion poll conducted by AAA.

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) signed a transportation budget bill Monday that will boost the state’s current diesel fuel tax by 2 cents beginning July 1, and the gasoline tax by 5.9 cents a gallon, effective Wednesday.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has awarded a $743 million contract to raise the deck of the Bayonne Bridge by 64 feet to allow larger ships to pass underneath it, an upgrade that port officials said is critical for the port to remain competitive after a widening of the Panama Canal is completed in 2015.

The Montana Department of Transportation increased truck violation detection through the use of in-station cameras to electronically screen trucks, according to technology provider Help Inc.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said Friday it has eliminated what it said is a redundant requirement that truck and bus drivers report out-of-state traffic convictions to the states where they are licensed.