Feds approve waiver for Alabama rail project amid automation concerns

The Federal Railroad Administration has approved a Buy America waiver for a planned intermodal container transfer facility (ICTF) in Montgomery, Alabama despite concerns that such a waiver could lead to lost jobs through automation.

The Alabama State Port Authority (ASPA), which will oversee the ICTF, told the Federal Railroad Administration that the waiver is necessary in order to purchase two rubber-tired gantry cranes it wants to install at the facility, located next to the main CSX rail line between Montgomery and Mobile, Alabama.

Projects receiving funding under FRA’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program – ASPA received a $67.3 million CRISI grant for the project in 2022 – must adhere to the agency’s Buy America requirements.

But FRA may waive those requirements if it determines that:

• Applying the Buy America requirements would be inconsistent with the public interest;
• Steel, iron, and goods produced in the U.S. are not produced in a sufficient and reasonably available amount or are not of a satisfactory quality;
• Rolling stock or power train equipment cannot be bought and delivered in the United States within a reasonable time; or
• Including domestic material will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25%.

“FRA has determined that the two rubber-tired gantry cranes, including spreaders, that meet ASPA’s technical specifications are not produced in the United States in a sufficient and reasonably available amount or satisfactory quality” consistent with the regulation, FRA stated in a notice published on Wednesday.

“FRA finds ASPA has conducted appropriate due diligence through market research and an open procurement process to identify potential domestic suppliers for the products. ASPA’s efforts included a market research study that identified one potential supplier; however, ASPA did not receive any responses to its RFP from domestic suppliers.”

The Transportation Trades Department (TTD), part of the AFL-CIO, which represents railroad employees, had protested the waiver last year, arguing that because ASPA’s bid request stipulates that the cranes allow for future conversion to remote operations, a waiver “may serve as a back door to securing federal funding for a huge share of the cost of equipment that will eventually be converted to semi-automated or automated functions.”

“Put simply, this strategy, if successful, would incentivize procurements that operators would not have made without the government’s intervention,” asserted TTD President Greg Regan in comments filed with the FRA.

“In other words, the federal government would be subsidizing the near-future elimination of jobs.”

Responding to TTD’s concerns, FRA pointed out that the waiver does not set precedents and will expire upon the closeout of the grant award, estimated to be April 2028.

In addition, because the ICTF will serve international container traffic that passes through the Port of Mobile, Alabama, the waiver will help ASPA “promote American jobs by supporting the transportation needs of Central Alabama’s growing manufacturing, agricultural, and retail industries,” the agency stated.

Related articles:

• Port of Mobile enters fourth phase of $104M container terminal expansion
• $231M rail project to connect Port of Mobile to central Alabama
• Port of Mobile awarded $300M for infrastructure, intermodal improvements

Click for more FreightWaves articles by John Gallagher.

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