A U.S. Dept. of Transportation plan to reshape and rename the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER, grants has come under fire from senior Senate appropriators. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who chairs the appropriations subcommittee responsible for DOT’s budget, and Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the panel’s top Democrat, say DOT’s plan to make states’ and localities’ ability to raise transportation revenue a grant-selection criterion is a bad idea.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, appearing at two House hearings on April 26, faced criticism about the agency’s proposed fiscal year 2019 budget request and also was grilled about controversies surrounding his management and use of agency resources.
Many previously identified problems continue to plague the complex waste treatment plant being built to immobilize much of the 54 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste stored at the U.S. Energy Dept.’s Hanford site in Washington state, prompting government investigators to recommend stopping work on the $17-billion project, underway since 2002, when those problems recur.