Related Links: DOT's State-by-State Lists of Unobligated Earmarked Funding, Old Projects DOT Press Release Announcing Funding-Transfer Plan The Dept. of Transportation says states will be able to transfer $473.4 million designated years ago for specific projects, but never spent, to other transportation work. Under the plan, which DOT announced on Aug. 17, states have until Oct. 1 to identify projects to which they want their shares of the funds to go. The aid must be obligated by Dec. 31.But Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), a senior Appropriations Committee member, blasted the plan, saying DOT announced it without consulting any members of
Related Links: NRC Foes Hail NRC Move to Freeze Construction Licenses NRC Aug. 7 Order in Response to Court Decision The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's new chair, Allison Macfarlane, says one of her priorities is to develop a response to a recent federal court decision that vacated nuclear-waste regulations the NRC had issued in 2010. MACFARLANEThe June 8 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit led the commission to put on hold final approval of construction and operating licenses (COLs) for all new reactors as well as license renewals. NRC staffers have developed a preliminary response to
Related Links: DOT's Federal Register Notice of Funding Availability for TIFIA DOT's TIFIA Home Page The newly enacted transportation bill gives a giant boost to a U.S. Dept. of Transportation loan program for major highway and transit projects. The line is already starting to form for the loans, which could total more than $16 billion over the next two years.DOT's "bank" was created in 1998 by the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) to provide loans and other credit assistance to help fund large projects. After relatively modest demand in TIFIA's first decade, interest took off in 2010. For
Related Links: U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. Circuit Aug. 21 ruling In a long-awaited decision, a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has struck down an Environmental Protection Agency rule that aimed to cut powerplants' emissions or air pollutants that move across state lines. The cross-state air pollution regulation (CSAPR) would have required 28 states in the East, Midwest and South to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide that cross state lines and cause air-quality problems in downwind states. EPA finalized the rule in July 2011, but the court blocked
Related Links: DOT state-by-state lists of earmarked funds, projects In a move that should give a boost to heavy infrastructure construction, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation is allowing states to transfer $473.4 million in highway funds earmarked years ago, but unspent, to other projects that can use the money now.Under the transfer program, which DOT Secretary Ray LaHood announced on Aug. 17, governors have until Oct. 1 to identify the projects on which they want to use their shares of the $473.4 million. Funds must be obligated by Dec. 31. The aid can go to highway, transit, passenger rail or
Related Links: Nuclear Regulatory Commission August 7 Order U.S. Court of Appeals June 8 Ruling on NRC's Waste Confidence Rule Update Critics of the nuclear energy industry praised the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its recent decision to put on hold the final approval of construction and operating licenses for all not-yet-approved nuclear reactors, as well as license renewals, until it can review the environmental impacts of storing nuclear waste.But industry observers note that the NRC’s decision, spelled out in an Aug. 7 order, may not be the death knell some are making it out to be.Steve Kerekes, spokesman for the
Related Links: Senate Finance Committee Summary of Tax Extenders Package The Senate Finance Committee's passage on August 2 of legislation extending tax cuts known as "extenders" came as a welcome surprise to many. The package, cobbled together in the final week before the August recess by Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), would extend dozens of tax provisions set to expire at the end of the year. It cleared the committee by a bipartisan 19-5 vote.Environmental groups and renewable-energy advocates were quick to praise the committee for passing the bill. But some observers say the
Related Links: Full Text of DOD Memorandum of Understanding Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed a memorandum of understanding on Aug. 6 to encourage development of renewable-energy projects on public lands set aside for defense-related purposes and other onshore and offshore areas near military installations.The memorandum sets out the guiding principles for how the two departments will work together to increase renewable-power projects on or near the nation's military installations.In the U.S., DOD installations encompass roughly 28 million acres, of which 16 million acres—previously managed by the Dept. of the Interior's Bureau of
Related Links: VA Threatens to Terminate Brasfield and Gorrie from Hospital Project Illegal Workers Found Hiding At Big Federal Construction Site Officials with the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs in late July told Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) the agency plans to complete a $260-million Orlando medical-center project by next summer and won't require any additional funding to do so.The update by Timothy Liezert, the medical center's director, contradicts the contractor, who testified to Congress earlier this year that the project was more than $100 million over budget and could not be completed until 2014.Nevertheless, Congressman Mica issued a statement calling
The latest employment statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released August 3, showed a slight increase in jobs overall, but also an increase in the unemployment rate.Total non-farm payroll employment edged up by 163,000 jobs in July, but the unemployment rate ticked up slightly, from 8.217% in June to 8.254% in July.Alan Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said in a statement that the report provides further evidence “that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression.”But those numbers are giving the construction industry little to cheer about. Construction employment
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