The House passed on Sept. 23 and the Senate approved on the following day a stopgap funding measure that would continue for three more months airport construction grants and other Federal Aviation Administration programs. The extension— the 16th short-term FAA authorization since Sept. 30, 2007, when the last multiyear aviation bill was enacted—is expected to be signed by President Obama. thanks to an extension President Obama was expected to sign. The new stopgap would run through Dec. 31.
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to begin its fall term on Oct. 4, it has no construction-specific cases on the docket so far. However, it is slated to take up immigration and labor cases that could affect construction and other industries. Oral arguments are scheduled for Dec. 8 on Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting, a challenge to a 2007 Arizona law requiring companies to use the federal E-Verify system to ensure employees are legal U.S. residents. The case centers on whether the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act preempts the state law. Maurice Baskin, Associated Builders and Contractors’ general
Looking ahead to the next multiyear highway transit bill, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee leaders have voiced support for improving or enlarging the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s 12-year-old Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan program to help fund major projects. Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said that while the Obama Administration’s proposed infrastructure bank has supporters and critics, TIFIA is in place. The committee’s top Republican, James Inhofe (Okla.), criticized the idea of a new infrastructure bank but said TIFIA is “a successful program that must be dramatically expanded.”
Related Links: Small-business Bill Aims To Spur Loans President Obama has signed into law a small-business bill providing $12 billion in tax breaks and a new $30-billion loan program. Among small-business owners with Obama at the Sept. 27 bill signing was Tony Scovazzo of AJS Consulting Engineers, Alexandria, Va. Obama said the firm is on the waiting list for a Small Business Administration loan. When it gets the loan, he said the firm would “be able to buy new office space and hire three people to do energy-efficient HVAC work.”
Senate banking committee members have elicited more information about the Obama Administration’s sketchy Sept. 6 proposal for a new federal infrastructure bank. Testifying at a Sept. 21 committee hearing, Roy Kienitz, under secretary of transportation for policy, conceded the bank proposal was “vague, and deliberately so.” He told reporters that officials hope to release details early in 2011, with the next budget proposal, but added, “Plans could change.” He testified that, although the bank initially would focus on transportation, “It certainly could go more broadly than that.” Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said he feared the bank would be another Fannie
A new survey finds that nearly 80% of the states say they will be ready to implement the Environmental Protection Agency’s new clean-air “tailoring” regulation by the Jan. 2 deadline or within a few months after that. EPA’s final regulation, published on June 3, focuses states’ greenhouse-gas (GHG) permitting on the largest “stationary” sources of such emissions, such as powerplants and industrial facilities. The study, released on Sept. 15 by the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, analyzed letters that states sent to EPA this summer describing progress toward meeting the permitting deadline. Bill Becker, NACAA’s executive director, says states
Construction should see some benefits from a small-business aid package that appears to be on its way to enactment soon. The bill has $12 billion in tax breaks and would create a $30-billion federal fund to increase bank lending to small companies, including developers and contractors. But industry officials say the bill by itself will not pull construction out of its slump. The bill cleared a big hurdle on Sept. 16, when the Senate passed it. The House was slated to take up the measure about a week later. If the House approves the bill, President Obama is expected to
As Congress begins a short pre-election session, its must-pass list includes construction measures with Sept. 30 deadlines: appropriations for fiscal year 2011, which starts on Oct. 1, and a Federal Aviation Administration authorization that covers airport grants. A bill aimed at aiding small businesses also is advancing. With only a few weeks left before a congressional recess, action on other bills probably will be deferred until an expected lame-duck session. In that post-election session, Congress would face decisions on extending income-tax breaks, Build America bonds and surface-transportation program—all of which expire on Dec. 31. Other measures, including an energy bill,
Nearly a year after President Obama signed an executive order calling on the federal government to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions 28% by 2020, agencies have outlined plans for achieving those green goals. The White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Office of Management and Budget reported on Sept. 9 that 56 federal agencies had submitted sustainability performance plans that will serve as frameworks for future sustainability efforts. Although many of the plans focus on practices such as reducing waste, some of the agencies’ strategies give significant weight to green design and construction goals. For example, the General Services Administration’s plan
Construction labor unions and industry groups agree that a newly issued National Labor Relations Board ruling upholding union “bannering” is significant and precedent-setting. Unions are jubilant about the outcome, but industry officials contend that the Aug. 27 ruling, announced on Sept. 2, could wreak havoc on construction projects. In its decision, the NLRB ruled the posting of stationary union banners by members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America at the workplace of a secondary employer does not violate federal labor laws. A secondary employer is a company that employs a contractor with which a union has
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