Arizona officials have enacted new “prompt pay” rules to keep cash flowing to struggling contractors, caught by banks and developers that have been withholding project payments in tough times. Gov. Janice K. Brewer (R) on May 11 signed into law a bill establishing retainage and final-payment timetables for properly completed construction work. Failure to comply results in penalties of 1.5% monthly interest charges. “Retention issues should be dealt with immediately and not be dragged out for cash-flow purposes, ” says Michael F. Markham Sr., president of Markham Contracting Co. Inc., Phoenix. “The banks have been a problem with this. They
Stephen T. Ayers, acting Architect of the Capitol since 2007, was confirmed on May 12 by the Senate for a 10-year term as head of the Capitol architect’s office. AOC oversees maintenance and operations of the Capitol building, Library of Congress and other facilities. Ayers, a licensed architect, joined the AOC office in 1997. He rose to chief operating officer in 2005 and became acting AOC chief in 2007, when Alan M. Hantman retired.
The Environmental Protection Agency on May 12 released a strategy for restoring the Chesapeake Bay that includes developing a tough, new total maximum daily load (TMDL) for pollutants. EPA says the TMDL, with a Dec. 31 deadline, will be the most complex ever, affecting 483 large treatment plants and thousands of smaller facilities. The plan requires federal agencies to set milestones every two years to ensure measurable environmental goals are met. On May 11, EPA announced a settlement of a 2009 lawsuit filed by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The agreement sets dates by which EPA must take certain actions, such
The EPA announced a final rule on May 13 to require large powerplants and other “stationary sources” of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions to get additional Clean Air Act permits. The “tailoring” rule will be phased in. It first will take effect for some facilities in January 2011. It would subject only facilities with GHG emissions of 100,000 tons or more per year to Clean Air Act state permitting requirements. Sources with lower GHG emissions would be exempt. EPA estimates that 900 additional permitting actions covering new sources and modifications to existing facilities would be subject to review each year. Jeff Holmstead,
The idea of a national infrastructure bank has prominent advocates who see it as a way to turn a modest federal stake into much bigger dollars for public works. But if a bank is authorized, it will happen later rather than sooner. Plans have been floated but have not generated strong momentum. The short congressional schedule makes the odds even longer for passage this year. One proposal on the table is a bill introduced last year by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.). DeLauro told a House Ways and Means subcommittee hearing on May 13 her bill would create “an independent, government-owned
Airport construction grants will flow through July 3 under a Federal Aviation Administration extension enacted on April 30. It is the 13th stopgap since September 2007, when the last multiyear FAA bill lapsed. The House and Senate have passed new, differing long-term bills. One difference concerns passenger facility charges (PFCs): The House hikes the PFC cap to $7 from $4.50. The Senate keeps the $4.50 cap, except at six airports, which would have no limit.
House appropriators aren’t happy that the General Services Administration’s $676-million fiscal 2011 budget request to construct new federal buildings doesn’t include money for any courthouse projects. Members of the House financial services and general government subcommittee made their views clear at an April 28 hearing on GSA’s budget. “It’s a shame that the request came the way it came,” subcommittee Chairman José E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) told GSA Administrator Martha N. Johnson. “You put us in a difficult situation when you don’t ask,” he added. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said the Fort Lauderdale courthouse has problems. She said judges there
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has launched what surely will be a tough competition for the second round of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants to help fund projects that aim to produce major regional or national transportation benefits. DOT has $600 million in fiscal 2010 appropriations for the new batch of grants. Demand was huge for the $1.5- billion first TIGER round, which was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. That initial group of grants, whose winners were announced on Feb. 17, drew more than 1,400 proposals totaling about $60 billion. DOT’s funding-availability notice, published in
Canada is prepared to begin talks with the U.S. later this year about procurement issues on non-federal contracts, says Peter Van Loan, minister of international trade. The provision for such talks was part of a U.S.-Canada pact signed in February that deals with “Buy American” issues. Van Loan says he “indicated clearly” in an April 22 meeting with U.S. Trade Rep. Ron Kirk “that we’re prepared to go ahead with those discussions in the second half of this calendar year.” Van Loan says the pact gives Canada a waiver of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s “Buy American” requirements in
GRAHAM KERRY Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sudden April 24 departure from talks to develop a compromise climate-change measure has left some observers wondering whether a bill will pass this year. But John Kerry (D-Mass.), who for months had been negotiating the shape of the proposal with Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), insists the bill is not dead. Kerry says, “We’re still pushing, we’re still talking, we’re still fighting—it’s very much alive.” The three lawmakers had not unveiled their proposal, but it was expected to spur nuclear development by tripling to $54 billion Dept. of Energy funds for nuclear-project loan guarantees.
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