With the economic slump battering tax receipts, state budgets remain in dire shape, and the pain may continue into fiscal year 2012, according to the National Governors Association and National Association of State Budget Officers. In that environment, it’s no surprise that states around the country are slicing spending. One sector in which construction firms are feeling the impact is transportation. + Image Related Links: Stimulus Was Just a 'Tickle' For Transportation Firms NGA and NASBO on Nov. 12 released preliminary findings from their next biannual Fiscal Survey of the States, due out Dec. 3. Scott D. Pattison, executive director
Powerplants and large industrial facilities that emit more than 25,000 tonnes of CO2 annually must begin monitoring and reporting on their greenhouse-gas emissions yearly as a result of an Environmental Protection Agency rule that goes into effect on Dec. 30. The regulation will cover approximately 85% of the nation’s greenhouse-gas emissions and apply to roughly 10,000 facilities, EPA says. The first reports will be due in 2011. Andy Byers, associate vice president of Overland Park, Kan.-based Black & Veatch’s environmental management practice division, says the rule will create opportunities for some engineering firms. “Those facilities that are subject [to the
Chongqing, a metropolitan area with 31 million people, took center stage at a conference that drew almost 400 construction professionals to the heartland of China. The Nov. 5 event focused on how to achieve sustainable development, a central issue for this city, which is expected to “urbanize” another 500,000 rural residents next year alone. Slide Show CHONGQING City in central China has 31 million people, and it is still growing. The city is located at the center of China, and although it is not familiar to many Westerners, it is playing a major part in the economic development of the
Although a key Senate committee has cleared a sweeping climate-change bill, the measure faces a difficult road ahead. The Environment and Public Works Committee on Nov. 5 approved a measure, introduced by John Kerry (D-Mass.) and panel Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), by a 11-1 tally, with Republicans boycotting the vote. But a small group of lawmakers, including Kerry, is working behind the scenes to craft a more moderate bill that could garner bipartisan support. Some industry sources say that proposal may have better odds of clearing the full Senate. Still, with Congress focused on health-care reform and other fiscal issues,
Every three years, construction industry attorneys meet to educate themselves on “big-picture” issues affecting the industry. This year, at the triennial conference of the American College of Construction Lawyers, members were told of the challenges facing design and construction from the growing economic impact of dwindling natural resources. Photo: Frank Wojciechowski / ACCL George Smitherman, deputy minister of Ontario’s new Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, told attendees at the Nov. 5-6 conference at Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., that the province’s push to reduce coal-fired power and ramp up alternative energy is “North America’s largest climate-change initiative.” He said the effort
The Environment and Public Works Committee on Nov. 5 approved comprehensive climate change legislation by a vote to 11-1, with no Republicans voting. But the bill faces an uphill battle, with little GOP support. Moderate Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, was the lone Democrat to oppose the bill. Republicans on the panel, led by ranking member James Inhofe (R-Okla.) boycott the meetings held over three days to mark up the bill and said that more analysis from the Environmental Protection Agency was needed. Committee Chair Barbara Boxer countered that extensive analysis had already been done and
The Senate at press time was nearing a vote on extensions and expansions of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act tax and benefit provisions. Advocates won a procedural vote on Nov. 2, moving the bill closer to final action. The measure would extend ARRA’s $8,000 first-time homebuyers’ tax credit to contracts through April 30. It also would give a $6,500 credit to those who owned and lived in their present house for five years and seek to buy a new home. The bill would widen ARRA’s small-business five-year operating-loss carry-back to cover all companies. It extends unemployment benefits for 14 weeks,
A new federal scorecard says the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has preserved or created 640,329 jobs so far, including more than 80,000 in construction. An Oct. 30 report from the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board says those jobs were generated by $160 billion of the ARRA funds and tax breaks made available through Sept. 30. An additional $179 billion in ARRA aid isn’t covered by the board’s report. The White House says when that additional amount is factored in, the jobs impact rises to more than one million. House GOP Leader John Boehner (Ohio) continues to contend that ARRA
The Office of Management and Budget is directing federal agencies to streamline procurement, including a 7% cut in spending on contracts by the end of fiscal 2011. OMB also wants agencies to reduce their non-competitive and high-risk contracts by 10% by 2010. OMB Deputy Director for Management Jeffrey Zients told a Senate panel on Oct. 28 that the changes could save $40 billion annually.
After enduring 12 extensions before the Safe Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act—a Legacy for Users became law in 2005, state departments of transportation and construction companies see the troublesome cycle repeating. SAFETEA-LU lapsed on Sept. 30, and they’re already on stopgap No. 2. A newly enacted spending package authorizes highway and transit programs through Dec. 18. Beyond that, another extension, probably measured in months, not years, is virtually assured. The spending measure, which President Obama signed on Oct. 30, also provides full fiscal 2010 appropriations for Interior Dept. and Environmental Protection Agency programs. In addition, it extends funding through
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