Related Links: White House Fact Sheet Link to UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Website The Obama administration on March 31 formally submitted its plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.World leaders will meet in Paris in December to try to reach an international agreement to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide.Environmental advocates say the formal pledge to reduce greenhouse emissions is an important step that might encourage other nations to follow suit. But even some supporters note that for an international agreement to be successful in helping address
Related Links: OMB 3/25/2015 memo to agencies on real estate reduction plan The Obama administration has directed federal agencies to reduce their total real-estate square footage, in owned and leased space, starting in fiscal year 2016.The plan, outlined in a March 25 White House Office of Management and Budget memo, doesn’t bar new federal buildings construction, but any added space would have to be more than offset by selling other, underused facilities or reducing leases.The “Reduce the Footprint” program doesn't set an overall square-footage target for the government but asks each agency to come up with an annual goal.David Mader,
In separate but related actions, the Obama administration and a bipartisan group of senators have taken steps to break through the logjam over the long-term storage and disposal of high-level radioactive waste.
Related Links: Text of 2013 Bill, the Transportation Empowerment Act Transportation Construction Coalition map showing level of potential state gas-tax hikes under 2013 House and Senate bills Construction industry groups are battling to fend off a possible resurfacing of proposals to make deep cuts in the federal gasoline and diesel taxes and “devolve” to the states more responsibilities for the federally aided highway program.The last big devolution proposal was the Transportation Empowerment Act, which Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) introduced in 2013. The proposal, backed by conservative groups such as Heritage Action for America, sought to
Related Links: Dept. of Justice press release 03/23/2015 Ex-Bechtel VP Pleads Guilty to Federal Kickback Charges Former Bechtel Corp. vice president Asem Elgawhary has been sentenced to 42 months in federal prison for taking $5.2 million in kickbacks on electric-power contracts in Egypt from 1996 to 2011, the Dept. of Justice says.Judge Deborah K. Chasanow imposed the sentence on March 23 in federal district court in Greenbelt, Md., and also directed Elgawhary to forfeit $5.2 million.Elgawhary, 73, of Potomac, Md., pleaded guilty last Dec. 4 to mail fraud, conspiracy to launder money and interfering with federal internal revenue laws.DOJ said
Related Links: Link to final regulation Link to industry complaint Republican lawmakers and the oil and gas industry are ramping up their plans to block newly finalized regulations for hydraulic fracturing—also known as “fracking”—on federal and tribal lands.Industry advocates say the rules, which wil will be published in the March 26 issue of the Federal Register, are unnecessary and could make work more bureaucratic and expensive for firms in the oil and gas sector.The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and the Western Energy Alliance filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming on March
Related Links: Link to executive order Fact sheet on Executive order President Obama has issued an executive order calling for the federal government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% compared to 2008 levels over the next decade. He also set a target for increasing the government’s use of renewable energy for electricity to 30% by 2025.The same day Obama released the announcement, several major federal contractors, including CH2M Hill, GE, AECOM, SAIC, Battelle, Honeywell and others made various commitments at a White House roundtable meeting to monitor and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade.The companies represented
Day by day, the May 31 expiration date for the stopgap federal highway and transit funding law is getting closer. What worries construction executives and state transportation officials is that Congress has shown no signs of agreement on finding the tens of billions of dollars needed to fund a new multiyear bill.Seeking to crack the deadlock,the American Road and Transportation Builders Association on March 12 proposed boosting the federal gasoline and diesel taxes by 15¢ per gallon. To offset the financial hit to motorists, it calls for a $90 annual rebate. The federal gas tax now is 18.4¢ and the
Related Links: Portman and Shaheen press release on reintroduced bill (3/11/2015) Senate Passes Keystone Pipeline Bill (enr.com 1/29/2015) [subscription] Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) again have proposed an energy-efficiency bill that includes provisions that construction industry groups generally support. But the American Institute of Architects opposes the measure, introduced on March 11, because of language that would repeal a section of the 2007 energy law that phases out fossil fuels in new federal buildings and renovations by 2030.AIA President Elizabeth Chu Richter said, "It doesn't make sense that a bill touted to encourage energy conservation throughout the
Related Links: New Water Resources Bill Sails Toward Enactment (ENR 6/2/2014 issue) [subscription] Port Group Leads Push for Hike in Harbor Fund Spending (ENR 10/13/2014 issue) [subscription] As congressional appropriators continue their work on spending bills for fiscal year 2016, industry groups are pushing for an increase in the Army Corps of Engineers civil works budget.A coalition including the American Association of Port Authorities, Waterways Council Inc. (WCI) and others wrote key appropriators on March 12, requesting $2.76 billion in 2016 for the Corps navigation program, up 17% from 2015. To help reach that goal, the coalition wants Congress to