Related Links: Carper-Corker-Boxer release, with summary of Highway Trust Fund bill amendment House OKs $10.8B Highway Trust Fund 'Fix' (enr.com 7/15/2014) [subscription] Pushing right up to the verge of an Aug. 1 deadline, the Senate has agreed to a House-passed $10.8-billion rescue plan for the ailing Highway Trust Fund, sending the measure to President Obama for his expected signature.The Senate's 81-13 vote late on July 31 ended a struggle between the two chambers and averted a slowdown in federal road aid and, potentially, in highway and bridge projects.The $10.8-billion bill, which the House had approved on July 15, provides enough
Related Links: Text of July 31 executive order Link to Senator Harkin's investigation findings President Obama has signed an executive order that will require federal contractors, including those in the construction industry, to disclose previous labor-law violations and give agencies more guidance on how to weigh that information when awarding contracts.At the White House signing ceremony on July 31, Obama said, “Our tax dollars shouldn’t be going to companies that violate workplace laws, violate workers’ rights." He added, "If a company is going to receive taxpayer money, it should have safe workplaces … and should not discriminate against workers.”The executive
Related Links: President Obama's and Vice President Biden's remarks at signing of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Construction industry groups praised a new law that they say will make it easier for more employers to provide training to their workers. President Obama on July 22 signed into law the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which aims particularly to provide lower- and middle-income workers better access to job training.The new law makes a number of changes to the Workforce Investment Act, which dates back to 1998.Some groups say they would like to see further reforms enacted to truly address the growing
Related Links: White House Report: The Cost of Delaying Action to Stem Climate Change A delay in curbing carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse-gas emissions could lead to a 40% increase in costs associated with climate change per decade delayed, according to a July 29 report by the White House Council of Economic Advisers.The White House also projects $150 billion in damage per year to the U.S. economy in 10 years if no action is taken.Both estimates are contingent on a projected 3°C increase over pre-industrial temperatures.The report’s data was gathered from 16 different studies of more than 100 pairs
Courtesy NTSB Crash in 2012 cost insurer $1 million. Courtesy NTSB The runway slope was improperly made by contractor, claims insurer for crashed jet. An insurer that reportedly paid out $1 million to the owner of a small private jet that crashed on a Georgia airport runway in 2012 is suing the airport and a contractor that reconstructed the runway. The insurer claims the runway was improperly built.To win its case, the insurer, Old Republic Insurance, will apparently have to disprove part or all of a National Transportation Safety Board investigation of the crash at Macon Downtown Airport. The investigation
Related Links: Link to the National Research Council Report page A new National Research Council report calls for a national risk assessment to identify coastal areas that face the greatest threats from natural disasters and should be high priorities for risk-reduction efforts.The report, released on July 23, says the U.S. lacks a unified national vision for reducing the impacts of natural disasters along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.The risk assessment is needed because the current framework for addressing natural disasters and sea-level rise is disconnected and fragmented, the report's authors say.To achieve a national vision, the report says the federal
The Obama administration has announced the launch of a $10-billion loan fund—initially drawing on private capital—to help finance water, electric-power and other infrastructure projects in rural areas.Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters in a conference call, that the new U.S. Rural Infrastructure Opportunity Fund, which the White House Rural Council announced on July 24, “means that we can begin to address aggressively the infrastructure deficit that exists in the United States in the rural communities today.”CoBank, a cooperative bank based in Greenwood Village, Colo., is the fund’s “anchor” investor, providing $10 billion in capital, said CEO Robert Engel. The fund
Related Links: White House backgrounder on rural infrastructure fund CoBank release describing new infrastructure fund The Obama administration has announced the launch of a $10-billion loan fund that, initially, draws on private capital to help finance water, electric-power and other infrastructure projects in rural areas.Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters in a conference call that the new U.S. Rural Infrastructure Opportunity Fund, which the White House Rural Council announced on July 24, “means that we can begin to address aggressively the infrastructure deficit that exists in the United States in the rural communities today.”CoBank, a cooperative bank based in Greenwood
Related Links: EPA Study says Pebble Mine Could Destroy Salmons' Habitat Proposed Controversial Mine Loses Key Investor The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken a step toward curbing discharges associated with a planned open-pit gold and copper mine near Bristol Bay, Alaska.Proponents of the proposed $6-billion to $8-billion Pebble Mine project, which would be one of the world's largest of its type, say the action is just the latest in a series of EPA efforts to prevent the mine from being developed.An EPA regional office on July 18, citing the Clean Water Act, proposed restricting all mining-related discharges of dredged
Photo by AP Wideworld Focal point Initiative includes a new DOT "one-stop shop" to help remove barriers to the greater use of private dollars in infrastructure. Related Links: White House transcript of Obama July 17 speech on infrastructure White House summary of infrastructure-finance initiative President Obama is seeking to tap more private-sector dollars to help finance a wide range of U.S. infrastructure projects, but his new plan consists of modest, incremental actions and doesn't include any new federal spending.The Build America Investment Initiative, which Obama announced on July 17, includes what he calls a new U.S. Dept. of Transportation "one-stop