With the Oct. 1 start of fiscal year 2012 around the corner and none of the spending bills for that year enacted yet, congressional appropriators are again turning to a stopgap funding measure to keep federal agencies operating.On Sept. 12, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) said he planned to introduce a continuing resolution soon. There was no word at press time on how many weeks' funding the bill would provide.As of Sept. 12, the House had approved six of the 12 appropriations bills funding various departments and agencies for 2012. The Senate had passed just one: the military
Construction companies that rely on federal highway, transit and airport contracts can breathe a little easier as legislation is moving in Congress to extend surface-transportation and aviation programs as well as the taxes that finance them. But the relief is only temporary. The new legislation continues highway and transit programs through March 31 and extends airport grants and other Federal Aviation Administration programs through Jan. 31.The House passed the new stopgap measure on Sept. 12, on a voice vote. Senate action was expected to follow. Lawmakers were aiming to wrap up the bill before the current short-term aviation bill expired
This story was updated Sept. 15. The earlier version had an incorrect figure for the total allocated to infrastructure spending. President Obama's $447-billion job-creation package would offer a significant lift to the struggling construction industry, including $105 billion in infrastructure spending plus new or extended tax incentives aimed at small businesses. The tax breaks could find receptive ears in Congress, but the funding for transportation, school upgrades and housing faces a steep, uphill trek.In outlining his proposed “American Jobs Act” on Sept. 8, Obama urged lawmakers to pass it “right away.” Immediate action isn't likely, however. House Republicans, who have
President Obama's Sept. 2 decision to withdraw draft ozone standards appears to be simply a symbolic olive branch to the electric utility industry. The industry is facing a slew of tougher Environmental Protection Agency air regulations that are having an immediate impact, at least in Texas.Dallas-based utility Luminant announced on Sept. 12 it was closing down two units at a powerplant in northeast Texas and laying off 500 workers, because, it says, it cannot meet EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule by next year's deadline. The utility, however, still plans to spend $280 million by the end of 2012 and $1.5
In a move that business praised and environmentalists decried, President Obama told the Environmental Protection Agency on Sept. 2 to withdraw an ozone rule issued in July. He said the rule would harm the economy. The rule required utilities in 27 states to trim emissions or buy pollution allowances starting in 2012. Then, in 2014, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions would have needed to be cut by 73% and 54%, respectively, from 2005 levels.
A congressionally established commission estimates that between $31 billion and $61 billion have been lost due to contract waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan. The panel says reforms are needed to prevent the same problems from cropping up in future contingency operations.In a final report, released on Aug. 31, the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan made 15 recommendations to cut down on future fraud and waste. They include establishing a full-time inspector general for contingency operations and taking action to mitigate the threat of additional waste from projects that are not sustainable. The panel did not
With Wilma Liebman's departure as the National Labor Relations Board chairwoman in late August, when her term expired, the five-member board is now down to three members, the minimum needed to issue major rulings. But that number could be down to two by 2012.“It's just so uncertain what's going to happen with the [board's] composition,” says Denise Gold, the Associated General Contractors of America's associate general counsel.Board member Craig Becker, a Democrat, is serving under a recess appointment that extends only until the end of December. President Obama has nominated Becker twice for full NLRB terms, but a Senate vote
White House photo/Chuck Kennedy Obama, with DOT Secretary LaHood and engineering and construction workers behind him, urges Congress to pass transportation bills. Related Links: Read Obama's remarks on transportation bills Obama memorandum on expediting priority infrastructure projects President Obama has called on congressional lawmakers to pass bills to extend surface-transportation and aviation programs “as soon as they come back” from the August break.The seventh stopgap highway-transit authorization since 2009 is set to expire on Sept. 30 and the 21st Federal Aviation Administration extension since 2007 is slated to lapse on Sept. 16.In remarks delivered on Aug. 31 in the White
State transportation officials and construction firms are hoping that shortly after Congress returns from its summer recess, lawmakers will extend the federal motor-fuels tax as well as the federal highway and transit programs. But Congress will have to move quickly: When legislators go back into session after Labor Day, there will be only 11 legislative days before the gas-tax and highway-transit authorizations expire on Sept. 30.Industry officials are hopeful Congress will act in time. Greg Cohen, president of the American Highway Users Alliance, says, "I think there's broad agreement on the need to extend the gas tax. it's not controversial."
Construction groups are pleased that the Environmental Protection Agency will revisit a proposed rule specifying how much sediment stormwater runoff from construction sites can contain.The EPA announced on Aug. 17 that it would reconsider a proposed new limit so it could gather more data from construction sites “to ensure that these standards to protect Americans' water quality from harmful pollution are flexible and achievable.”But industry officials are unhappy that the EPA still plans to set a nationwide numeric limit on how turbid the water discharged from construction sites can be. Industry officials claim that approach would be difficult to achieve