The National Labor Relations Board has proposed changes that would speed up elections to determine whether workers in construction and other industries will unionize. Reaction to the proposed rule, announced on June 21, was sharply divided. Pro-union Democrats in Congress supported the plan, but business groups and Republicans criticized it. NLRB's three Democrats backed proposing the rule; its sole Republican dissented.The proposal would allow electronic filing of election petitions and shorten the time firms have to produce lists of those eligible to vote in representation elections. It would set general uniform deadlines for pre-election and post-election hearings. Now, the scheduling
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that it is the role of the Environmental Protection Agency, not the court system, to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from powerplants under the Clean Air Act. In a June 20 decision in AEP v. Connecticut, the high court said that states and conservation groups could not challenge powerplants' greenhouse gas emissions in federal court through “public nuisance” lawsuits.In the 8-0 ruling, the justices said that Congress clearly intended that the EPA develop a policy to deal with greenhouse gases. EPA is expected to announce by May 2012 whether it will regulate such emissions under
Some U.S. nuclear powerplants are not prepared to deal with complete power blackouts that could result from severe events such as the earthquake and tsunami that struck and crippled Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant in March, Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials say. Officials from a NRC task force said in a June 14 public meeting that some U.S. powerplants are not ready to cope with an extended loss of power from both the electrical grid and emergency generators, which occurred at the Japanese plant. “NRC inspectors revealed deficiencies at some plants,” says Charlie Miller, task force chairman.The task force, charged with evaluating
As the House Appropriations Committee moves on fiscal 2012 spending bills, its Republican leaders are ycarrying out their budget-cutting pledge. They aren't sparing construction programs. The thin silver lining is that some of the House's recommended construction cuts are small. For example, a bill funding military and Veterans Affairs construction, which the House passed on June 14, would trim most accounts. Base realignment and closure spending would plummet, but that was expected, because the closure round that began in 2005 is nearing an end. Andrew Goldberg, American Institute of Architects senior director of federal programs, says, “The problem, and nobody
Some of the nation’s nuclear powerplants are not prepared to deal with potential station blackouts that could result from a severe event like the simultaneous earthquake and tsunami that struck Fukushima Daiichi, officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said on June 14. Officials from the task force established to inspect and evaluate the safety of the nation’s fleet of powerplants said in their 60-day report that some of the powerplants in the United States are not prepared to cope with a total station blackout—with a loss of both power from the electrical grid as well as from emergency generators-- that
The U.S. is gaining ground in its push to prompt China to end subsidies to its domestic wind-energy companies and give U.S. firms greater access to the booming Chinese wind market. APWideworld Workers install wind turbine at wind farm in east China's Anhul province. As China's wind power market expands, the U.S. has challenged China's subsidies to its equipment manufacturers, saying they violate World Trade Organization rules. Related Links: USTR's Release In the latest development in an eight-month trade dispute, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk says China has closed down a wind-energy fund that the U.S. contends violated World
The outlook isn't bright for a quick deal on a new, multiyear aviation bill, because the Senate and House haven't bridged a wide gap on funding levels for airport construction grants. They also have been unable to resolve a disagreement on a labor issue. Negotiators, led by Senate commerce committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.), have been working to settle differences between the long-term Federal Aviation Administration authorizations the two chambers passed this year.But with no agreement yet in sight, lawmakers cleared another short-term extension to keep Airport Improvement Program (AIP)
State budgets are getting healthier but spending remains tight, and some states are calling for cuts in programs such as transportation. A National Governors Association-National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) survey, released on June 2, reports 14 states are recommending a total of $212.8 million in 2012 general-fund transportation cuts. Six states made midyear 2011 transportation reductions totaling $357.2 million, including $262.4 million in California and $84.4 million in Texas. The report doesn’t cover capital budgets, but capital spending on infrastructure is likely to be under pressure, says Scott Pattison, NASBO executive director. States’ fiscal 2012 general-fund spending is
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says it will release a final rule that will streamline its safety standards and reduce employers’ paperwork. The changes, announced on May 26, are in step with a presidential executive order issued in January requiring federal agencies to simplify regulations and ease burdens on companies. The new regulation includes changes to OSHA’s existing respiratory-protection standard and deletes several requirements for companies to transmit exposure and medical records to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. OSHA estimates the rule will save companies more than $43 million a year and trim the number of
The outlook isn’t bright for a quick deal on a new, multiyear aviation bill, because the Senate and House haven’t bridged a wide gap on funding levels for airport construction grants. They also have been unable to resolve a disagreement on a labor issue. Negotiators, led by Senate commerce committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.), have been working to settle differences between the long-term Federal Aviation Administration authorizations the two chambers passed this year. But with no agreement yet in sight, lawmakers cleared another short-term extension to keep Airport Improvement Program