Photo courtesy Caterpillar Inc. Ex-Im assistance has helped suppliers like Caterpillar ink deals that would otherwise go to competitors. Related Links: Capitol Hill Fight Looms For Ex-Im Bank Reauthorization U.S., Private Sector Commit Billions to African Electric Power Construction-equipment makers and other business groups are hoping that Congress will act soon to renew the U.S. Export-Import Bank’s charter, a move that would enable the bank to resume approving new loans and other aid to spark overseas sales of U.S.-made goods and services.Congress failed to reauthorize the bank by June 30, when its authorization lapsed, which meant that it had to
Related Links: Link to Supreme Court June 29 ruling EPA's page on MATS rule In a major setback for the Obama administration, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 29 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did not consider the costs firms would face to comply with a 2013 federal rule aimed at reducing emissions of mercury and other air pollutants.The high court is sending the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule (MATS) back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and to EPA to evaluate compliance costs.Although EPA critics such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch
The U.S. Supreme Court, for the second time in three years, has affirmed the legality of key provisions of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a measure that is viewed as one of President Obama's central legislative achievements.
Related Links: Summary of House Appropriations Committee report on Interior-Environment bill Summary of Senate Apprpriations Interior-Environment bill House and Senate appropriations committees have approved spending bills to fund the Environmental Protection Agency for fiscal year 2016 that make deep cuts into EPA's water infrastructure program. The bills, which the committees cleared along party lines, also include controversial environmental policy riders that are expected to draw presidential vetoes.The Senate appropriations measure trims combined funding for EPA's clean-water and drinking-water state revolving funds (SRFs) by 23%, to $1.8 billion, from this year's level. The House bill includes similar numbers: $1 billion for
Related Links: Treasury Dept. 6/17/2015 release on new proposed and temporary multiemployer-plan regulations Kaptur/Sanders release on their multiemployer-pension bill The Treasury Dept. has taken steps to implement a 2014 law that directed major changes for multiemployer pension plans. But some in Congress want to reverse a provision that lets sponsors of ailing plans seek to cut members' benefits.Multiemployer plans cover about 10 million workers and retirees and are common in unionized construction. In 2010, coverage in the construction industry accounted for 55% of all multiemployer plans and 37.5% of the people those plans covered, the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.
Related Links: Summary of Senate DRIVE bill Text of Senate DRIVE Bill A newly proposed six-year Senate highway bill has won praise as a positive step toward a larger goal: a long-term, fully funded surface- transportation measure. But industry officials acknowledge that the next steps on the legislative path will be uphill, especially finding the tens of billions of dollars needed to pay for the program's envisioned higher funding levels.The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously approved the bill, dubbed the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy, or DRIVE, Act, on June 24. Committee Chairman James
Related Links: Information on EPA's proposed NAAQS for ozone update ARTBA's comments to EPA on proposal Opposition is mounting to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed more stringent limits for ground-level ozone, or smog.EPA says the current National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone of 75 parts per billion over an eight-hour period does not adequately protect public health and proposed to tighten the limit to a range of 65 ppb to 70 ppb in November 2014. EPA also seeks public comments on a 60-ppb standard or leaving the benchmark at 75.The proposal’s critics, including construction groups, contend that a
Related Links: Court Ruling on the Power Plan A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has ruled it is too soon to legally challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proposed rule to trim carbon emissions from existing powerplants.Judge Brett Kavanaugh said on June 9 that although industry groups, companies and states are "champing at the bit" to challenge EPA's proposal, expected to be made final this summer, the court lacks the authority to evaluate proposals that are not final.
Enlarge Related Links: EPA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Information on Argonne National Laboratory's biofuel's program Proposed federal mandates for ethanol and advanced biofuels under the federal law requiring certain levels of renewable fuels to be blended with gasoline seem to have few supporters and many critics.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on May 29 its proposed targets for cellulosic biofuels, biomass-based diesel and advanced biofuels to be blended with gasoline for 2014-2016 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).Ethanol and other biofuel blends for transportation vehicles were initially heralded in some quarters as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in
Related Links: EPA/Corps summary of new regulation (incl. table comparing existing, 2014 proposed and new final versions Text of preamble to new final regulation The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers have issued a new final rule that they say will clear up the muddy definition of which rivers, streams, wetlands and other bodies of water are subject to federal regulation and which are not. The regulation, which the agencies announced on May 27, is important to construction firms, which need to obtain a Corps permit to build in and around federally regulated waters.It has become one of
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