Related Links: Text of DOD report House Appropriators Cut FY15 DOD Construction, Hike VA Major-Projects Account (ENR 4/21/2014 issue) [subscription] If a new round of mandatory budget cuts hits the Dept. of Defense in fiscal year 2016, military construction spending would rise from projected 2015 levels but then fall in 2017, the Pentagon has predicted.In a report issued April 16, DOD says if budget sequestration kicks in for 2016, it would result in $7.2 billion for military construction, including aid for DOD family housing. That total would be up 9% from the $6.6 billion President Obama requested for those programs
Related Links: House Appropriations Committee draft report on FY15 military construction-VA bill Webcast of committee's April 9 markup of milcon-VA and legislative branch bills In its first action on fiscal year 2015 spending bills, the House Appropriations Committee has voted to slash Dept. of Defense construction and boost the Dept. of Veterans Affairs major-projects program.The panel, which cleared the military construction-VA bill on April 9, sliced DOD construction 33%, to $6.6 billion. Army construction would be hit hardest among the armed services, with a 52% reduction. Navy-Marines and Air Force programs each would be cut by more than 30%.The committee
Photo Courtesy of U.S. Senate Photo Studio Senators (from left) Carper, Vitter, Boxer and Barrasso seek long-term bill, modest aid hike. Video Courtesy of the Office of Sen. Barbara Boxer Senate EPW Leaders' Press Conference (excludes Q&A) Related Links: Boxer Seeks to Unveil New Transportation Bill in April (enr.com 2/18/2014) [subscription] The search for a new transportation bill has passed a key milepost in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW). Leaders agreed on a blueprint for the highway-policy portion of an eventual long-term measure. The bill could span six years with funding set at current levels, plus small
Related Links: DOE Fiscal 2015 Budget Request Highlights Areva Information on MOX Project The Dept. of Energy's proposal to put a 60%-complete mixed-oxide fuel (MOX) facility in Aiken, S.C., on "cold standby" has run into criticism from key senators.The plant, which would convert 34 metric tons of surplus weapons-grade plutonium into MOX fuel, could cost more than $7 billion to build, plus $30 billion in life-cycle expenses, DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz told a Senate appropriations subcommittee on April 9. Citing "extremely tight budgets," DOE put the project on hold while it evaluates alternatives, he noted.Lawmakers blasted DOE for potentially breaking
Related Links: Link to U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit opinion EPA page on Mercury and Air Toxics Standards In a blow to industry, a three-judge panel from a federal appeals court has upheld an Environmental Protection Agency’s rule governing air emissions of mercury and other hazardous pollutants.The next step in the case for the energy companies, states and industry groups that challenged the EPA rule could be an appeal for a re-hearing by the full court. According to at least one of the parties in the case, a decision has not yet been made on an appeal.The
Related Links: You Tube video of part of April 10 press conference Boxer Plans Committee Action Soon on New Highway Bill (ENR 4/7/2014 issue) [subscription] Boxer Seeks To Unveil New Transportation Bill in April (enr.com 2/18/2014) [subscription] Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif) and other committee leaders have reached agreement on an outline for the highway-policy portion of a hoped-for new surface-transportation measure.A key element of the framework, which Boxer and her colleagues announced April 10 at a press conference, is to set highway funding at current levels plus a increase to account for annual inflation.Boxer
Related Links: GAO: BRAC Costs Jumped From 2005 Estimates Testimony and Statements from 4-2-14 Senate Hearing A Dept. of Defense fiscal 2015 budget proposal to launch a new base realignment and closure (BRAC) round has run into opposition on Capitol Hill. At an April 2 hearing on DOD's budget, members of the Senate appropriations subcommittee that oversees milcon spending seemed reluctant to back a new BRAC round.Michael McCord, DOD principal deputy undersecretary, told the panel a new BRAC round, to begin in fiscal 2017, could save $2 billion a year. "Delays in approving this request will mean that funds needed
Photo AP/Wideworld Bill that Sen. Wyden's panel cleared includes construction-backed provisions. Related Links: Sen. Wyden's opening statement at bill markup House Ways and Means page on comprehensive tax reform Construction and renewable-energy companies found much to like in a Senate Finance Committee-approved tax bill that would provide a two-year extension for incentives that expired at the end of 2013. But chances are slim that the House will pass a similar measure, industry officials say.Liam Donovan, Associated Builders and Contractors director of legislative and political affairs, says, "Unless something changes, I don't see the House passing something that could be reconciled
Related Links: Text of settlement agreement Dept. of Justice press release In a federal action involving alleged false claims on construction contracts, five California masonry subcontractors have paid the government about $1.9 million to resolve charges that they misrepresented themselves as small disadvantaged businesses on projects for the U.S. military, the Dept. of Justice has said.Parties to the settlement, which Justice announced on April 9, include Frazier Masonry Corp., F-Y Inc., CTI Concrete & Masonry Inc., Masonry Technology Inc., Masonry Works Inc., Russell Frazier and Robert Yowell The settlement document lists Yowell as president of F-Y Inc.The 19-page agreement also
Related Links: Webcast of April 1 Senate subcommittee hearing A Senate subcommittee has turned the spotlight on Caterpillar Inc.'s overseas tax payments, contending that the giant equipment maker shifted billions in profits to a affiliate based in Switzerland, where taxes are lower than in the U.S.The panel's chairman, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), released a report on March 31 criticizing Caterpillar's Swiss tax plan. The report stated that from 2000 through 2012, the company allocated more than $8 billion in non-U.S. profits to its Swiss unit and deferred paying $2.4 billion in U.S. taxes on those earnings.Levin followed up the next
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