Photo Courtesy of FEMA In May in Mantoloking, N.J., the cleanup contractor uses floating booms to contain debris set for removal. Related Links: ENR's Complete Coverage of Sandy Recovery Efforts Federal Aid for Post-Sandy Rebuilding Rolls Out After Sandy, FEMA Flood Maps Are a Moving Target How The Corps Removed 500 Million Gallons In 13 Days In NYC Viewpoint: The Next Steps for New York City Flood Protection Subway Signal Teams Slog On Ideas abound, reconstruction is rolling, and funding is flowing, although not at the same speed and strength with which Superstorm Sandy walloped New York City and the
Related Links: EPA will Revise Flawed Effluent Rule for Construction Sites EPA Summary of Proposed Stormwater Rule The Environmental Protection Agency's draft rule for post-construction stormwater runoff—originally expected to be released by a court-ordered date of June 10, with final action by June 2014—could be facing some hurdles.All eight Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee have asked EPA's acting assistant administrator for the Office of Water, Nancy Stoner, to delay releasing the proposal, saying the planned rule-making is "clearly inconsistent" with the Clean Water Act and that the agency has failed to allow small businesses to participate
Related Links: House Appropriations Committee summary of bill (excluding floor amendments) List of adopted floor amendments (with brief descriptions) The House has approved a fiscal 2014 spending measure that would trim both the Dept. of Defense and Dept. of Veterans Affairs’ construction programs.The bill, which the House passed on June 4 by an overwhelming 421-4 vote, provides $9.95 billion for DOD construction, down $670 million, or 6%, from pre-sequester fiscal 2013 levels.The measure—the first FY 2014 appropriations bill to clear either chamber of Congress—also slashes the VA major-projects construction account 36%, to $342 million, which is the amount President Obama
Related Links: Special Report on Sandy Recovery Efforts How Sandy-Struck Regions are Coming Back FEMA Service Center: How To Find Your Flood Map National Flood Insurance Program: Flood Hazard Mapping Over recent months, a new storm has roiled the storm-battered communities of New York and New Jersey.The Federal Emergency Management Agency's "advisory base flood elevation" (ABFE) maps—delivered to guide the start of the post-Sandy rebuilding of homes, businesses and public facilities until more comprehensive "flood insurance rate maps" (FIRMs) can be completed—have been assailed by local residents and leaders. Many complain the ABFEs overstate the vulnerability of areas to flooding
Related Links: Forrester Correspondence with District of Columbia over Joint Venture Project Prices (Embedded at bottom of page) District of Columbia Announcement of Forrester Settlement One of the Washington, D.C. area's biggest general contractors agreed to take $1 million less than it had requested for a big district high school renovation project because the district said the company had misrepresented its work with a minority-owned business enterprise on the project and two others.The contractor, Rockville, Md.-based Forrester Construction Co., made itself the majority and controlling partner of the joint ventures, entitling it to most of the profits, without informing the
Photo Courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Senate bill would phase in higher trust-fund spending for dredging projects. Related Links: Senate Clears Water-Resources Bill (enr.com 5/15/13) WRDA Bill Clears Senate Committee (ENR 4/1/13 issue) More than five years after the last Water Resources Development Act, or WRDA, became law, it is increasingly likely that Congress will pass a successor bill this year. The outlook brightened on May 15, when the Senate passed a new WRDA by a strong 83-14 vote. The bill authorizes Army Corps of Engineers' projects, changes Corps project-review policies and boosts funding. Interest groups now are zeroing
Related Links: Crane Experts Challenge OSHA Rules Viewpoint: OSHA Crane Rules Must Change Viewpoing: OSHA Crane Rules Have Merit The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says that it might revisit the controversial standard for cranes and derricks for construction.Since the rule was finalized in August 2010, stakeholders ranging from crane certification companies to union officials have raised concerns about the cane operator certification requirements and whether the perception could exist that operators who receive their certifications could be considered “qualified” to operate cranes on construction jobsites simply because they have received a certification.To fully understand those concerns, OSHA held
Related Links: Issues Mount at Hanford Site, Including Nuclear Waste Treatment Plant Design (ENR 4/22/13 issue) Obama Names Picks to Lead EPA, DOE (ENR 3/11/13 issue) Ernest Moniz, President Obama’s nominee to head the Dept. of Energy, has breezed through confirmation, winning Senate approval on May 16 by a 97-0 vote.Moniz, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology physics professor and DOE undersecretary during the latter part of the Clinton administration, will succeed Steven Chu as DOE secretary.Among the challenges Moniz will face at DOE are overseeing the long-running, multibillion-dollar cleanup effort at former nuclear-weapons facilities, such as the Hanford complex in
Related Links: BLM Proposal Industry Website on Fracking A new proposal to update 30-year-old regulations for hydraulic fracturing on federal and tribal lands is being criticized by environmental and industry groups.The Dept. of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on May 16 released a draft proposal that modifies an initial draft proposal from 2012. The newly released draft is a response to feedback from more than 177,000 public comments to the 2012 draft.Approximately 90% of wells drilled on federal and American Indian lands use hydraulic fracturing, but the BLM’s current regulations for hydofracking are more than 30 years old and
Related Links: Archived Environment and Public Works Webcast of May 16 McCarthy Vote Republicans Block Votes on EPA, Labor Nominees After a weeklong standoff, Senate committees on May 16 approved the nominations of two candidates to serve in top posts in the Obama administration: Gina McCarthy for the Environmental Protection Agency and Tom Perez for the Dept. of Labor.The Environment and Public Works Committee approved the nomination of McCarthy, currently assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, by a 10-8 vote along party lines. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who is 89 and in ill health, made a rare
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