The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has asked six natural gas drillers to disclose by May 25 information on how and where they dispose of or recycle drilling process water in the Marcellus shale region. "We want to make sure that the drillers are handling their wastewater in an environmentally responsible manner," said EPA mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Shawn Garvin in a statement. "EPA is continuing to work with Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection officials who are on the frontlines of permitting and regulating natural gas drilling activities in Pennsylvania."The companies receiving information requests are: Atlas Resources, L.L.C.; Talisman Energy USA, Range
The Internal Revenue Service has given design and construction firms a one-year reprieve from a contract-payment withholding requirement that industry contends would deal them a financial blow. The mandate stems from a provision of a 2006 statute that requires federal, state and local governments to withhold an amount equal to 3% of their payments to anyone providing them with goods or services. The mandate applies to agencies whose total annual spending on goods and services is $100 million or more. Individual payments of less than $10,000 would be exempt from the withholding requirement. The mandate originally was to take effect
The Dept. of Energy has named a panel of outside specialists to study natural-gas hydraulic fracturing. The panel, which DOE Secretary Steven Chu announced on May 5, will make recommendations within 90 days about immediate steps that could improve the safety and environmental impact of “fracking.” Panel members include representatives from industry, academia, environmental groups and state government.
As the Dept. of Transportation works with congressional committees to draw up a new multiyear transportation bill, DOT officials are dismissing a legislative text obtained by a Washington newsletter as “an early working draft that was never formally circulated within the administration.” The 498-page document, obtained by Transportation Weekly, tracks the $555.9-billion, six-year highway-transit-rail proposal that DOT outlined in February. The draft includes some new items, such as multiple, but vague, references to a “new energy tax.” In a statement, DOT spokesman Justin Nisly said, “This is not an administration proposal ... and does not represent the views of the
The National Labor Relations Board's acting general counsel has filed a complaint in federal court against Arizona for passing a measure that says workers can only use secret-ballot elections to determine whether they want to unionize. Organized labor prefers employees have the option of signing authorization cards to show support for unionizing. In a complaint filed on May 6 in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, NLRB's Lafe Solomon said a 2010 Arizona constitutional amendment conflicts with federal labor law. Three other states have adopted similar measures. Solomon says he plans to file a complaint in South Dakota and may take
An Office of Management and Budget proposal to sell thousands of surplus federal buildings is garnering support on Capitol Hill and among industry groups. OMB says selling the properties could save the government $15 billion. Some of that amount would come from selling the excess properties. The plan could give a lift to the construction industry's buildings sector. As much 40% of the proceeds from the property sales would be plowed back into retrofitting other federal buildings to make them more energy efficient, OMB officials say. The plan, sketched out in the Obama administration's fiscal 2012 budget, calls for a
The Internal Revenue Service has given design and construction firms aone-year reprieve from a contract-payment withholding requirement thatindustry contends would deal them a financial blow.At issue is a provision of a 2006 statute that requires federal, state andlocal governments to withhold an amount equal to 3% of their payments toanyone providing them with goods or services.The mandate applies to agencies whose total annual spending on goods andservices is $100 million or more.Individual payments of less than $10,000 would be exempt from thewithholding requirement.The mandate originally was to take effect for payments starting Jan. 1,2011. But the 2009 economic stimulus law
Congressional and industry opposition is mounting to an Obama administration plan to use some Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund money for purposes other than dredging ports and harbors, its sole use now. At an April 13 hearing before the Senate appropriations energy and water development subcommittee, the Army's assistant secretary for civil works, Jo-Ellen Darcy, said the administration plans to develop a bill in the coming months that would allow the trust fund to finance port security and other non-dredging activities. Several senators, including subcommittee Chairwoman Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), expressed displeasure with the plan. Bills to ensure all trust-fund receipts continue
The Environmental Protection Agency says new draft guidance to identify waters that are protected by the Clean Water Act clarifies current confusion stemming from Supreme Court rulings over when contractors need a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit to build in such areas. But some industry groups say the guidance, which the Corps and EPA issued on April 27, greatly expands the scope of the Clean Water Act's protections and could slow down projects and lead to lawsuits. Glynn Rountree, environmental policy analyst for the National Association of Home Builders, says, “A lot of what they are doing is adding
In a settlement with the U.S. Justice Dept. and other federal agencies, BP Exploration Alaska Inc. has agreed to pay a $25-million civil penalty for crude-oil spills in 2006, totaling more than 5,000 barrels, from its pipelines on Alaska's North Slope. Under the pact, announced May 3, BP also will put in place an estimated $60-million, pipeline-integrity program to include regular inspections. U.S. investigators found that two 2006 spills, totaling 5,078 barrels stemmed from BP's failure to inspect and maintain the pipeline well enough to prevent corrosion. The firm pleaded guilty in 2007 to a misdemeanor violation of the Clean
RSS
