Tom Ichniowski has been writing about the federal government as ENR’s Washington Bureau Chief since the George H.W. Bush administration, and he has covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

Transportation Infrastructure

US DOT Steps Up Rural Infrastructure Thrust

Tom Ichniowski

October 8, 2019

No Comments

"ROUTES" initiative has no new funds, but aims to promote rural eligibility for current DOT grant, loan programs.

Environmental Regulation

Court Battle Underway Over Revamped Endangered Species Rules

Tom Ichniowski

October 7, 2019

No Comments

Court is expected to consolidate a Sept. 25 lawsuit from attorneys general of 17 states, New York City and the District of Columbia with earlier one filed by environmental groups.

Construction Workforce

Construction Sept. Jobless Rate Falls, Matching Industry's 10-Year Low

Tom Ichniowski

October 4, 2019

No Comments

Industry's jobless rate dips to 3.2% in September from August's 3.6% and year-earlier 4.1%, BLS says.

Legal

Hyundai to Pay $47M to Settle Construction Equipment's Alleged Clean Air Violations

Tom Ichniowski

September 30, 2019

No Comments

Government charges that Hyundai nonroad vehicles didn't meet updated emissions standards.

Highway Infrastructure

EPA Threatens Cut in California's Federal Highway Funds

National construction groups weigh in on the issue

Tom Ichniowski

September 26, 2019

One Comment

EPA cites problems with state plans for meeting Clean Air Act pollution reduction standards.

Global Best Projects 2019

Best Project, Government Building: New U.S. Embassy Compound in Harare, Zimbabwe

Tom Ichniowski

September 25, 2019

No Comments

In November 2017, the construction team building a U.S. embassy campus in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, was more than a year into its contract when a crisis broke out.

coffer boxes being built on lower Monongahela River

The Nation's Infrastructure

Strong DOT, Corps Funding May Follow Stopgap

Tom Ichniowski

September 25, 2019

No Comments

With partisan squabbles over funds for President Donald Trump’s border wall blocking agreement on spending bills for fiscal year 2020, Congress again is turning to its usual Plan B: a stopgap bill to keep agencies’ programs, including construction accounts, operating.

Construction Workforce

Senate Confirms Scalia to be Labor Secretary

Attorney faces key construction issues, including apprenticeship proposal

Tom Ichniowski

September 17, 2019

No Comments

Update 9/26: Nominee approved on 53-44 vote along party lines.

Congress

House Oversight Panel Opens Ethics Inquiry into Chao's Actions

Tom Ichniowski

September 16, 2019

No Comments

One focus of committee probe is whether DOT Secretary's actions aided shipping company her parents founded.

Water Infrastructure

Senate Committee Approves 11% Hike for Corps Civil Works

Tom Ichniowski

September 12, 2019

No Comments

Republicans defeat Democrats' attempts to block DOD projects' funding shift to border wall.

ENR

Oct 14, 2019

The National Transportation Safety Board’s Oct. 8 release of documents related to its FIU bridge collapse investigation raises questions but provides no definitive conclusions about why the partially built structure suddenly crashed to the ground on March 15, 2018, killing six.

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