A Senate jobs bill, which includes provisions designed to help small businesses, suffered a setback on July 29 when Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was unable to assemble enough votes to block a filibuster. Senate Republicans opposed the measure, saying they wanted more time to offer amendments. It is unclear whether Reid will be able to bring the small-business bill back to the Senate floor before the August recess. Construction and other business groups support the measure, which would make it easier for small businesses to obtain credit by creating a $30-billion fund to support lending by community banks. It
Airport construction grants and other Federal Aviation Administration programs can continue for two more months, thanks to yet another stopgap authorization measure. President Obama signed the bill into law on Aug. 1. It is the 15th FAA extension since September 2007, when the last multiyear aviation bill expired. The new stopgap runs through Sept. 30. The Senate and House have approved different long-term FAA bills. Lawmakers and staff have been negotiating to reconcile the two measures, but were unable to reach agreement by the end of July, when the previous stopgap lapsed.
Legislation to tighten safety requirements for offshore oil and gas drilling has advanced in the House but faces an uncertain future in the Senate. The House on July 30 passed the Consolidated Land, Energy and Aquatic Resource Act, which would set tough safety standards for offshore drilling and require oil companies to cover 100% of cleanup costs and damages from spills they create. The “CLEAR” Act, approved 209 to 193, also would revamp the Interior Dept.’s former Minerals Management Service by removing conflicts-of-interest among its leasing, inspection and revenue-collection duties. Interior recently reorganized MMS and renamed it the Bureau of
Three years after the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis focused attention on bridge conditions nationwide, some observers see shortcomings in the federal bridge program. Some participants at a July 21 House subcommittee hearing found fault with the Federal Highway Administration’s system for tracking bridge funds as well as states’ ability to transfer federal bridge category funds to non-bridge projects. The panel also received ideas about ways to restructure the program. FHWA can take some steps on its own; other changes may be part of the next highway-transit bill, whenever it emerges. Photo: House Transportation And Infrastructure Committee Officials (from left)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), acknowledging that he lacks the votes to pass a comprehensive energy and climate-change bill, has decided to pursue narrower legislation. At press time, Reid was poised to introduce a scaled-back measure that he hopes will move to the Senate floor before the August recess. He says, “This is not the only energy legislation we’re going to do. This is what we can do now.” Reid’s bill has five elements: holding BP “accountable” for the Gulf oil spill; incentives for converting diesel-fueled heavy trucks to natural-gas power; rebates to spur energy-efficient improvements in homes; spending
It would take $77.7 billion in capital spending to bring U.S. transit systems to a “state of good repair,” the Federal Transit Administration estimates. A study, released on July 21 by FTA, says that rail accounts for $59.2 billion of the total, including $42.7 billion for heavy rail. Bus and other non-rail systems comprise the rest. FTA says it would take $18.3 billion annually for 20 years to achieve overall good-repair condition. Reaching that level over six years would require $27.3 billion a year. Just addressing “normal replacement needs” would cost $14.4 billion, the agency says. Hitting any of those
Transportation groups are cheering a Senate proposal to target aid for multimodal infrastructure to move goods. The Focusing Resources, Economic Investment and Guidance to Help Transportation Act, introduced on July 22 by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), would direct the Dept. of Transportation to develop and implement a long-term strategic plan for freight and create a freight planning and development office at DOT.
In one of the most important federal construction safety actions in years, the Labor Dept.'s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a sweeping new rule aimed at reducing deaths and injuries involving construction cranes. OSHA says that the rule, released July 28, will affect about 267,000 construction and crane rental companies and certification organizations that together employ about 4.8 million workers. The 1,070-page revised standard for Cranes and Derricks in Construction replaces a 1971 regulation and is "long overdue," says Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. Most provisions of the new rule will take effect Nov. 8. One key provision, a
Conceding that they lack the votes--at least for now--to pass a comprehensive energy and climate-change bill, Senate Democrats instead will propose narrower legislation. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said July 22 that he soon will introduce a scaled-back measure that includes more accountability for oil spills and a handful of other targeted provisions. After meeting with his fellow Senate Democrats, Reid told reporters that there are no Republican votes at present to support a wide-ranging energy measure. Reid said that "in the next few days" he will introduce a four-part energy package and that it would move to the Senate
An interim rule issued on July 8 by the Obama Administration requires certain federal contractors to report the total compensation of their highest-paid executives and first-tier subcontractors’ top managers. The requirement will phase in through March 2011. The rule also requires federal contractors grossing $300,000 or more in the last tax year to report first-tier subcontract awards. That mandate took effect immediately.