Talk about "fast track." Applications for the next round of federal high-speed-rail grants, totaling more than $2.3 billion, are due by Aug. 6, and winners will be announced by Sept. 30, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation says. Related Links: FRA Guidance Document: Service Development Program FRA Guidance Document: Individual Project Funding Availability In announcing the timetable on June 28, DOT noted that the new grants include $2.1 billion for high-speed-rail corridor proposals and $245 million for specific construction projects within corridors. The new round's funding comes from DOT's fiscal 2010 appropriations. It follows the hotly competitive first round, in which
President Obama has signed legislation that aims to help pension plans cope with losses they sustained when financial markets tumbled in 2008 and 2009. Lawmakers removed the pension provisions from a package of tax-break extensions and attached them to a measure that temporarily cancels a looming cut in Medicare payments to physicians. The Medicare-pensions measure gained final congressional approval when the House passed it on June 24. Obama signed the bill the following day. The measure has relief for single-employer and multi-employer, defined-benefit plans. For multi-employer plans, which affect unionized workers and employers in construction and certain other industries, enactment
Senate Republicans--and one Democrat--again have blocked a package of extensions of tax incentives, including some that construction industry groups support. Democrats' failure to win a procedural vote on June 24 sends the drafters of the bill back to the drawing board. The 57-41 vote to cut off debate on the tax "extenders" bill was three votes short of the 60 that Democrats needed. Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska joined 40 Republicans who voted "no." It is the third time that an extenders package has been sidetracked on the Senate floor in recent weeks. The latest vote left the fate of
As the State Dept. tackles U.S. embassy construction needs around the world, it is moving ahead on a set of new priorities. The department’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) has launched a “design excellence” initiative, plans to build greener facilities and seeks to cut into a huge maintenance backlog. Industry firms will be watching for details of how OBO fleshes out its plans. NAMM Adam E. Namm, OBO’s acting director, told an ENR/Construction Users Roundtable forum on June 16 the bureau has 33 facilities under way. That pace continues a wave of 72 projects completed over the past 10
Five months after a severe earthquake devastated parts of Haiti, a Senate report, released June 22, says there are troubling indications that the process of reconstructing the country has "stalled." Related Links: View Report The report, by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Democratic staff, gives a blunt analysis of the situation, saying that "Haiti is at a significant crossroads." It lists "critical issues" to be addressed in 10 key areas, including developing "a feasible, comprehensive rebuilding strategy" and getting the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission fully operational. The committee staff analysis also calls on Haitian President Rene Preval to "take a
As part of an effort to crack down on companies that misclassify employees as independent contractors, the U.S. Dept. of Labor is working on a proposed rule that would set additional record-keeping and notification requirements for employers concerning their workers’ status. Deputy Labor Secretary Seth D. Harris testified during a June 17 Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing that some employers deliberately misclassify employees as independent contractors, or “leased” or outsourced workers, and can gain an advantage in the market over law-abiding competitors. Harris said the department’s Wage and Hour Division is mulling a proposed regulation that would
The new administrator of the Occupation Safety and Health Administration spoke out earlier this month against measures that lead workers to hide workplace injuries. “Saying you have zero tolerance for injury is crazy,” said David Michaels, who is an assistant secretary of labor. If workers who report injuries are fired, they are not likely to come forward, he said, noting that because of this, “we don’t know what injury rates really are.” MICHAELS Michaels spoke at a June 16 construction business forum, co-sponsored by ENR and the Construction Users Roundtable, an owners group. More than 200 construction professionals and owners
As part of an effort to tighten up on companies that misclassify employees as independent contractors, the U.S. Dept. of Labor is considering proposing a rule that would set additional record-keeping and notification requirements for employers concerning their workers' status. Deputy Labor Secretary Seth Harris told a Senate hearing on June 17 that some employers deliberately misclassify workers as independent contractors or "leased" or outsourced workers and can gain an advantage in the market over competitors that adhere to the law. Harris said the department's Wage and Hour Division is mulling a proposed regulation that would require companies to carry
As part of an effort to tighten up on companies that misclassify employees as independent contractors, the U.S. Dept. of Labor is considering proposing a rule that would set additional record-keeping and notification requirements for employers concerning their workers' status. Deputy Labor Secretary Seth Harris told a Senate hearing on June 17 that some employers deliberately misclassify workers as independent contractors or "leased" or outsourced workers and can gain an advantage in the market over competitors that adhere to the law. Harris said the department's Wage and Hour Division is mulling a proposed regulation that would require companies to carry
As the Gulf oil-spill disaster worsens, there appears to be growing support in the Senate for a slimmed-down energy bill that would hold BP accountable and may also include many elements of a measure the Energy and Natural and Resources Committee cleared last summer, industry sources say. House Democrats also are working on oil-spill legislation but appear to be leaning toward taking up a series of targeted bills, not a big package. KERRY In the Senate, a key question is whether energy legislation will include climate-change provisions. Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) proposed a measure in May