Lawmakers on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hope to advance bipartisan legislation this year that aims to cut powerplant emissions of mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. Committee member Tom Carper (D-Del.) introduced the bill, with panel colleague Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) as a co-sponsor. Regina McCarthy, the Environmental Protection Agency’s assistant administrator for air and radiation, said at a March 4 committee hearing that the bill would dovetail with EPA regulations, expected this spring, replacing the Bush administration Clean Air Interstate Rule, and a new EPA mercury rule, expected in March 2011. But John McManus, a vice president
Beating the deadline set by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, all state departments of transportation obligated their full allotments of ARRA highway funds to projects by Feb. 26. Under the stimulus statute, any road funds unobligated by March 2 would have gone back to the Federal Highway Administration to be redistributed. States had put 73% of their total $26.6 billion in ARRA highway money into projects under contract as of Jan. 31, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee reported on March 4. That’s up from 66% on Dec. 31. Maine and Wyoming led the pack, each having 100% of
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is extending the comment period until March 30 on the proposed revision of its Injury and Illness Recordkeeping rule. The proposed rule, published in the Jan. 29 Federal Register, would restore a column to the OSHA 300 Log to record work-related musculoskeletal injuries. It does not change existing requirements about when employers must record ergonomic injuries.
After weathering a two-day funding cutoff, federal highway and transit programs are back in operation, thanks to a stopgap bill signed on March 2. But the extension only runs until March 28 and funds the programs at a rate much lower than last year’s. Transportation officials are hoping for quick Senate approval of a further extension through December that also will bolster the shaky Highway Trust Fund and restore road funding to 2009’s level. Further, the Senate is working on a tax bill that includes provisions to benefit construction. The immediate focus for construction at ENR press time was an
Construction's unemployment rate continues to rise, reaching a grim 27.1% in February, its highest level in a decade, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported. In its latest monthly employment report, released on March 5, BLS says that construction's jobless rate last month was up from 24.7% in January and also represented an increase from the February 2009 mark of 21.4%. BLS reports that construction shed another 64,000 jobs in February, bringing the industry's total job losses since December 2007 to 1.9 million. The BLS construction jobless rate isn't adjusted for seasonal variations. In the highly seasonal construction industry, even
The House has approved a $15-billion jobs package that includes an extension for highway and transit programs through December and a financial infusion to strengthen the Highway Trust Fund. The measure, which the House passed on March 4 by a 217-201 vote, next goes back to the Senate because it differs from the version that the Senate approved on Feb. 24. Besides extending surface-transportation programs through Dec. 31, the House-passed bill bolsters the Highway Trust Fund through an approximately $20-billion transfer from the general fund. It also would restore $8.7 billion in highway obligation authority that was rescinded on Sept.
Federal highway and transit programs are back in business, but only through March 28, thanks to enactment late on March 2 of a delayed stopgap funding measure. But state and industry officials noted that the respite is brief. They are hoping that Congress soon will pass a further highway-transit extension, through Dec. 31. The newly enacted stopgap bill, which also extends unemployment insurance and COBRA health benefits for several weeks, gained final congressional approval with Senate passage on a strong 78-19 vote. President Obama signed the bill later on March 2. The action marks an end to a two-day shutdown
After serving three years as acting head of the office of the Architect of the Capitol, Stephen T. Ayers has been nominated to a full, 10-year term as the Capitol Architect. The "AOC" is responsible for maintaining and operating the Capitol building, as well as the Library of Congress, Supreme Court building and other federal facilities on and near Capitol Hill. President Obama sent Ayers' nomination to the Senate on Feb. 24. Ayers next will go through the Senate confirmation process. Ayers, a 13-year veteran of the AOC office, has served as acting architect since February 2007, when Alan M.
Even as slimmed down as it is, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s new jobs bill has provisions that construction officials like, but the $15-billion measure is much less generous to public works than the $154-billion version the House passed in December. With Democrats’ Senate majority no longer filibuster-proof and GOP votes hard to get, Reid faces a tough fight to get his bill approved. Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP Reid’s bill has an incentive for companies to hire new workers, plus an expanded bond program and an extension for a depreciation break. The Nevada Democrat’s proposal, introduced Feb. 11,
The Dept. of Transportation has awarded $1.5 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants to 51 projects that are expected to have a significant regional or national impact. The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant winners cross most transportation modes, from bicycle paths to major bridges and freight-rail projects. Related Links: View summaries of each winning project DOT's awards, announced Feb. 17, range from $3.2 million for a Burlington, Vt., waterfront project, to $105 million for the "Crescent Corridor" freight rail-improvement program in Tennessee and Alabama. Interest in the TIGER program far outstripped the dollars DOT had available.