The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has expanded the list of organizations whose crane-operator certification programs it formally recognizes, with an agreement with the National Center for Construction Education and Research, Gainesville, Fla. Related Links: PBS&J Wins ARTBA ‘Globe Award’ for S.R. 408 Design OSHA chief David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, and NCCER President Don Whyte signed the voluntary agreement on May 17 at the Dept. of Labor headquarters in Washington, D.C. In March, OSHA finalized an agreement with The Crane Institute of America Certification Inc. OSHA also has an agreement with the Operating
A new, one-month extension for Federal Aviation Administration programs, including the agency's airport construction grants, has been signed into law. President Obama signed the measure into law on July 2, one day before the previous stopgap was to expire. Final congressional approval came on June 30, when the Senate passed the measure. The House had cleared it one day earlier. The new stopgap is the 14th extension since September 2007, when the last multi-year FAA bill was enacted. The House and Senate have passed new multi-year FAA bills and lawmakers from the two chambers have been meeting to reconcile differences
A Senate report sees troubling indications that Haiti’s post-earthquake reconstruction has “stalled.” The June 22 Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democratic staff report says items to be addressed include developing “a feasible, comprehensive rebuilding strategy” and getting the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission fully operational. The Jan. 12 quake caused about 230,000 deaths and an estimated $11.5 billion in damages.
An apparent agreement between House and Senate conferees on a rewrite of federal financial regulations itself underwent an emergency revision on June 29 as the lead Senate negotiator, Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), won approval for an amendment he hopes will get the bill through the chamber. Construction officials theorized that if the measure becomes law, its new regulatory mandates and costs could prompt banks to make already-tight credit even more dear. Photo By Ap/wideworld Frank (left), Dodd led House and Senate conferees on bill, including late amendment. Dodd saw that objections to a $19-billion “assessment” on banks and hedge funds was
In a decision with implications for software vendors and construction firms, the U.S. Supreme Court on July 28 ruled business methods, such as formulas or strategies for improving efficiency, are patentable. The case, Bilski v. Kappos, appealed a lower-court ruling upholding the U.S. Patent Office’s denial of a patent for a formula for minimizing risk in buying and selling energy. The appeals court cited logic that limited patent protection to inventions involving new machinery or physical transformations of items. In the court’s 5-4 opinion, the justices upheld the rejection of the patent application, saying the formula was too abstract to
Single-employer and multi-employer pension plans that suffered losses when financial markets plunged in 2008 and 2009 have gained some relief under legislation enacted on June 25. The measure allows multi-employer plans, which affect unionized workers and companies in construction, to spread 2008-2009 investment losses over 30 years, instead of 15 years. The pension provisions moved to enactment when lawmakers shifted them from a stalled package of tax-break extensions to a bill that temporarily halts a cut in Medicare payments to physicians. It was the Medicare-pensions bill that President Obama signed. Meanwhile, the tax “extenders” bill was blocked in the Senate
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
