President Obama’s recess appointment of nominee Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board has drawn objections from industry groups and praise from labor unions. Becker, associate general counsel for the AFL-CIO and Service Employees International Union, was one of 15 recess appointments Obama announced on March 27. Democrat Mark Pearce, another longtime union attorney, received a recess appointment to the NLRB, too. Also on Obama’s list is Rafael Borras, a vice president in URS Corp.’s mid-Atlantic region. He was named Dept. of Homeland Security undersecretary for management. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved Becker on
The General Services Administration has awarded a $61-million contract to ZGF Architects LLP to be lead design architect for new Dept. of Homeland Security headquarters facilities in Washington, D.C. The other short-listed firms competing for the project were Goody Clancy, Boston; Gund Partnership Inc., Cambridge, Mass.; Kallmann McKinnell & Wood Architects Inc., Boston; Robert A.M. Stern Architects LLP, New York City; and RTKL Associates Inc., Baltimore. ZGF, formerly Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects LLP, said in an April 1 release that its contract includes more than 2.1 million square feet of new office space for DHS at the St. Elizabeths Hospital
As potential donors gather at the United Nations to assemble a fund to help rebuild earthquake-battered Haiti, the White House is asking Congress for additional spending to contribute to the reconstruction effort. Haiti is hoping to raise $3.9 billion at the March 31 donors’ meeting to cover the initial 18-month phase of what is certain to be a lengthy reconstruction. The estimated total rebuilding cost is $11.5 billion, the U.N. says. More than 220,000 were killed in the Jan. 12, magnitude-7 quake, and an estimated 2 million people are living in temporary shelter in Port-au-Prince or have moved away from
States and construction companies forced to cope with stopgap federal bills that provided transportation funding on the installment plan now have a bit more breathing room. The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, signed into law on March 18, includes yet another highway-transit extension. But this one stretches through December, and these days, that almost qualifies as a long-term bill. State and industry officials would much rather have a multiyear measure, but in this election-shortened year, the nine-month bill appears to be the best they will get. New law also bolsters Highway Trust Fund with $19.5-billion transfer from general
After a delay of more than seven months, a two-year, $34.6-billion Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization finally has made it to the Senate floor. For construction, the bill’s key item is the $8.1 billion it would provide for Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants, which finance runway work and other infrastructure projects. Of the bill’s $8.1 billion, $4 billion would be for 2010 and $4.1 billion would be for 2011. Funds would be subject to annual appropriations. This year’s AIP appropriation is $3.5 billion. If the Senate passes the bill, the next step would be a conference with the House, which approved
The Senate has passed a $123-billion measure that would extend a collection of tax breaks through December, including some that could benefit construction. The extensions would be retroactive, because many of the incentives have expired. The largest item in the “extenders” bill, which the Senate approved March 10, would continue unemployment benefits and COBRA health-care coverage through 2010. Those provisions’ estimated 2010-2011 cost is $98.5 billion. For the Real Estate Roundtable, the bill’s most important provision would extend 15-year depreciation for interior improvements to leaseholds and certain other facilities, says David F. Pearce Jr., vice president and counsel. It would
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
